So my dad is in Papua New Guinea on an diving trip. He's got the PDX10 with an underwater housing. He emailed me with a problem that maybe somebody can help with. Water leaked into the housing and the camera got wet, mostly on the bottom of the camera. Camera won't turn on and tape won't eject. He plans on getting it checked when he gets back in 8 days. But does anyone have any suggestions on how to temporarily fix this problem? I realize there probably aren't any...but thanks anyways.....

Pablo Nankivell
paul_nankivell@yahoo.com

Hi Pablo,

How unfortunate. I think it's difficult for anybody to suggest a course of action, but I can tell you what I would do in your case: take it to a service center fast, like RIGHT NOW, whether it is Sony auhorized or not. The most important thing to do is to clean up the electronics with distilled water before corrosion does it's harm. Distilled water will not harm most electronics, but mechanical components like the tape transport and the optics can be easily ruined, si it's best to have a qualified technician do it, but as FAST AS POSSIBLE. Now if there is no access to a service center, I would try to do this myself, but that's just me. Hope it all turn out ok. DO NOT operate the camera, even if you manage to turn it on, that can make things worse. It has to be cleaned first. Only after it has been completely cleaned of salt water residue should operation be attempted. I wish you luck.

Hi,
I have drowned a camera before.
Is it salt water that it got wet ??
If so, believe it or not, I was told I should have put it in fresh water to help remove the salts, they corrode real fast the parts.
As Ignacio said - DO NOT operate the camera - This is because it will cause electrical shorts in the camera and zap the fine electical
circuits. Therefore remove the battery, resist the temptation.
Next, check your insurance policy.
Ouch, I hope you have some success.

Having worked in electronics manufacturing, I have to agree with the last post except for the dunking in fresh water.

Yes, salt will quickly corrode electronic components, and needs to be cleaned, but since the unit won't come on, some damage may already be done. The only water that is "safe" to use on electronic components is deionized. This is what circuit boards are cleaned with throughout several stages of manufacture.

Your best bet is to get it dry, and into an authorized Sony repair center ASAP. Have him ship it. eight (now 7) days is too long to wait.

Sorry to hear of your troubles - I agree with the comments regarding get it serviced right now. I had a similar problem with a 35mm camera and waited a week to get it serviced (I was driving across the US when it got drenched). The result was a 35mm paperweight - not a working camera.

The photo shop told me (believe it or not) that the best thing to do if you couldn't get to a repair place immediately was to remove the batteries, place the camera in the "cleanest" water you can find (distilled if available, otherwise filtered, otherwise tap) and keep it there until you can get into a repair shop.

I got thrown in San Diego bay a few years back at a company picnic wearing both a cell phone and pager and used this method until I got home. Took off all removable covers, shook out as much fresh water as possible and then put them on the windowsill in direct sunlight to dry. They both worked fine.

It would scare me to death to put my 950 in water, but waiting is a sure path to failure...