Help with water damage at DVinfo.net

Corey Sturmer · November 10th, 2005, 11:33 PM

I searched the forums before posting this, but unlike the other posts I'm not talking about a complete drowning or a non-functioning camera. My camera, since the damage has powered on and all that goodness from the get go. Here's the situation:

I was at a swim meet and left my camera in it's hardcase with the top open, someone leaned over it and was dripping over it...Nothing too bad, but I suspect some got maybe in the tape mechanism? I picked up the camera to film and it said "Condensation detected, power off." So I did, but I first tried to get the tape out, it ate the tape...I got the tape out, but I had to pull it out a bit. I made sure everything was dry in the box and on the camera, put it back in and didn't open it up till I got home. When I opened it up and turned it on, everything worked fine. Sweet, right?

Until I put a tape in. I put a tape in and now it says "Heads dirty, insert tape cleaner" I would love to, except the eject mechanism is all whacked out now. It says "EJECT TAPE" so I open the compartment, and it starts to eject, then stops abruptly, then goes back down. I've cycled it through play, camera, an d trying to eject it in just OFF mode. Nothing works. Today, I opened the compartment and the tape came all the way out. Great. So I put a cleaner tape in to clean the heads. Did the same thing with the whacked out eject mechanism.

What to do?

I noticed that the little feeders near the digital head reader (i think that's what it called) seemed a little loose, they were jiggling with the camera's movement...is that natural? I never noticed it before, but then again, I never had a reason to take notice.

Can I fix this?
HELP!

Don Palomaki · November 11th, 2005, 05:08 AM

Probably best to send it to Canon for repairs. If the nechanism and guides are wacked a bit, it will require special tools to get tape path alignment right. And sounds like a good cleaning is in order. Pool water is usually high in chlorine or similar chemical, which will probably be rather corrosive to the internals of the camcorder.

Paul Wags · November 11th, 2005, 05:45 AM

Corey
I once had a VX1000 that had pool water from a wet hat enter the camera and zapped it. The tec guy said it was going to cost $1000 to replace boards etc. I said forget it, he then rang me back later telling me it is now going. What did he do? when a circuit gets wet is corrodes very quickly due to the electrons causing electrolysis, he cleaned the tracks and away it went.

Also I had a simple wet alarm circuit get wet once, threw in in the cubboard for a month and then pluged a battery in it and away it went, wet mobile phones can do the same thing. Most important thing is get the power off the circuits APSAP.

Good luck

Paul

Corey Sturmer · November 11th, 2005, 11:39 AM

Well I assume it's dry by now? It's been almost a week...Should I leave it somewhere with the battery taken off, or what?

November 10th, 2005, 11:33 PM	#1
Corey Sturmer Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Durham, NC Posts: 144	Help with water damage I searched the forums before posting this, but unlike the other posts I'm not talking about a complete drowning or a non-functioning camera. My camera, since the damage has powered on and all that goodness from the get go. Here's the situation: I was at a swim meet and left my camera in it's hardcase with the top open, someone leaned over it and was dripping over it...Nothing too bad, but I suspect some got maybe in the tape mechanism? I picked up the camera to film and it said "Condensation detected, power off." So I did, but I first tried to get the tape out, it ate the tape...I got the tape out, but I had to pull it out a bit. I made sure everything was dry in the box and on the camera, put it back in and didn't open it up till I got home. When I opened it up and turned it on, everything worked fine. Sweet, right? Until I put a tape in. I put a tape in and now it says "Heads dirty, insert tape cleaner" I would love to, except the eject mechanism is all whacked out now. It says "EJECT TAPE" so I open the compartment, and it starts to eject, then stops abruptly, then goes back down. I've cycled it through play, camera, an d trying to eject it in just OFF mode. Nothing works. Today, I opened the compartment and the tape came all the way out. Great. So I put a cleaner tape in to clean the heads. Did the same thing with the whacked out eject mechanism. What to do? I noticed that the little feeders near the digital head reader (i think that's what it called) seemed a little loose, they were jiggling with the camera's movement...is that natural? I never noticed it before, but then again, I never had a reason to take notice. Can I fix this? HELP! __________________ Corey Sturmer Producer - Woffester Productions

November 11th, 2005, 05:08 AM	#2
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,488	Probably best to send it to Canon for repairs. If the nechanism and guides are wacked a bit, it will require special tools to get tape path alignment right. And sounds like a good cleaning is in order. Pool water is usually high in chlorine or similar chemical, which will probably be rather corrosive to the internals of the camcorder. __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

November 11th, 2005, 11:39 AM	#4
Corey Sturmer Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Durham, NC Posts: 144	Well I assume it's dry by now? It's been almost a week...Should I leave it somewhere with the battery taken off, or what? __________________ Corey Sturmer Producer - Woffester Productions

November 11th, 2005, 05:45 AM	#3
Paul Wags Ruler of the DownUnder UnderWorld Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Cairns- Queensland - Australia Posts: 248	Corey I once had a VX1000 that had pool water from a wet hat enter the camera and zapped it. The tec guy said it was going to cost $1000 to replace boards etc. I said forget it, he then rang me back later telling me it is now going. What did he do? when a circuit gets wet is corrodes very quickly due to the electrons causing electrolysis, he cleaned the tracks and away it went. Also I had a simple wet alarm circuit get wet once, threw in in the cubboard for a month and then pluged a battery in it and away it went, wet mobile phones can do the same thing. Most important thing is get the power off the circuits APSAP. Good luck Paul