600D water damage - advice please

[abstraction]

Was working in Choma, Zambia, this week. Spare day, realised i was 2 hrs from Victoria Falls. Scammed a ride down, and one of our staff members who lived there took me in. Spontaneity sometimes means lack of research. I didn't know it was like a tropical gale. Despite a 'water proof' poncho I was soaked head to foot, particularly on the footbridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. I tried in vain to protect my camera, and then nearly died when I realised i hadn't switched it off.

I got a beep, no display. I checked it over, and ended up putting my mouth over the little 'wheel' and sucking out water. I'm not switching it on again until I get it fully dried out. (Oh, and my passport was soaked, and the photo is ruined. If the woman in Zambia immigration had bothered to open the photo page, I would still be stuck in zambia. I'm supposed to take my wife to NZ on wed on long planned holiday - no passport!)

I'm assuming two potential risks:
* I shorted out an integrated circuit already, and i'm in for big $$$$.
* Water will remain trapped inside and will lead to corrosion

Goes without saying:
* All my own stupidity.
* The experience of the falls is amazing.

Experience & advice? I'm on my way home and want to act quickly. Sending it away will mean delay - can I dismantle anything to let it dry more quickly?

[ricktas]

the fact your turned it on while it might be still wet inside is probably going to have done more damage. Water + electrical current = fried!

The advice is..as soon as it gets wet, remove the battery! Then as soon as possible get the camera into a bucket of uncooked rice and leave it buried in the rice for a week or more. the uncooked rice draws out and absorbs the water. However this is most likely to late for your camera.

So based in what you have done so far, I expect you will be forking out $$ for a brand new camera body.

[hakka]

put it in a bag of rice for a few days.

[bricat]

Stop trying to take short cuts!!!!! The fact is it is water affected so take the correct action in an attempt to fix this. Send it to a specialist to get cleaned? Hire a camera for your holiday. Or throw it in the bin and buy a new camera; a perfect time to upgrade. Insurance claim? Let's say I speak from experience. cheers Brian

[Warbler]

Yep, the insurance suggestion is the best one. Just like an unfaithful partner, no matter what you do to fix it, you'd never be able to fully trust it again.

[William]

Maybe you can be lucky, I had my 50D stop working last week after rain got through the main dial (The one near the shutter button) I did'nt notice it was'nt working because I was about to changes lenes , Switched it off , Fitted the lens then switched it on , Cause I shoot in manual the first I knew anything was wrong was when trying to set ISO and shutter speed , Nothing , Could'nt change anything , I did what you did sucked at the dial to get some water out , When I got home I put it in the sun in a breeze for a couple of hours and it started working again, Touch wood it stays that way , At least it was'nt Salt water

[Roosta]

Yep, the insurance suggestion is the best one. Just like an unfaithful partner, no matter what you do to fix it, you'd never be able to fully trust it again.

Gold

I can see an insurance claim coming up, and a new body/lens.

[abstraction]

Gold

I can see an insurance claim coming up, and a new body/lens.

1. New body - 600D reasonable price thanks to the new 650D, which didn't really offer anything worth the additional cost.
2. Insurance claim in process.
3. Lens is fine.