Friend's 17 TS dropped in the city canal
- Thread starter niels123
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Ouch, that was an expen$ive lesson.
The rear element isn't missing, it is recessed that far into the lens body. So, there is a little bit of good news.
Repairable? Probably not an economically viable option. Canon would most likely refuse to repair it. The aperture assembly would certainly need to be replaced. At least the AF motor isn't trashed ;D
As an experiment with an already totaled lens, I'd get some distilled water and rinse it out thoroughly before the river water dries out inside and leaves deposits. Then maybe dunk it into lab grade rubbing alcohol. I wouldn't expect it to be salvageable.
The rear element isn't missing, it is recessed that far into the lens body. So, there is a little bit of good news.
Repairable? Probably not an economically viable option. Canon would most likely refuse to repair it. The aperture assembly would certainly need to be replaced. At least the AF motor isn't trashed ;D
As an experiment with an already totaled lens, I'd get some distilled water and rinse it out thoroughly before the river water dries out inside and leaves deposits. Then maybe dunk it into lab grade rubbing alcohol. I wouldn't expect it to be salvageable.
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Canon won't touch water damage as there is no way they will warranty any slow to become apparent side effects, like corrosion.
The only hope of repair is an independent repair place, they will be able to strip and clean it. The nice thing is it had no power to it so the aperture actuator could still be fixable, do not, under any circumstances, put it on a camera to see of it works as this would almost certainly kill the aperture mechanism at power on.
I'd think there is a better than even chance of getting it fixed, but not by Canon.
It seems counter intuitive but put it in a container of clean water until you get it to the repiarers, this will slow any corrosion and stop the muck sticking to the insides.
P.S. I worked on dive boats for years and have a lot of experience of drowned cameras!
The only hope of repair is an independent repair place, they will be able to strip and clean it. The nice thing is it had no power to it so the aperture actuator could still be fixable, do not, under any circumstances, put it on a camera to see of it works as this would almost certainly kill the aperture mechanism at power on.
I'd think there is a better than even chance of getting it fixed, but not by Canon.
It seems counter intuitive but put it in a container of clean water until you get it to the repiarers, this will slow any corrosion and stop the muck sticking to the insides.
P.S. I worked on dive boats for years and have a lot of experience of drowned cameras!
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privatebydesign said:
I find that very surprising. I could understand for a non-L lens, but L-series should be built to accommodate repair. At worst, they could clean-up the optical components and remount them in a refurb-quality housing and call it a repair. Not cheap, but entirely feasible.
I hope niels123 will tell us what Canon says.
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Canon, as do almost every camera and electronics manufacturer will not repair water damaged electronics, cameras, or lenses. Apple has gone so far as to place a indicator inside their iphone that turns color if it gets wet.
A independent repair shop might consider repairing it, but in the condition you described, its likely going to cost more than the lens is worth. You can sell it for parts and someone will buy it and clean it up, repair it, and then resell it to some unsuspecting buyer on ebay. If it ever needs service(very likely), they may find that Canon won't touch it.
Your friend should contact his insurance company about a claim. He may have to send it to Canon to get a estimate or statement that it is not repairable. Drops and spills insurance can sometimes pay off.
A independent repair shop might consider repairing it, but in the condition you described, its likely going to cost more than the lens is worth. You can sell it for parts and someone will buy it and clean it up, repair it, and then resell it to some unsuspecting buyer on ebay. If it ever needs service(very likely), they may find that Canon won't touch it.
Your friend should contact his insurance company about a claim. He may have to send it to Canon to get a estimate or statement that it is not repairable. Drops and spills insurance can sometimes pay off.
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"I've got this... friend who..."
Yeah, right
Regarding the water damage indicators, this is a standard thing on phones, from Sony to Apple to all the unbranded, cheap things... It's a simple colour-change sticker that lets manufacturers and third party insurance/warranty seellers know if items are waterdamaged. If you have a phone that lets you, pop the battery out, I guarantee there's a teeny, white sticker on the battery!... and I dare you to sit a droplet of water on it for five minutes to see what happens
Yeah, right
Regarding the water damage indicators, this is a standard thing on phones, from Sony to Apple to all the unbranded, cheap things... It's a simple colour-change sticker that lets manufacturers and third party insurance/warranty seellers know if items are waterdamaged. If you have a phone that lets you, pop the battery out, I guarantee there's a teeny, white sticker on the battery!... and I dare you to sit a droplet of water on it for five minutes to see what happens
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Mt Spokane Photography said:
I'll trust your experience on this, but I still find it bizarre: supposedly, the bulk of the money is in grinding the glass precisely, and the remainder should be a replaceable shell. The shape of the glass will not be affected even by full immersion, so long as it's dealt with promptly. If it's not true that glass is the most expensive part of the finished product, then high-quality lenses are seriously overpriced.
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Khufu said:Regarding the water damage indicators, this is a standard thing on phones, from Sony to Apple to all the unbranded, cheap things... It's a simple colour-change sticker that lets manufacturers and third party insurance/warranty seellers know if items are waterdamaged. If you have a phone that lets you, pop the battery out, I guarantee there's a teeny, white sticker on the battery!... and I dare you to sit a droplet of water on it for five minutes to see what happens
Sometimes, you don't even need an actual drop of water. Simply putting the phone in your pocket could be enough to change the color if you sweat enough.
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tpatana said:
There is a freshwater lake nearby which is said to be 30 meters deep. The interesting part is in the top 2 meters, but just for fun we wanted to see how deep we could get. At about 8 meters there is a halocline (a freshwater layer on top of more dense salty water). *All* the dirt collects where the two layers meet. I have never ever seen such bad visibility. My partner and me were constantly holding hands and trying to get any deeper because even spotting the bottom or even seeing your meters was a complete nightmare. We gave up, but managed to get to 11 meters.
There is plenty of lakes in which I am quite happy with two (!) meters of visibility. Average visibility for the above lake is about 50 cm and it can be truly nice to do shallow dives there and spot all the life (mostly eels and lobsters).
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niels123 said:
A thought...
Electronics usually die because currents and voltages appear where they shouldn't. i.e. a linear regulator stops regulating and puts out raw battery volts due to water shorting it's sense circuit, so everything downstream is fried, or you walk up to an unprotected circuit in your rubber soled trainers and pick up the board.. sending umpteen kV into the delicate electronics. .
As the lens wasn't powered (not attached to a camera) I'd be willing to bet a thorough clean out could recover the electronics side of things... but contamination on any part of it, including absorbed water in the PCB materials could now kill it if powered up, getting that water out would require cooking the electronics at say 105C for an extended period (It's what they do to chips before soldering if their vaccum sealed bag turns out to have failed).. the only thing to watch is things like connectors that might not like such a temperature, alternatively a vacuum chamber could be a good approach. I successfully (it survived) put my 28mmf1.8 through one to get rid of slight fogging.
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Manufacturers refuse to repair wet electronics because tons of experience shows that they keep failing afterwards, regardless of the care taken during the repair. Customers then become very angry, and might even start a miserably eternal thread on a website or two. It's like shadow boxing rattlesnakes, guaranteed to bite you. Auto insurance totals a submerged car without a technician ever looking at it, and does their best to get it shredded because of the safety implications of electronics failure in modern cars. The cost of the electronics relative to the glass has nothing to do with it. A lens that can't change aperture is just as worthless as one with a busted lens.
The minimal electronics in TSE's would tempt you to hope for an exception from Canon. Policies are policies, though. An independent repair facility that trusts you to accept no warranty might get it running. Be kind and let them know that you understand the risks.
Were those gouges made before this fall? It looks to me that it hit a rock on the way down. Might be more than just mud that needs fixing.
I do wonder though, why do rifle scope makers guarantee against internal fogging, and pass submerged torture tests, and camera lenses dont? They have external knobs adjusting internal components. Usually no electronics, though. The resistance on adjustments is much higher than in camera lenses. There might not be enough power to overcome the seal resistance during autofocus. Could be some opportunity in a fly by wire & all internal adjustment design. Does nothing for the body.
The minimal electronics in TSE's would tempt you to hope for an exception from Canon. Policies are policies, though. An independent repair facility that trusts you to accept no warranty might get it running. Be kind and let them know that you understand the risks.
Were those gouges made before this fall? It looks to me that it hit a rock on the way down. Might be more than just mud that needs fixing.
I do wonder though, why do rifle scope makers guarantee against internal fogging, and pass submerged torture tests, and camera lenses dont? They have external knobs adjusting internal components. Usually no electronics, though. The resistance on adjustments is much higher than in camera lenses. There might not be enough power to overcome the seal resistance during autofocus. Could be some opportunity in a fly by wire & all internal adjustment design. Does nothing for the body.
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