My dead 5D Mark III Story

Valvebounce

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Apr 3, 2013
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Hi again,

I did state "should be treated."

I did state "we are left with plated contacts to corrode."

Where I thought I saw green other than the blob of glue type stuff is on the body casting edge to the right of the provided image, I have now given it a more thorough look and see it is just as likely to be a lighting artefact as corrosion.

Personally I have never found a threaded fastner in a product that does not have some surface treatment, sometimes only light or substandard! :eek:
It would not make sense for a manufacturer to use untreated fastners and end up with rejects due to corrosion. Furthermore if we wanted untreated screws to plate in house where I worked they were special order and worked out dearer than chemically stripping and plating from stock.


I understand that automotive fastners are plated to withstand the elements. However I doubt periodical prolonged immersion in water containing many and varied contaminants was ever envisioned and I don't think they were meant to last 40 years. Anyway my main point was the time that undamaged plating can survive, and to discredit the notion of the corrosion appearing in a weekend! ::)

Basically I think we concur on this situation. :)

Cheers Graham.

dgatwood said:
Valvebounce said:
It states that most likely it is an alloy of magnesium which would generally corrode to a gray film coating but should be protected by a surface treatment.

I'd expect it to be coated either way, which makes corrosion even less plausible.


Valvebounce said:
The greenish colour would indicate to me a compound involving copper was involved and as this is on the body of magnesium that would be unlikely so I guess that just adds to the confusion, I would think it is unlikely to be contamination from copper of the pcb as that is lacquered over to prevent corrosion so we are left with plated contacts to corrode.

...which are all either gold plated or tinned with solder. Either way, there's no exposed copper. BTW, where do you see green? The only green I see is pretty clearly glue placed there to hold a ribbon cable into one of those shove-in connectors.



Valvebounce said:
Also as I have said in previous posts part of my expertise is classic cars, I have bolts of approximately 40 years of age that have been left in containers that have collected water sufficient to cause a tide line. Yes some of the bolts have rusted, generally those with tool damage that has damaged the plating, but many have survived so clean they look like new. It is so unusual to find tool damage on fixings inside modern electronics that I would not be surprised to see no corrosion on the screws.

Bolts used in cars are plated specifically because the products are designed to live outdoors and are designed to be repairable. I would not expect screws in consumer electronics to be plated because neither of those is the case. :D My refrigerator, for example, had small screws that rusted because of condensation, to such a degree that I had to drill the heads. Hard to say for sure, though, whether these screws are plated or not.
 
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Nov 1, 2012
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Kristofgss said:
Pure water is less corrosive than water with salt as well (which also is a better conductor of electricity, increasing the chance of short-circuits)

[nitpick]Pure water doesn't conduct electricity[/nitpick]

The OP story is interesting. I'd hate for such to happen for me, so I'm really curious if they'll find the root cause for what has happened.

I don't believe on the sweat, I'd be much more inclined for condensation due to the temperature changes.
 
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AlanF

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Kristofgss said:
Valvebounce said:
It also states that corrosion due to pure water increases With temperature, no mention of what temperature, but it also says the alloy is not structurally affected until temperatures of 95 to 120C.

Quick rule of reaction speed is an increase of speed at a factor 2 for every ten degrees Kelvin (or Celcius) rise in temperature. So the hotter something is, the faster the chemical reaction will work (which you can experiment with by washing dishes in hot water vs cold water)

Pure water is less corrosive than water with salt as well (which also is a better conductor of electricity, increasing the chance of short-circuits)

A factor of 2 in rate for an increase of 10 oC is for a reaction which is relatively fast, such as an enzyme catalysed reaction in a cell with an activation energy of about 12.5 kcal/mol (~52 kJ/mol). A slower reaction with a higher activation energy would increase a factor of 4 or 5 or more with a 10 oC rise in T.
 
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dgatwood

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May 1, 2013
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Valvebounce said:
I understand that automotive fastners are plated to withstand the elements. However I doubt periodical prolonged immersion in water containing many and varied contaminants was ever envisioned and I don't think they were meant to last 40 years. Anyway my main point was the time that undamaged plating can survive, and to discredit the notion of the corrosion appearing in a weekend! ::)

In much the same way as I would not expect the (almost certainly coated) magnesium frame to corrode in a weekend, and for the same reason. The point I was trying to make was that if one corrodes, I'd expect the other to corrode under similar circumstances, and if only one is corroded, that probably means it was corroded before they put in the screws. ;)


Valvebounce said:
Basically I think we concur on this situation. :)

Yes.
 
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This is an odd story.
I've used my 5DIII in light rain, no problems so far.
In the past I've also used my 40D, 60D, 5DII and other cameras in enough drizzle that they are slightly wet when I came in, not to mention cold to warm transitions. I've just patted the water off and let them sit without removing lenses or batteries until fully dry.
Haven't had a problem with any of these cameras.
I suspect that something was wrong with this camera since it was built.
 
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AlanF said:
A factor of 2 in rate for an increase of 10 oC is for a reaction which is relatively fast, such as an enzyme catalysed reaction in a cell with an activation energy of about 12.5 kcal/mol (~52 kJ/mol). A slower reaction with a higher activation energy would increase a factor of 4 or 5 or more with a 10 oC rise in T.

So with two camera bodies and a controlled ten degrees difference we could work out which metal the 5DIII is made of? :D
 
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Today my 5D III died, after doing a search for error 20 I was led to this post.
Unfortunately my camera is acting the same way as the original poster . I remove the battery and when I put it back in the mirror flaps like crazy, stops and I get the err 20 message on the top panel.
The rear screen doesn't activate and all functions are dead.
I fear all those kayaking trips and shooting football games on rainy days have taken it's toll.
 
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My new 5DM3 suffered corrosion and failed in a number of ways after 3 months use. A repairer said it was not economic or reliable to repair. I did not expose it to any liquids. I took Teds Camera's (from whom I purchased it) to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Australia). Teds argued (amongst other things) that they had sold 3,500 of these cameras and mine was the only claim for corrosion not caused by the customer. They said it was not rain that caused the problem but a lot more liquid (implying I dunked it in water or poured water over it). The Tribunal found I did not prove I hadn't exposed the camera to liquids. (How in the hell do you prove that?) So I am wondering who else had a 5DM3 with corrosion but are sure they did not expose it to liquids (including rain) - apart from those of you who had this experience and described it in prior entries in this post.
 
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Hector1970

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Mar 22, 2012
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I live in a very wet country and my 5DIII got wet many times and had no issues at all.
I know its not waterproof but it was pretty weatherproof.
Mine dies going for an unexpected dip in the sea.
It was only immersed for a few seconds but enough salt water penetrated to start eating away at the electronics over a series of days until it died.
I'd find it strange that sweat would kill a camera. Possibly its humidity over a long period if the country is warm. But who knows. It's all about ingress of water. It can get it.
 
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slclick

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Dec 17, 2013
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Cannon Man said:
Condensation is likely. Not sweat.

No one ever said 5D III is a pro level camera.. It's not even close to pro level! yeah pros use it but its built far from level of the 1D Cameras in terms of ruggedness, built quality, weather sealing, reliability.. Go 1D series!

Umbrage shall be taken with your choice of the words 'not even close' Guest person. It is close, it's one step away. That is the definition of close.
 
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Ozarker

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slclick said:
Cannon Man said:
Condensation is likely. Not sweat.

No one ever said 5D III is a pro level camera.. It's not even close to pro level! yeah pros use it but its built far from level of the 1D Cameras in terms of ruggedness, built quality, weather sealing, reliability.. Go 1D series!

Umbrage shall be taken with your choice of the words 'not even close' Guest person. It is close, it's one step away. That is the definition of close.

I think he passed away two years ago. Be nice. ;)
 
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YuengLinger

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And nobody ever asked in the thread if toddlers were present in the house when the mysterious water damage occurred. My 20 month old is on a mission to remove knobs from any electronics which still have them. Haven't caught him in the act once, so it might, in fact, be his slightly older sister--but she blames him.

They are getting better at doing other mischief and then hiding evidence to delay discovery.

Then there might be the drunken guest at a wedding who...Use your imagination. There are countless ways for "impossible" water damage to happen.

And some of the backpacks the past few years have been nearly water tight, so if a camera is in a damp bag in a car in hot sunlight, wouldn't considerable dampness be steamed into even a "sealed" camera, or through the lens mount?
 
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