What to do if my Digital Camera Gets Damp & Doesn't Work

Had to bring the camera out & about yesterday. Had it in it's camera pouch, in a rucksack. I was on the bike & got caught in a big shower. When I got to where I was going the camera still worked but it had got slightly damp. It even worked later that evening, but then........nothing. Anyone got a tip to get it back working again. At the moment I've got it well wrapped up in a tea towel on top of a radiator. It's a nice Nikon Coolpix camera so hopefully there's no lasting damage.

for starters take it out of the towel and open it up to the air so it can dry out..

Fingers crossed. Go easy on the heat, though...

In fact, you would probably be better off placing it somewhere a little less warm, but where the air can circulate — and leave the battery compartment/memory card slot open.

[Edit: post crossed with threeticks']

Hairdryer.

I once had a camera with a film in it and a few pics taken that i wanted to keep. A hairdrier might have destroyed the film as would opening it up. I opened it slightly not to let too much light get in, then placed it in a box along with silica gel sachets I had from shoe purchases. (I keep those sachets for things like this )

Seemed to work fine although the film that was exposed and not wrapped up got a bit damaged. Don't know if it was light/moisture or the silica gel.

I had a pager that I had clipped on my jeans, but forgot they were button jeans and when opening them to go to the loo, as you yank with force the pager fell into the loo!!! Told work of course that it fell in the sink! Anyway first thing I did was take battery out, dried with hairdryer, the screen was still dark, so I put it in the hot press/airing cupboard close enough but not touching the immersion. After about 2 days and ringing the paging service for messages all weekend, it worked as good as new, albeit with a slight dark patch on the display. From what I know, it's batteries out, then dry as quickly as possible.

Yep, didn't leave it on the radiator too long. Still not working but have all the bits out in the open. When it comes out of it's coma I'll let you know. Cheers for the tips.

No joy :mad:
Called into a camera shop & yer man gave me a load of those Silca Gel packets like Snakebite recommended. Left it in a container for a few days but nothing. He said it would cost around 180 Euro to get fixed. Just ordered the Pentax Camera that's on IBOOD today. Just needed something small & compact to carry around.

You should have dried it immediately in a hot press or cool-to-warm oven. It has now got corrosion on the adjoining Printed Circuit Board (PCB) plates. In principle, no material is corrosionresistant.However, materials react very differently, depending on the conditions to which they are exposed. Under unfavourable conditions corrosion can be extensive, whilst under ideal conditions materials may corrode very little. Corrosion is hence not material-dependent, but rather system-dependent. If you were to open it up you would have to clean this corrosion off with wire wool (I have found this good in the past for this type work) DO NOT use solvents or petrol on PCB's, as it will break the board down. use alcohol [ MUST BE 100%], or nail polish remover [Acetone] are best for this job. If you are using acetone , be sparing ,using a tooth brush, and then a quick dip , agitate, and dry immediately.I don't propose you use too much acetone.It should operate as good as new.

This might be of some help:
http://www.miniarcade.com/repair.htm

I wonder if leaving the camera in front of a de-humidifier overnight with the battery out would help?