Anyone repaired water damage using CRIS?

scole · 05-22-2014, 07:17 PM

So it finally happened to me and I dunked all my camera gear into a river. My K-3, DA12-24 (attached to the body), DA55-300, and Sigma 17-70mm were all in my backpack when they went in to the water for about 3-4 seconds. When I got home that day, I went to the store and bought a bunch of rice and then put each lens (and body) in its own bag with rice. Today is day 5 and while I do see progress, I am expecting that not all the lenses will come out of this unscathed. I'm guessing that this kind of repair will run me about $150-200 per lens.

Does anyone have a similar experience and can shed some light on the repair cost?

Thanks!

Steve

Sorver · 05-22-2014, 09:21 PM - **1 Like**

Oh no Steve I feel for you I hope all of your quick action and thinking works for you.

scole · 05-22-2014, 10:16 PM

Thanks. It's a bummer for sure. Today is day #5 using the rice method and here's how things are going so far:

DA12-24:

Sigma 17-70. This one actually had water sloshing around immediately after my incident:

DA55-300:

Up until now, I've left the rear lens cap on over the lens mount for the Sigma & the 55-300 but tonight I decided to cover it with a paper towel and tape it in place. I'm hoping that encourages more moisture extraction.

dosdan · 05-22-2014, 10:35 PM - **1 Like**

I'd also be moving the zooms that are not IF designs in and out to encourage the pumping out of the moist air inside. That's what I do when I get fogging inside the DA* 60-250/F4 during a wet day's shooting.

Dan.

Last edited by dosdan; 05-22-2014 at 10:53 PM.

scole · 05-22-2014, 10:52 PM

Thanks, Dan. I did do a little bit of that while examining them tonight. They did seem to zoom normally so that was a good sign.

Sorver · 05-25-2014, 05:31 PM

Fingers crossed dare I ask if your home insurance would cover it with incidentals I just had my HS20EXR dropped and got paid by the insurance cost $100 to lay the claim but small in the big scheme of things

scole · 05-25-2014, 08:02 PM

No- the accident happened while out hiking so I can't claim it on home insurance (and I don't have my camera gear insured either). To update how things are going-

Today is day 8 and I pretty much have a handle on what was salvageable and what will need to be repaired. The DA12-24 was mounted on the body when my accident happened and had the least "visible" damage out of all the equipment. From my last post, you could still see some visible condensation inside on day #5. It seemingly all clear away on day #6 so I decided to try it out on my backup body (K-5). This is what it produced:

As you can see, there was some sort of haze or fog effect. I didn't see any issues with my naked eye but there was still something going on. I decided to leave it out and "air dry" for another day. Last night (day #7) I tried the lens again and had MUCH different results:

That's basically straight out of the camera. I was really relieved to see this! My Sigma 17-70mm was pretty much dried out but not without leaving water stains / streaks inside the elements:

That will have to be sent in for professional disassembly and cleaning. My third and final lens is my DA55-300 telephoto. As of tonight, this is how it looks:

That's also going to have to get repaired. I had pretty much ignored my K-3 body thinking that it would be fine due to weather seals. Apparently this was not the case. It never really displayed any real signs of condensation like on the LCD screen or the back of the display but did have just a touch of condensation would the viewfinder prism. So after 6 days in rice, I put a battery back in the body and turned the switch. Nothing. Oh dear..

Like the DA12-24, I decided to let it air dry. Yesterday it still wasn't powering up so I was resigning myself to the fact that I would have to also send in my body. I was getting ready to pack it up tonight and decided to try it one last time. Success!

I'm Sooooooo relieved to see the body come to life! Now, instead of sending 3 lenses and a body in for repairs, I'm only sending 2 lenses in. Finally some good luck!

amoringello · 05-26-2014, 03:11 AM

Originally posted by scole

No- the accident happened while out hiking so I can't claim it on home insurance (and I don't have my camera gear insured either). To update how things are going-

This is actually exactly where home owners insurance kicks in. Seems odd but thats how it works. Of course camera equipment is another thing. Being so expensive, you normally need additional insurance to cover that sort of stuff. But you can try. Sadly, it then does become a claim on your home owners insurance. Some insurance companies can be real ass-holes and put it as a mark against insuring your home next time. Look into it before you make a claim.

Never dunked my equipment, but my camera was water damaged.
You will basically be looking at replacing the camera. The "repair" cost may be a bit cheaper than buying new, but warranty will not cover water damage of any kind... even if it seems to be a fault of the camera's design or of the repair company failing to re-seal the camera body properly, and only light rain caused the problem.

scole · 05-26-2014, 10:04 AM

Hmm. That seems contratory to the purpose of home owners insurance but you learn something new everyday. I know any claim on HO insurance is basically a "hit" against you so I'm far more likely to just take the hit rather than screw myself later down the line when something REALLY bad happens like a tree crashing down into my house.

I think I'm going to just replace the DA55-300 instead of repair it. In the photos of it that I've posted, it appears to me that there's some sort of coating that has "eroded" in the center of the lens and I'm not sure that's something that the repair place can actually fix. In that case, a used copy of the DA55-300 can be had for not a whole lot more than the "worse case" repair quote I was given.

And yeah, I realize I just screwed myself in terms of the body's warranty. Even worse, I paid for the extra 2 year Pentax extended warranty when I bought the body. Oh well. I don't plan on doing this again and will be buying a dry bag to keep my stuff in when I'm around water.

Sorver · 05-26-2014, 11:56 PM

So know how you feel damned if you do damned if you don't. My gas cooktop had a leak so plumber said he could try to fix it but may cost more than buying a new one and still not be fixed is I decided to suck it up and get a new one the irony is if it had of been damaged in an accident insurance would have covered it but they don't cover wear and tear and it is only just 4 yrs old sigh that's my whinge still no where near as painful as yours

05-22-2014, 07:17 PM	#1
scole Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 216	Anyone repaired water damage using CRIS? So it finally happened to me and I dunked all my camera gear into a river. My K-3, DA12-24 (attached to the body), DA55-300, and Sigma 17-70mm were all in my backpack when they went in to the water for about 3-4 seconds. When I got home that day, I went to the store and bought a bunch of rice and then put each lens (and body) in its own bag with rice. Today is day 5 and while I do see progress, I am expecting that not all the lenses will come out of this unscathed. I'm guessing that this kind of repair will run me about $150-200 per lens. Does anyone have a similar experience and can shed some light on the repair cost? Thanks! Steve

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05-22-2014, 09:21 PM - 1 Like	#2
Sorver Veteran Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 440	Oh no Steve I feel for you I hope all of your quick action and thinking works for you.

05-22-2014, 10:16 PM	#3
scole Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 216 Original Poster	Thanks. It's a bummer for sure. Today is day #5 using the rice method and here's how things are going so far: DA12-24: Sigma 17-70. This one actually had water sloshing around immediately after my incident: DA55-300: Up until now, I've left the rear lens cap on over the lens mount for the Sigma & the 55-300 but tonight I decided to cover it with a paper towel and tape it in place. I'm hoping that encourages more moisture extraction.

05-22-2014, 10:35 PM - 1 Like	#4
dosdan Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Brisbane, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,741	I'd also be moving the zooms that are not IF designs in and out to encourage the pumping out of the moist air inside. That's what I do when I get fogging inside the DA* 60-250/F4 during a wet day's shooting. Dan. Last edited by dosdan; 05-22-2014 at 10:53 PM.

05-22-2014, 10:52 PM	#5
scole Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 216 Original Poster	Thanks, Dan. I did do a little bit of that while examining them tonight. They did seem to zoom normally so that was a good sign.

05-25-2014, 05:31 PM	#6
Sorver Veteran Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 440	Fingers crossed dare I ask if your home insurance would cover it with incidentals I just had my HS20EXR dropped and got paid by the insurance cost $100 to lay the claim but small in the big scheme of things

05-25-2014, 08:02 PM	#7
scole Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 216 Original Poster	No- the accident happened while out hiking so I can't claim it on home insurance (and I don't have my camera gear insured either). To update how things are going- Today is day 8 and I pretty much have a handle on what was salvageable and what will need to be repaired. The DA12-24 was mounted on the body when my accident happened and had the least "visible" damage out of all the equipment. From my last post, you could still see some visible condensation inside on day #5. It seemingly all clear away on day #6 so I decided to try it out on my backup body (K-5). This is what it produced: As you can see, there was some sort of haze or fog effect. I didn't see any issues with my naked eye but there was still something going on. I decided to leave it out and "air dry" for another day. Last night (day #7) I tried the lens again and had MUCH different results: That's basically straight out of the camera. I was really relieved to see this! My Sigma 17-70mm was pretty much dried out but not without leaving water stains / streaks inside the elements: That will have to be sent in for professional disassembly and cleaning. My third and final lens is my DA55-300 telephoto. As of tonight, this is how it looks: That's also going to have to get repaired. I had pretty much ignored my K-3 body thinking that it would be fine due to weather seals. Apparently this was not the case. It never really displayed any real signs of condensation like on the LCD screen or the back of the display but did have just a touch of condensation would the viewfinder prism. So after 6 days in rice, I put a battery back in the body and turned the switch. Nothing. Oh dear.. Like the DA12-24, I decided to let it air dry. Yesterday it still wasn't powering up so I was resigning myself to the fact that I would have to also send in my body. I was getting ready to pack it up tonight and decided to try it one last time. Success! I'm Sooooooo relieved to see the body come to life! Now, instead of sending 3 lenses and a body in for repairs, I'm only sending 2 lenses in. Finally some good luck!

05-26-2014, 03:11 AM	#8
amoringello Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Virginia, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,562	Originally posted by scole No- the accident happened while out hiking so I can't claim it on home insurance (and I don't have my camera gear insured either). To update how things are going- This is actually exactly where home owners insurance kicks in. Seems odd but thats how it works. Of course camera equipment is another thing. Being so expensive, you normally need additional insurance to cover that sort of stuff. But you can try. Sadly, it then does become a claim on your home owners insurance. Some insurance companies can be real ass-holes and put it as a mark against insuring your home next time. Look into it before you make a claim. Never dunked my equipment, but my camera was water damaged. You will basically be looking at replacing the camera. The "repair" cost may be a bit cheaper than buying new, but warranty will not cover water damage of any kind... even if it seems to be a fault of the camera's design or of the repair company failing to re-seal the camera body properly, and only light rain caused the problem.

05-26-2014, 10:04 AM	#9
scole Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 216 Original Poster	Hmm. That seems contratory to the purpose of home owners insurance but you learn something new everyday. I know any claim on HO insurance is basically a "hit" against you so I'm far more likely to just take the hit rather than screw myself later down the line when something REALLY bad happens like a tree crashing down into my house. I think I'm going to just replace the DA55-300 instead of repair it. In the photos of it that I've posted, it appears to me that there's some sort of coating that has "eroded" in the center of the lens and I'm not sure that's something that the repair place can actually fix. In that case, a used copy of the DA55-300 can be had for not a whole lot more than the "worse case" repair quote I was given. And yeah, I realize I just screwed myself in terms of the body's warranty. Even worse, I paid for the extra 2 year Pentax extended warranty when I bought the body. Oh well. I don't plan on doing this again and will be buying a dry bag to keep my stuff in when I'm around water.

05-26-2014, 11:56 PM	#10
Sorver Veteran Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 440	So know how you feel damned if you do damned if you don't. My gas cooktop had a leak so plumber said he could try to fix it but may cost more than buying a new one and still not be fixed is I decided to suck it up and get a new one the irony is if it had of been damaged in an accident insurance would have covered it but they don't cover wear and tear and it is only just 4 yrs old sigh that's my whinge still no where near as painful as yours