[PacoX8]

Hi all!

Today I might have killed my beloved K-5.
Last week I went to photograph Dakar that passed over my country (among Perú and Argentina), this may have my last pictures with my Pentax so if you like, here's the link.
So my Pentax K-5 + 18-55 WR worked wonderfully with all the dust that came to me at the photoshoot, I spent a wonderful day and of course got very dirty. But today I had this brilliant idea (now I know it was a wrong idea, but when you know you have an excellent sealed camera you'd think nothing will happen) of pour some good amount of water in my garden with the water hose. The pressure was ok, I mean it wasn't in the type of a shower, but in any case was a high pressure stream, not at all, medium pressure.

So first minutes after it worked very well, but then the shutter button stopped working, it seemed an amount of water passed through the buttons, then the screen stopped working and finally it died. Took apart the lens and got a lot of drops inside the body (lens seal didn't work either?), put some hair dryer to evaporate rebel drops, then some silica gel.

Right now I have it without the lens and all open with 10 bags of silica and some rice all in a bag closed, hoping that tommorow or past it will revive, it would be a great loss I missed it already.

Do you think my copy was flawed? Was I an stupid for doing that?

BTW, I bought it used and I have it for almost a year after bought, yeah, is out of warranty, not to mention Pentax is not present in Chile. Ohh well.

[Adam]

Weather sealing isn't designed to keep water or moisture out if it's under pressure. A normal shower would have probably been fine, but not this

[PacoX8]

Weather sealing isn't designed to keep water or moisture out if it's under pressure. A normal shower would have probably been fine, but not this

It was something like this

You Tube

You Tube

maybe just a little more of pressure, but yeah I already feel dumb, thanks for response.

[oxidized]

Yup. I have to agreed with Adam. A shower/rain is okay but any amount of pressure is enough for failure. For example if you submerge it in water (even barely) it is likely the seals will fail. I am really sorry for the loss

[PacoX8]

Yup. I have to agreed with Adam. A shower/rain is okay but any amount of pressure is enough for failure. For example if you submerge it in water (even barely) it is likely the seals will fail. I am really sorry for the loss

I hope it isn't lost yet, maybe the legend of K-5 is in my side here, ormaybe not, if not I will take it to a technical service for last chance.

[jimr-pdx]

No guarantees with electronics though, once shorted they may not come back happy ever after - sure wish it would for your sake.

I once dunked a Pentax SLR in a Sierra Nevada creek. I pulled the battery immediately, and let everything dry for about 18 hours, and the camera worked fine*. I later took the camera into a shop on Pentax rep-day, they opened it up to clean it & said it looked perfect, apparently that creek was as clean as I thought!

* Sadly the lens did not have a happy ending, it was skewed at the mount so only half my pictures (the left half!) were in focus after that.

[Ex Finn.]

I know the K7 and K5 can handle rain and a gentle wash under the sink, maybe not hosing down.
I hope your unit recovers ok.

---

Last edited by Ex Finn.; 11-11-2014 at 05:46 PM.

[ElJamoquio]

Take out the battery (as mentioned above) and try to leave it somewhere dry and warm for a few days. I would guess that the silica isn't going to be enough.

[elliott]

Keep in mind the 18-55mm isn't as weather sealed as the 16-50mm, it is better than nothing and will do great in rainy conditions, but most of the extreme demonstrations of weather sealing you see with the Pentax bodies is with a DA* lens mounted.

[PacoX8]

Take out the battery (as mentioned above) and try to leave it somewhere dry and warm for a few days. I would guess that the silica isn't going to be enough.

I have this bag closed with many silica gel near the camera and two glasses of rice at the sides, tomorrow I'll buy more silica gel bags if I find.

Keep in mind the 18-55mm isn't as weather sealed as the 16-50mm, it is better than nothing and will do great in rainy conditions, but most of the extreme demonstrations of weather sealing you see with the Pentax bodies is with a DA* lens mounted.

I didn't know that, it sure won't erase of my head from now on
Thanks

[TropicalMonkey]

I know the K7 and K5 can handle rain and a gentle wash under the sink, maybe not hosing down.
I hope your unit recovers ok.

I will never dare to do that with my K5 (or may be only after 10,000 shots)!
How cold was it?

[kiwi_jono]

I have spent a bit of design time with IP54 enclosures in my previous electronics design life and the other thing to keep in mind is most "weather resistant" gear is designed to have water fall primarily on it from the top. There are usually very small drain holes / vents under the equipment somewhere (have not looked at my K-5 yet) because semi sealed units still need to "breath" (they air pressure inside will drop when it cools off sucking in air anywhere it can so this is usually in a controlled manner through a very small opening (probably filtered) somewhere away from where the water is likely to hit it.
Typically if you place such electronics in pooled water (even shallow) there is a risk of moisture being sucked into the enclosure. Maybe the K-5 design is particularly clever but this is usually the case.

[disco_owner]

It would help if the soldier doing the demonstration in afghanestan removed the Lens cap from Da*50-135 to take a Picture....

[Eulogy]

I have spent a bit of design time with IP54 enclosures in my previous electronics design life and the other thing to keep in mind is most "weather resistant" gear is designed to have water fall primarily on it from the top. There are usually very small drain holes / vents under the equipment somewhere (have not looked at my K-5 yet) because semi sealed units still need to "breath" (they air pressure inside will drop when it cools off sucking in air anywhere it can so this is usually in a controlled manner through a very small opening (probably filtered) somewhere away from where the water is likely to hit it.
Typically if you place such electronics in pooled water (even shallow) there is a risk of moisture being sucked into the enclosure. Maybe the K-5 design is particularly clever but this is usually the case.

Pentax Reps have shown this to be false, they dump it on the bottom, sides and even on the front element of a lens. No damage. Most of the "Breathing" is done through the mic input, from what I've seen. (And 3.5mm jacks aren't that negatively affected by water, at least not the amount you'd see from rain or even a shower head) - It's also worth noting, the mic jack has a rubber cap for this reason. When it's capped, most the pressure still leaves through it, but it does increase the amount pushed through the SD slot.(Never noticed air being sucked into the SD slot though, unlike the mic port)

[Ex Finn.]

I will never dare to do that with my K5 (or may be only after 10,000 shots)!
How cold was it?

Probably around 25 to 28 F, so not that cold.