[Michaelina2]

of replacement "tuition" for a hard lesson learned, then move on and enjoy the rest of your life.

Cheers...

[paulelescoces]

I guess that you dont have too much to lose in playing around to see if you can get it working again...

I would probably try and dry it out first for a few days.... try the rice idea and then after 2-3 days try again...

if this does not work... try dunking it in freshwater for a few days (make sure to remove battery & memory card ).... after this, back in the rice to dry off.... you may need to refresh the rice as it moistens.

If that does not work you can try and break the jigsaw apart and clean the boards in fresh water... I have never opened a DSLR so am unsure how easy/complicated this may be... I do expect however if you get this far you really dont have much to lose if you break something.

[Marc Sabatella]

FWIW, whether you get this working again or end up having to buy a new camera, consider insuring it. $40/year buys you a no deductible, an all-risk-everywhere policy that will cover pretty much all the photographic equipment you're likely to own at once. Mine is from State Farm and is called a "Personal Articles" policy; I imagine others offer something similar.

[Mike.P®]

Once, we received one body in a Tupperware container full of fresh water (batteries removed).

[JeffJS]

Well that sucks. Kind of makes the case for weather sealing of the bodies and lenses. I'm afraid the others are probably correct, the camera is roached beyond cost effective repair.

[chromo]

I'm thinking that because it was a wave that got your camera, and camera bodies are a reasonably tight fit, not much water would have got right inside.

Just dry it as in post #10. In my opinion it's your best option.

If it still doesn't work after a week of drying, then you can go to option #2, pull it apart and wash it.

Good luck with it,
Chromo.

[shiner]

Was your freak wave like this one?

[basso4735]

I guess that you dont have too much to lose in playing around to see if you can get it working again...

I would probably try and dry it out first for a few days.... try the rice idea and then after 2-3 days try again...

if this does not work... try dunking it in freshwater for a few days (make sure to remove battery & memory card ).... after this, back in the rice to dry off.... you may need to refresh the rice as it moistens.

If that does not work you can try and break the jigsaw apart and clean the boards in fresh water... I have never opened a DSLR so am unsure how easy/complicated this may be... I do expect however if you get this far you really dont have much to lose if you break something.

better off using rubbing alcohol instead of water im pretty sure.

[distudio]

better off using rubbing alcohol instead of water im pretty sure.

The idea is to dissolve the salt, replacing fresh water with de-ionised though the water changes during the cleaning process, in the end all components should be free of contaminants. Basically though this type of gear doesn't lend it's self to washing and really just shouldn't be dunked in the first place. Accidents do happen and some things just can't be fixed economically.

[jgredline]

Sorry to read this. This is where new technology is a pain. I dropped my K1000 in a stream a couple of years ago. I simply let it dry and still works like it did before. My Pentax ME-F also got soaked at the beach when A wave hit me and I ended up going to the showers and washing it off and it worked perfectly.

[Pentaxor]

this is exactly one of the reasons why the K-7 is worth the extra bucks.

[wlachan]

Any cameras soaked by sea water = instant death. You can try anything but you cannot stop the corrosion inside. Sorry for your loss.

[El Zoido]

I think using an alcohol like isopropyl alcohol which is used (amongst other things) for cleaning electronics would help.
However I'm not sure if it can easily dissolve salts.
So maybe as a first step you should use deionized water and put it in isopropyl afterwards. This should remove all of the remaining water and the alcohol will dry off fast on it's own.

However, this has to be done as soon as possible, so it's probably to late now.

[chromo]

Electronics is one of the things I do for a living.
I have had to cleaned many boards in different ways depending on the device and type of damage to bring them back to life. This even includes computer motherboards, video cards etc.

In this case :
If the salt water didn't cause a short, then your camera might be able to be saved.
Any permanent corrosion damage from the salt will not happen straight away. We're talking about brass, copper, tin, lead, gold and silver here, not steel which will rust almost immediately.

You need to do 2 things.
1/ Test it.
2/ If it works, permanently fix it.

Do not dunk the whole camera in a bucket of water. You will only help to spread the salt into places that you don't want it to go.

Dry it by leaving it face down and without the lens in a warm place.
Test it.
If it works then either give it to Pentax or pull it apart yourself. There are manuals on the net.
If you do the job, wash the circuit boards with clean water and an artist's brush and dry with compressed air.

Don't use any type of alcohol. You need to dissolve the salt and carry it away.

Basically, check if you can get it working, then go ahead and get rid of the salt before it does cause corrosion.

Lastly, If it doesn't work after drying it, pull it apart and clean it anyway. The salt on the circuit board could conduct enough to trigger or fail sensitive circuits.

Testing first will help you decide if you fix it or pay Pentax.
Hint, some good camera shops have technicians who will clean it for you a bit cheaper than P.

Good luck,
Chromo.

[chromo]

Just wondering , did the camera work after drying it ???