[MP-Ryan]

Wife and I have had an Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 since 2009.  It's the same model camera I have for work.  Alas, I think I killed it today.  It's waterproof... provided all the external access doors are shut.  We've had this thing to the Dominican Republic for snorkeling (twice!), in the North Pacific, and countless lakes and pools - and today was the day the USB door popped open in my pocket when we took our son to the local pool.

I immediately shook it out, took the battery out, and tried shaking it some more, then left it for an hour, but I didn't see the door was open when I first yanked it out of my [submerged] pocket, so I had already tried to turn it on.  It won't come on.  Since getting home, I shook as much water as I could out, then unscrewed the waterproof seals to expose the innards to the air as much as possible.  It's damp inside, but not soaked.  The battery is a sealed unit which appears to be just fine.  I stuff the half-apart camera in a ziploc bag with a bunch of rice (not having any silica bags at hand) and I'm going to leave it sealed in there for a couple days.  I think it's probably fried though; there isn't even a flicker of life if you try to turn it on.

Anyone have any other rescue suggestions worth trying?  It's lasted 3 years, not bad for a point-and-shoot subjected to this kind of wear, but I'd really like to rescue it if I can.

[Klaustrophobia]

i've heard many many people suggest leaving wet electronics in a bowl of rice overnight to get them dry.  i've never tried that myself.  i saved an ipod once just by letting it air out for several days before i turned it on, making sure the moisture i could see under the screen was gone.  maybe it will work having already tried to turn it on, maybe not.  don't really know.

what i DO know is that even if you get it working again, i wouldn't consider it waterproof anymore now that you've disassembled it.

[Nuke]

contrary to popular belief most electronics can survive getting wet. hell when you fabricate pcbs many of the steps involve washing the boards, such as to remove soldering flux. my favorite method is a partial disassemble and a heat lamp, chemical moisture scrubbers are good too, like silica gel (i also use them to keep taco shells from going stale).

[MP-Ryan]

what i DO know is that even if you get it working again, i wouldn't consider it waterproof anymore now that you've disassembled it.

The waterproofing seems to be accomplished by a series of rubber seals in grooves, and the screws just bring the grooves together.  Pretty simple and ingenious.  It'll probably be fine, provided it's survived.

[StarSlayer]

While I haven't first hand experience I've heard leaving wet electronics near the vent of the cable box or TV works wonders.

[Mongoose]

I've rescued two brothers' cell phones by just unscrewing as much as I could and leaving them out on a table for a day or so.  The second time, someone had put the phone into a bag of rice first, but I figured that wouldn't get very far and/or would take too long, so I ignored it.

[TwentyPercentCooler]

The rice trick does actually work, since if you've ever cooked it you realize how much water the stuff can absorb (which is why they put it in salt shakers in humid locations, to prevent clumping). Probably the worst thing to do, though, is try to turn it on, because you've got a pretty good chance of shorting something out. It's not the water that kills things directly, it's the shorts.

[Nuke]

i think youre better off with rock salt.

[Black Wolf]

I've been told that immersing it in methylated spirits is a good move - it's non conductive, non corrosive and will displace the water. But never having tried it, I'm not 100% sure if it will work.

[Colonol Dekker]

Air it out for a week.

The pictures survived i hope?

[NGTM-1R]

Given that you've repeatedly tried to turn it on while it was probably wet or immersed, it's shorted. It's dead. It ain't coming back.

You can leave it alone a week or so and try again, but I don't think it's going to help.

[pecenipicek]

I've been told that immersing it in methylated spirits is a good move - it's non conductive, non corrosive and will displace the water. But never having tried it, I'm not 100% sure if it will work.

Yup. Probably the best general cleaning solution ever. I've used the isopropyl alcohol for general removal of spills and such from a gpu. worked epic wonders.

(spilled a cup of coffee on my gpu, dont know how, but it survived XD)

[MP-Ryan]

Given that you've repeatedly tried to turn it on while it was probably wet or immersed, it's shorted. It's dead. It ain't coming back.

You can leave it alone a week or so and try again, but I don't think it's going to help.

This is what I was afraid of.  Wish I'd seen that it was open BEFORE I tried turning it on.  If it hasn't come back to life by Thursday, guess I'll go pick up the on-sale newer model as a replacement.  *sigh*

[Klaustrophobia]

what i DO know is that even if you get it working again, i wouldn't consider it waterproof anymore now that you've disassembled it.

The waterproofing seems to be accomplished by a series of rubber seals in grooves, and the screws just bring the grooves together.  Pretty simple and ingenious.  It'll probably be fine, provided it's survived.

problem is, the rubber gaskets won't necessarily work well when they are re-used.  The original clamp down of the screws bites into it and may permanently deform the rubber is such a way that it won't completely seal when it is re-clamped.

it might work, it might not.  but personally, i wouldn't treat it as if it were waterproof unless you're prepared for the possibility of loosing it for good. 

[Nuke]

Given that you've repeatedly tried to turn it on while it was probably wet or immersed, it's shorted. It's dead. It ain't coming back.

You can leave it alone a week or so and try again, but I don't think it's going to help.

This is what I was afraid of.  Wish I'd seen that it was open BEFORE I tried turning it on.  If it hasn't come back to life by Thursday, guess I'll go pick up the on-sale newer model as a replacement.  *sigh*

i should point out that the voltages are not really that high anywhere. most cell phones (and my camera, not necessarily all cameras) use a single cell lithium pack with a voltage no greater than 3.7v. granted these are capable of outputting enough current to fry some parts. for example it could bypass the voltage regulator and have unregulated power on the device's power rails. i should point out that there is likely current limiting circuitry in the battery itself, in addition water has a very high resistance so even if it does manage to jump across terminals it will likely not allow a large amount of current to pass. so dont write it off till youve at least tried to dry it out. you should remove the battery pack as well, and test with a multimeter if possible (if anything shorted out its likely the protection circuitry in the battery pack). i remember my brother in law once dropped his cell phone in seawater. he was using it 15 minutes later.

[Mongoose]

Yeah, I think my one brother's phone was on at the time of its dunking, yet it managed to survive.  Granted, phones don't have the sort of capacitors that a camera flash would require, but it's worth a shot.

[Nuke]

for some reasont i was thinking phones when i wrote that. yea the flash stores a pretty high voltage and that could probibly screw up some stuff assuming it was charged. of course while the voltage is very high i dont imagine the current being so much, though its still possible to kill chips with esd if that voltage is not well contained.