Camera equipment and water damage - any ideas?

[Yvonne]

Unfortunately Western New York was in the path of Hurricane Sandy and I took a hit from it and had a severe water damage in my house. Beside the property damage all my camera gear is affected.
My new Nikon D7000 is damaged, as well as all external hard drives with all my pictures, my netbook, several lenses etc.
Maybe everything is a total loss.

Any ideas - does it make sense to try to send it in and lets try to get it fixed? Maybe there is a slight change to get it fixed. Or eventually recover at least a few pictures?
The camera still has its warranty.
At the moment I'm more than shocked with everything.

 

[Nick]

So sorry, Yvonne!

Chances are the camera body is toast but definitely worth sending it in. I've read that they often won't repair it if they know it's water damage but may offer some discount on a replacement. Definitely worth getting the eval though. No clue on the netbook but the contents of the hard drive should be totally recoverable, just might have to pay to get it done.

 

[Yvonne]

thanks Nick
I know your camera had a water damage, too. But somehow they didn't find any water in it?
How long was your camera in the water? Maybe it wasn't long enough. Unfortunately that wasn't the case with my camera

I guess it could be tricky to get anything back , but I'll give it a try.
It totally sucks because the camera body is less than six months old.
And I definitely need a camera again in the future.

The netbook is the least problem, I was already considering buying a new one.
But the two external hard drives, 1TB each, and basically with all pictures since 2009 is a real bummer.
At least I have my S95 left because it was in my backpack in my car.

Still hoping my insurance will pay at least partially. Not sure how they will handle it.
The water damage was definitely the fault of my HOA, they haven't taken care of the roof when they were supposed to do it a few weeks ago. And that triggered the chain reaction.

 

[John Fowler]

Sad news. Please accept my sympathy. Maybe you can get the files from the hard drives recovered. I hope so.

 

[Dave]

Pretty much all modern electronics contain moisture-sensitive triggers that will tell any repair person if the device has been exposed to water.

The biggest risk is from corrosion. The secondary risk is electrical shorting. So first and foremost, remove any batteries and do not try to turn the device on. Then, use some form of desiccant to remove the residual moisture. If the flood water was dirty or tainted, you might want to first flush the device with clean water. Don't use canned air because it can force moisture into places it isn't already.

Desiccant packs often come with electronics or textiles (silica beads are common... they're usually in little packets that say do not eat). If you can't find any of those, you can use uncooked white rice. Leave the affected item to dry surrounded by the desiccant for 12-24 hours. Thoroughly clean the item and then try to power it on. If it doesn't work at that point, it's repair time.

 

[Dan]

Damn... Super sorry to hear this. Do you have homeowners/renters insurance?

 

[Bill]

Sorry Yvonne, that sucks big time.

 

[Laura]

So sorry to hear that Yvonne but glad you are okay. I don't know how long your camera was underwater but when mine got drenched by a wave (salt water) I took out the batteries and put it in a bag of rice for 48 hours then took it to a camera repair shop. The worst damage was from me trying to turn it on after the drenching, not from the actual water-I shorted out the main control board. It was repairable in the end. Not 100%, but it still was able to take good pictures. Good luck!

 

[barl0w]

I'm sorry to hear this as well. If you have insurance, I'd go that route.

 

[Yvonne]

Damn... Super sorry to hear this. Do you have homeowners/renters insurance?

I have homeowners insurance, but flooding is not included.
I have to figure out and negotiate with my insurance company if they will handle this as flooding or not. Actually it's a water damage caused by a roof damage and the heavy rain we had.
It sucks anyway.

The biggest risk is from corrosion. The secondary risk is electrical shorting. So first and foremost, remove any batteries and do not try to turn the device on. Then, use some form of desiccant to remove the residual moisture. If the flood water was dirty or tainted, you might want to first flush the device with clean water. Don't use canned air because it can force moisture into places it isn't already.

Desiccant packs often come with electronics or textiles (silica beads are common... they're usually in little packets that say do not eat). If you can't find any of those, you can use uncooked white rice. Leave the affected item to dry surrounded by the desiccant for 12-24 hours. Thoroughly clean the item and then try to power it on. If it doesn't work at that point, it's repair time.

thanks for all the helpful information.
I did remove the battery, it somehow was the only thing I could remember to do.
Right now I use the rice method and let the camera and battery dry, hopefully it helps a bit. Tomorrow I'll go to my local camera store where I bought the camera in May and let them sent it in.
Eventually there is a slight chance to fix it, but somehow I don't think they can do anything.

At least I still have my house and most of the stuff survived, but it sucks anyway.

 

[Dave]

I have homeowners insurance, but flooding is not included.
I have to figure out and negotiate with my insurance company if they will handle this as flooding or not. Actually it's a water damage caused by a roof damage and the heavy rain we had.
It sucks anyway.

Typically if it's roof damage, it's not technically considered flooding so you might be covered. That's especially true if wind or a fallen tree can be blamed for the roofing failure. Just FYI.

 

[Bill]

I would go the insurance route before I tired to do a repair...

 

[DAA]

Sorry to hear. That sucks... As others have said, I'd start with insurance on the camera. And the external HD's, as already noted, might have to pay for it but the data should absolutely be recoverable.

- DAA

 

[Yvonne]

thanks everyone
I had someone from my insurance company at home and it seems that they will cover the damage.
Maybe I'm more than lucky. I had to do a paint job anyway and need to do some home improvements before selling my house.
Right now it seems my insurance covers most of it.
Hope it doesn't take too long to get a replacement for my camera or whatever they will suggest in that case.

But I'm still lucky, a few homes in my neighborhood have taken a toll on Hurricane Sandy and have severe damages.

 

[blueeyes]

I thought of you on Sunday and Monday. Glad you are safe and happy to hear the insurance company is going to cover damages.

 

[pixie1339]

I'm so sorry Yvonne! I'm glad that you're okay and I hope that you're able to recover your pictures from the hard drives.

 

[Yvonne]

I thought of you on Sunday and Monday. Glad you are safe and happy to hear the insurance company is going to cover damages.

they even waive the deductibles in all affected areas. At least they said it in the news.
I hope I'm done with everything before I move end of December.
I guess we'll see each other quite a lot in the future....

I'm so sorry Yvonne! I'm glad that you're okay and I hope that you're able to recover your pictures from the hard drives.

I hope so, Lisa. I especially hope to get the pictures of my husband recovered. That would hurt the most if they couldn't recover those shots. All the other landscape shots I can retake in the future

 

[jdgibney]

I'm glad you're safe, and sorry to hear about the damage, hopefully it isn't too much of a hassle. Glad to hear that insurance will take care of you, I hope you can get your files!
Thankfully we just got a lot of rain and wind, but no damage here (high wind gusts over 70mph though and a full day's rain, lots of trees down and power outages in the area, but we were lucky)

 

[Yvonne]

wow Josh, I thought you got affected as well. No power outages or flooding at all?
Here in Western New York it is raining without stopping since last Saturday. We had no rain for months and all of a sudden we basically got the whole amount of the year in a few days.
I somehow feel like Forrest Gump because we had all kind of rain since then.

and I can't see rain anymore....
But it's not stopping until Sunday.

 

[jdgibney]

Probably 1/4 of our state lost power, we were just lucky where we are. Lost it for literally 25 seconds on Monday, that's all. Lots of trees down, and street flooding, but as far as I know, for the most part, the rivers stayed down, unlike the flooding we had from Irene last year (moreso in vermont )

I'm thankful it wasn't much much worse, especially like what I've seen in your state and NJ.