My t3i got wet last weekend during our mountain excursion, and will not turn on. HELP!!!

[mfrench24]

I tried putting the body in a bag with rice, but it didn't help.  The battery seems to be charging up ok.  Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[ebiggs1]

Very first and most important. Don't try to turn it on before it is thourghly dry.  Most people do as they are worried and want to know if it still works but that can short circuit the electronics insdie.

It can take a very long time to dry it.  A warm, not hot, heating pad for several days is good.  The bag of rice is iffy and may or may not work.

How wet did it get?  Did the lens get wet also?  It is electronic too and must be dried.

Getting a camera wet that is not weather sealed is a death sentence if it needs repair.

[mfrench24]

Well, snap....of course, THAT was the first thing I did - try to turn it on.   Any idea of the cost of repair?  Or am I better off just getting another camera?  

[ebiggs1]

Of course, you can see what the cost is but most of the time a wet camera is bad news.  That is why I asked, how wet?

If it just splashed on it, it is very different than a total dunking.

I had a 2 year old spill about a cup of ketchup on one of mine one time and it wiped off with out damage after some serious cleaning.

[mfrench24]

Ok, gotcha.  It wasn't a total dunking, as in fell in a sink or bathtub, but we were at Grandfather Mountain and it started raining, and it got pretty wet.  The lens did get wet as well, but that seems to be working OK on my 20D.

[ebiggs1]

Best thing to do, is let it dry for a long time.  Use a warm heating pad.  Open all openings.  Flash, lens cover, battery cover, SD card, everything there is.

[TCampbell]

I had a phone that decided to go swimming (complete submersion... about 10' underwater.  It was probably down there for 10 minutes before we managed to fish it out.)  We fetched it and presumed it dead forever.  Tried to dry it out and even after a few days it seemed like it wasn't working.  

We replaced the phone, threw ihe old one in a drawer and forgot about it.  

About 3 months later, I noticed the phone... pulled it out... and it was working again.

It can take a long while to thoroughly dry these things out.  Warmth and extremely dry conditions help speed things along.

[ebiggs1]

"I tried putting the body in a bag with rice, but it didn't help."

Forget this.  It is nonsense.    Use the "warm" heating pad or even a hair dryer set to very low can help.