I think I killed my Bronica

wilfbiffherb · Nov 9, 2013

Ive got a bronica sqa kit which I just pulled out as I fanvied shooting some landscaped today and it appears to have died. A few weeks ago it got momentarily partially submerged by the ocean. I got it home, dried it out and got it working ok. But now the shutter speeds dont change at all ecen though the battery test light lights up as nornal. I tried 3 lenses and the same thing happens. Even if I switch to timed mode on the lenses the shutter still fires at the same speed im guessing that the body has died and isnt worth trying to repair.

Let this be a lesson to anyone reading-watch out when the tide comes in!!

BMbikerider · Nov 9, 2013

Salt water is to cameras, like arsenic is to a human. Give it a good burial it has died peacefully in its sleep. Even if you dried it out, salt is hydroscopic and it will have absorbed moisture and set up almost irreversible corrosion. Sorry, its not a good way to go.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 9, 2013

wilfbiffherb said:
Ive got a bronica sqa kit which I just pulled out as I fanvied shooting some landscaped today and it appears to have died. A few weeks ago it got momentarily partially submerged by the ocean. I got it home, dried it out and got it working ok. But now the shutter speeds dont change at all ecen though the battery test light lights up as nornal. I tried 3 lenses and the same thing happens. Even if I switch to timed mode on the lenses the shutter still fires at the same speed im guessing that the body has died and isnt worth trying to repair.

Let this be a lesson to anyone reading-watch out when the tide comes in!!

don't give her up yet. most likely worth a CLA.

wiltw · Nov 9, 2013

Corrosive properities of ocean water kills electrical contacts. Even if the shutter speed dial contacts can be cleaned, the corrosion can be elsewhere. I am told that Canon today refuses to try to repair salt-water immersed cameras due to the corrosion (of circuit traces on printed circuits and other electrical components) in modern cameras.

paul_c5x4 · Nov 9, 2013

BMbikerider said:
Give it a good burial it has died peacefully in its sleep.

Considering the time of year, a funeral pyre. If the neighbours complain, tell them it is in memory of Mr Fawkes (1570-1606).

wilfbiffherb: Look upon it as an opportunity to upgrade to an SQ-Ai body or trade up to 5x4

Tom1956 · Nov 9, 2013

Personally I would drop it in a big pot of very hot distilled water (being non-conductive) and follow it up in a bath of everclear or some other kind of pure alcohol. It should emerge with no salt anywhere, but no lubricant either. But it will be clean. Make your decision then.

lxdude · Nov 9, 2013

Tom1956 said:
Personally I would drop it in a big pot of very hot distilled water (being non-conductive) and follow it up in a bath of everclear or some other kind of pure alcohol. It should emerge with no salt anywhere, but no lubricant either. But it will be clean. Make your decision then.

Won't that be rather hard on any non-metal parts?

lxdude · Nov 9, 2013

I think the camera might have survived if it had been immediately immersed in clean water, then CLA'd, but now... some corrosion has already occurred so I'd give up on it and get another. Good SQA's are really inexpensive now.

Tom1956 · Nov 9, 2013

lxdude said:
Won't that be rather hard on any non-metal parts?

I didn't say boiling water. Maybe 140F or so. Hot enough maybe to almost scald your hand. Any hotter and the plastic parts might well be warped. My point is that salt mixes better in hot water than cold. The alcohol afterwards to bind with the water and cause good evaporation. One thing's for sure--the ocean water was likely the death knell, so what have you got to lose?

TheToadMen · Nov 9, 2013

Tom1956 said:
I didn't say boiling water. Maybe 140F or so. Hot enough maybe to almost scald your hand. Any hotter and the plastic parts might well be warped. My point is that salt mixes better in hot water than cold. The alcohol afterwards to bind with the water and cause good evaporation. One thing's for sure--the ocean water was likely the death knell, so what have you got to lose?

Sounds a bit like:
"When you spill white wine on your dress, immediately soak it with red wine to get the stain out!".
But what do I know?

elekm · Nov 9, 2013

I might try the hot water approach but in the meantime I'd buy another body. Salt water is just devastating to electronic/electrical devices.

And it was pretty tough on aliens (in "Alien Nation").

Truzi · Nov 9, 2013

TheToadMen said:
Sounds a bit like:
"When you spill white wine on your dress, immediately soak it with red wine to get the stain out!"

That only works on light colored dresses

It may be possible to save the camera, but whether it is worth the effort is another consideration. To do it correctly, you would have to disassemble everything and clean it very good with a solvent that will remove the salt, leave no residue, and create/promote NO corrosion of it's own. It would be a lot of work that is better left to someone with experience in this area. Even then, it may be too late as the damage may have irreversible on some parts.

As an example, something could have shorted, frying a small component or chip. Also, lets say only one electronic contact corroded, and you cleaned it and everything works again. That contact can be more prone to corroding in the future, requiring a fix every so often. A contact working well enough to pass electricity, but corroded and not making "good" contact can through off the accuracy of metering. There are many scenarios.

If it has sentimental value, by all means, see if you can have it fixed. If not, it would probably be cheaper and more reliable to purchase another.

doughowk · Nov 9, 2013

I'm a novice with Bronica SQ-As; but when the battery is dead, the camera will supposedly fire at one speed -similar to what you are experiencing?
If any lens also took the plunge, it too would likely have an electrical contact problem for its shutter.

lxdude · Nov 9, 2013

Tom1956 said:
I didn't say boiling water. Maybe 140F or so. Hot enough maybe to almost scald your hand. Any hotter and the plastic parts might well be warped.

But you said "very hot". To me, very hot is like 180, and hot is 140-160.

lxdude · Nov 9, 2013

doughowk said:
I'm a novice with Bronica SQ-As; but when the battery is dead, the camera will supposedly fire at one speed -similar to what you are experiencing?

Good point.

Xmas · Nov 9, 2013

dropping any camera in salt water is normally fatal if your nikonos floods you get it serviced immediately after immersion in fresh...

DWThomas · Nov 10, 2013

Salt water being conductive, it is quite likely that fine circuit traces or connecting wires could be electrolytically corroded to the point of disconnection in a matter of minutes if the battery was installed when the camera was immersed. I would not be very optimistic about resurrecting this camera. (Which makes me sad, as an SQ-A owner myself!)

wilfbiffherb · Nov 11, 2013

Im on the lookout for a new body. fortunately they're pretty cheap (unless you get a quote from the real camera store in manchester - £199 my ass!)

pasiasty · Nov 11, 2013

I once got a broken SQ-Ai with three broken lenses in really bad condition - for spare parts, it costed me the same as a repair-shop asked for a single screw. The camera apparently had been flooded in mud, lenses looked like surviving several sand storms. But, after inspecting the body, I realised that it had been actually intact. Only battery connectors needed cleaning. Now it's alive and kicking.

wilfbiffherb · Nov 11, 2013

that's pretty impressive! my lenses are filled with dust, i should probably upgrade to some PS lenses but bronica stuff seems to have dried up on ebay...

pasiasty · Nov 11, 2013

Bronica lenses are quite easy to dis- and re-assemble, see http://www.buonaluce.com/
BTW - dust inside lenses is quite common, and usually is only a cosmetic problem. Or take it as a advantage: you don't have to buy expensive Tiffen Ultra Contrast filters

TheToadMen · Nov 11, 2013

wilfbiffherb said:
that's pretty impressive! my lenses are filled with dust, i should probably upgrade to some PS lenses but bronica stuff seems to have dried up on ebay...

But not on APUG. There were several offers lately and some didn't sell so there should be something interesting still around.

wilfbiffherb · Nov 11, 2013

Unfortunately not so many in the UK

paul_c5x4 · Nov 11, 2013

Just checked ebay.co.uk - Get some 190 hits for SQ bits. A handful of bodies (two or three at good prices currently), quite a few lenses as well as some overpriced backs.
A couple of gems in amongst that lot, one I might just bid on myself.

I think I killed my Bronica

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