Help! Water in my Minolta Spotmeter F

[David Aimone]

I was shooting near a river yesterday, and I definitely didn't drop the spotmeter into the water, but when I went to use it, it was dead. There was a little bit of water in the battery compartment; a few drops of moisture on the inside of the digital display, and moisture/fogginess on the lens of the meter.

What do people suggest I do? There is no apparently easy way to open it up, as far as I can see...

Thanks!

[fecaleagle]

First I'd try the "dropped the phone in the toilet" trick and put it in a ziplock bag full of rice for 24-48 hours. Same principle as silica packets, as the rice draws away and holds onto the moisture that was in the device. If that doesn't bring it back to life, I've given a computer motherboard a 99% isopropyl alcohol bath in a pinch. It's excellent for cleaning away deposits left on the electronics and obviously evaporates exceedingly quickly. I'd wait for a second opinion, but the rice trick is a good start.

[David Aimone]

I'll give it a try William!

[Drew Wiley]

Ditto. I always have some high-quality indicator silica gel on hand (it changes color when its hydrated, so you know when to bake it dry again). I'd put the meter
in a tightly sealed little Tupperware box with the silica gel for about a week. I also use tape around the lid of the box to make it even more moisture tight. I've rescued meters and lenses many times this way.

[Drew Wiley]

... but if that doesn't work, then send the meter for service to somebody like Quality Light Metric in Hollywood. He'll clean as well as recalibrate it for about a hundred bucks.

[David Aimone]

Thanks, I will try drying it out and then sending it out if I need to. Good thing I have two!

[Jim Noel]

Buy a new meter.

[rcmartins]

Water is not a problem for electronic equipment, unless it is powered when immersed and the voltages are high enough to originate high currents (currents that actually destroy components). This hardly ever is the case in battery operated gear and much less so if the water has low conductivity (not salted). When something like that happens to me I just remove the batteries, wash with demineralized water (don't be afraid, its harmless to electronics), dry with a hairdryer until fully dry or immerse in a rice pond like someone else suggested or other moisture absorbing substance (silica-gel, for instance). Once you feel it dry just power it again. The worst thing one can do in these situations is to leave mineral residue from the water in the board. It might work at first, but give you years of unreliable functioning afterwards- Also, careful with the hairdryer not to overheat the circuits. That would be way more harmful than the water. I really don't appreciate water for drinking purposes but other than that, it really is quite useful and harmless :)
raul

[Leigh]

Probably too late now, but...

The first step in any water situation is to immerse the item in pure deionized demineralized water, for at least 24 hours.
You should take it out and drain it every couple of hours.

This very important, to remove any mineral content in the contaminating fluid.

After that process, you can dry it by whatever means is convenient.

If you dry it without that thorough rinse step, all you're doing is depositing any minerals on the circuitry.

- Leigh