How to fix Canon Camera?

July 2, 2007 6:57 PM

On the fifth day of using my Canon SD800, sand got in the internals and it died. How do I fix it for the cheapest?

I underestimated the hostility of the Great Sand Dunes - I expected a day at the beach, not piles of sand in my ears and camera.

Specifically, the lens began having obvious problems and it soon gave me a Lens Error. But 2 seconds after the error showed up, it powered off and hasn't come back on since. The second part is the one that I can't find anything about except a feeling that the Lens Error probably isn't supposed to cause that.

The warranty specifically does not cover sand. I live in NYC, if there's a cheap place, and I'm interested in hearing how much Canon would charge to fix it. I'm fine with taking the thing apart myself, especially since I don't know how likely it is that the not turning on problem is recoverable (unless there's simply sand jamming the on switch, which I'd certainly fix by myself anyway), but I'd like to have some guide for doing that if one's available. If there's a source for a bootlegged Canon repair manual, for example, that would be quite ideal.

posted by TheOnlyCoolTim to technology (10 comments total)

Only 8 days? Id take it back to the retailer saying it broke and not mention anything about sand. They'll most likely give you a new one. Failing that I'd attempt warranty repair. Paying out of pocket should be your last option, not your first.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:19 PM on July 2, 2007

I'd agree with damn dirty ape... attempt to return it. I work for Canon and they will know that sand got in the lens if you send it through them without telling them about it, so don't even call tech support - you don't want your camera's serial number associated with a camera with sand in it, in the event you can remove the sand.
posted by sephira at 7:48 PM on July 2, 2007

The fifth day I used it was several weeks ago - I was on vacation. It's now past the return time for the retailer.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 7:51 PM on July 2, 2007

Sephira - do you know how much I could expect Canon to charge me to fix it, given that there's sand in it?
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 7:52 PM on July 2, 2007

I wish I could tell you that, but I'm not tech support for Canon, I'm administrative. I can ask around and find out for you though. I may not be able to get this information though - however, you can call tech support and decline to provide certain information.

While we don't have a kind of Haynes manual for cameras, I can also ask around if anyone has undertaken this kind of thing on their own.
posted by sephira at 8:01 PM on July 2, 2007

Thanks, but don't trouble yourself or anything.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 8:05 PM on July 2, 2007

Anecdotal.. but they will probably replace the entire assembly. for my Sony W1 under warranty it was something like $350 on the precept. (I think I paid like $300 for it new?)

Btw-wana buy my lightly used SD900 :)
posted by SirStan at 8:07 PM on July 2, 2007

If you used your credit card to buy it, see if they have some sort of protection plan. I had a friend who backed over his son's new bike and MC ponied up even though it was his stupidity that caused the problem. Call the credit card company and see what they say.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:19 PM on July 2, 2007

If any replacement parts are necessary you are almost certainly better off just crying a sad little tear and replacing the camera. $75 worth of parts and two hours of labor at $75 each and you're only $80 below the lowest price at dealmac.

In your shoes I'd get an air canister and attempt to blow the hell out of it, starting from inside the battery compartment to try to push any sand outwards. Then put the battery back in and hold down the menu button while trying to turn it on. Supposedly holding down menu for 5 seconds performs a factory reset, though you need to get it to power on in order for that to work. Here's some posts from people having lens error issues on SD600s.

If it continues to not power on I'd take the battery back out, knock it firmly against my hand a few times and blow air on it from every angle. You may have an errant grain of sand shorting something inside and just need to knock it loose.

If all that fails I'd personally buy a replacement and put the old one up on ebay. Someone who is adventurous and good with a jeweler's screwdriver might be willing to take a chance on it.
posted by phearlez at 8:35 AM on July 3, 2007

FOLLOWUP:
With none of the help I wanted forthcoming from this site, I ended up just opening it up and fixing it. I did have to stop halfway through and buy some smaller screwdrivers. I also managed to break the flash, but that's because I was being very careless. I never use a flash that much anyway though.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 8:19 AM on October 6, 2007