How to save a Saltwater flooded GOPRO

[crab4life]

Hi all, I did the honors of flooding my buddies GoPro due to the fact of a bad O-ring with salt water and let it sit 3 days unatteded Well it was very dead when I got home. I set out a way to fix it. What you need to do is get a small glasses repair kit with tiny screwdrivers at the dollar tree. First I took the battery out and you see 4 screws. Remove those 4 screws and organize them with the holes they belong in, they are different lengths. Next pull the gopro apart. There is a large sticker holding the Gopro together that the battery rests on. Pull it apart nice and slowly. I made the mistake of ripping it apart to fast and I popped some wires out. Thank goodness they popped back in place. Anyway peel it apart very slowly due to the wires. The Camera should now look like an opened clam.next what you do is remove the 3 screws securing the camera to the case. Again organize these. Now you should have the main circuit board and the battery screen. Fill a small container with rubbing alcohol and dunk the camera in the alcohol. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes Next take a mascara brush and wipe off all the corrosion, it should come right off. Keep dipping and scrubbing everything that you possibly can. Once you have all that finished hold it over a sink and pour vinegar "through" the unreachable parts of the circuit board. Do this several times. Afterwards wash it COMPLETELY out with tap water. Next toss it into a large bag of rice and let it sit for a week minimum. Once you are done waiting clean it out with air-spray cans to get all rice dust out. Next, slowly piece the camera back together and replace the screws. And Voila! Your camera should be good to go!

 

[tphelps]

Wow! I have a Hero 3 that I flooded still. I'm going to give this a try, I mean it's already "broken," can't get any worse!

Also, what is the significance of the alcohol? Thanks for the tips!

 

[crab4life]

rubbing alcohol was acidic so it ate through the blue salt corrosion and help clean the contact points on the circuit board to keep them from short circuiting

 

[EL Pistoffo]

You could also use CRC QD Contact Cleaner instead of rubbing alcohol.. It used to be sold at Home Depot I last time I checked. It's for sensitive electronics, contains no water unlike rubbing alcohol, and drys fast.

 

[crab4life]

Never heard of it. You would have to wash it out with clean water anyways once you were done scrubbing it. Honestly I thought I was S.O.L, I pulled it open and it was covered in corrosion and about a teapoon of salt water dripped out of it. I just grabbed what I had and tried for the best. Happened to work!

 

[lamarpaulski]

I had good luck with alcohol on a dropped cell phone..didn't wait 3 days tho !

 

[EL Pistoffo]

If using OTC rubbing alcohol, the 91% mixture is preferable. I personally like precision contact cleaners because they dry extremely fast and can work a little better since they contain a bit of solvent. I've saved a lot of electronics for myself and others over the years. If corrosion doesn't hit to hard, it doable. Blasting it with canned air then in a bag of rice works great. I did have a BOSE ear piece that I accidentally submerged in a pool only briefly that I couldn't save.

 

[ryan482]

Had to come back and post my success story.

I stupidly went in some salty water without the proper back case and after about 10 seconds of wading around, I noticed my GoPro was soaked. Got out of the water and took everything apart as quickly as possible. About 2 hours later, I got back to my hotel where I ran it through fresh water and left it in rice for a few days. When I took it out and tried to power it on, it would turn off and on, switch modes, and the battery would not hold a charge.

Didn't really think this would work at first, but followed all the steps and now my GoPro is working perfectly! Like nothing ever happened. The battery is also holding a complete charge. Big thanks for this solution!

Couple things I'd recommend:
1. I wanted to soak the battery case to make sure the capture button was free of corrosion. Do not soak it in the alcohol for too long, as it may peel away the finish of the case.
2. I took everything completely apart and placed it in the rice including the lens. After removing from the rice, be sure to clean the lens carefully with a microfiber cloth to ensure no smudge marks appear on your footage.

I also let mine sit for a week.

Don't throw those corroded GoPros away before trying this!

 

[crab4life]

Congrats Ryan! Happy you were able to fix it! It worked very well for me. Glad I could help

 

[undrwater]

Denatured alcohol works to bond to the water, then evaporate it. Best to put your device in some kind of protection (sock) before sticking it in the rice. Any rice dust becomes a moisture attractant.

Finally, electronics exposed to salt water will likely have a much shorter life span even if saved.