water damage—tips?

[earthmanbuck]

Last week I had my Pentax K1000 out at my friend's cabin and some water got spilt on it. I dried off the surface as best I could and let it air dry for the night, but now it doesn't really seem to be behaving the way it did before. The main thing is the film advance lever—when I wind it, it doesn't snap back like it used to...I sort of have to push it back myself now, or else just let it slowly work its way back. As far as I know, everything is still in working order (I'm a couple snaps away from finishing the roll, so I won't know for sure until then), but I'm just wondering if you guys have any advice on how to get this back to normal without me having to take it in. I suspect it probably just needs to be dried out more (the humidity is crazy at the moment), but I don't really know how to go about it. Any tips?

 

[Mike_E]

Finish your roll and then either take the lens off and open it up and sit it on a window sill in the sun for a couple of days or take off the lens and put it in a large ziplock bag along with a half a pound of dry rice in a cloth bag and let it sit for a couple of days. If you go the bag rout be sure to blow it out with some canned air after.

I would suggest the bag rout for the lens if it was dampened, moisture along with leaving it in the dark is how you get fungus.

 

[earthmanbuck]

Thanks for the tip! I've got my lens in a bundle of rice as we speak.

I noticed something else, though...the little wheel thing where you change the shutter and film speed is sort of...sticky. It just takes a lot of effort to change the shutter speed, and if I try to change the film ISO setting the wheel sort of sticks in the up position and I have to push it back down, which was not always the case. So my question is, is this something I could easily take apart and clean a little, or should I leave it be/take it to a pro? I notice a little screw that I assume would un-attach the wheel, but I don't really wanna dick around without any idea. The camera only cost me like $60 as it is, so if there was something inexpensive or DIY I could do obviously I'd rather do that than take it to be professionally cleaned or whatever. Any ideas?

 

[compur]

^ It can be taken apart and cleaned, etc but I don't recommend that you try it. The usual result of first-time camera repair attempts is a shoebox full of camera parts that couldn't be reassembled. Camera disassembly & repair requires dedication, study, proper tools and much practice.

And, having a professional repair your camera would likely cost more than replacing it. If your K1000 is not usable I would recommend getting another working body and perhaps selling your current body for parts.

 

[wad]

apply hot hair and make it dry. Keep on this process for oly two days and do twice in a day. After that clean it with a soft cloth it will become normal.