What to do when your GoPro Gets Wet

The RMA!!!

After several hours, I took the camera out of my car and put it in a dry area in my room to cool it off. I waited a whole day until I felt that there was absolutely no water inside. By this time, contrary to what GoPro stated earlier, they issued an RMA (RETURN MERCHANDISE AUTHORIZATION) and said that I could return the camera so they could check it… Pretty cool service right there.

But the best part is (drums rolling), after I popped in a spare battery and pushed the power button, the gopro beeped to life!!! IT STILL WORKS! The LCD screen works too but I could see some fragments of water within the screen. I tested its recording capabilites and everything functioned like nothing happened. Timelapse, HD video, Audio, EVERYTHING! I had to compliment GoPro for making a tough little camera… just couldn’t believe it! For that gopro… anyone reading this, I totally recommend you get one from them their site. They even have a new GoPro… the GoPro Hero 10.

Because saltwater can cause corrosive damage to metallic components inside your camera, try to do the following above as soon as you can. Speed is the key. I rescued and soaked my camera approximately an hour after getting it wet in the ocean.

If you don’t fit in that criteria, don’t give up hope! I have heard others who have tried the steps above with success even after a day of getting their cameras wet.

Finally, I’m happy that the above worked well for many gopro users who have read this post!
Thank you for your interest, comments, and most of all your determination!

If you have any questions… feel free to ask below!

I would definitely appreciate people give credit to these tips. I see a lot of copycats advising the same tips on youtube. It’s cool to make a better guide but if the idea isn’t yours, give credit!
Learn more about the author

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This review was first published on 11/16/2011 by Adamgo.

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102 thoughts on “What to do when your GoPro Gets Wet”

    • You’re welcome
      Glad to hear it worked out! These gopro cams are pretty tough. As long as you perform some damage control ASAP, the chances of it working are high.

      Also, check out gopro support and see how they can help. Those guys are awesome!

      Adam Go

      Reply
    • response to mariano
      [quote name=”mariano”]Hi , a have a gopro 2 brand new and i dropp it underwater , it works but the lense is with fog.please help[/quote]
      Try leaving your gopro in an air sealed case with a lot of silica gel in it. Leave it there for a couple of days. That could help take out the moisture.

      Reply
  1. problem
    [quote name=”a”]My camera fucking works! Back from the dead!!! These things are warriors!

    Thanks![/quote]
    I agree! These little cams are worth every penny. You should try out the GoPro2!

    Reply
  2. good advice
    I used the recommendation listed for waterproof cameras after salt water use and submerged it in freshwater for a few minutes to work all the salt water out.

    I then dried in warm shady area for a few hours and put it in a pack of rice for a few days – come out all good.

    Reply
    • Thanks for the rice advice!
      [quote name=”Tim”]I used the recommendation listed for waterproof cameras after salt water use and submerged it in freshwater for a few minutes to work all the salt water out.

      I then dried in warm shady area for a few hours and put it in a pack of rice for a few days – come out all good.[/quote]

      Thanks for sharing your tip! Never thought rice would act as a powerful absorbent. BTW, I’m glad to hear your gopro came out okay!

      Also, soaking for more than a minute in freshwater is good tip to completely wash out the salt inside the gopro. Salt is a big no-no for electronic devices and metal! 😀

      Reply
  3. Question
    I dropped my gopro in salt water with the lcd on, is it ok to submerge the LCD in fresh water as well to prevent corrosion?

    Reply
  4. Question
    What do I do about the lcd bacpac that I dropped in saltwater? Should I use the same method and soak it in freshwater just like the actual camera?

    Reply
  5. saltwatered gopro
    hey! thanks for all the tips shared… already on it, this weekend my hero2 got wet with salt water… it´s already inside a bowl of rice. but i have a question… how much time passed before you took measures??? mine got wet on saturday noon and i´m cleaning it today sunday at night.

    Reply
    • saltwater
      Thanks for the question.

      I took measures within an hour of getting it wet because salt water may corrode components inside of the GoPro within hours.

      As a rule of thumb, you should immediately rinse out any salt water from your gear.

      Please tell me how it works out. Quite interested!

      Reply
  6. ” hot ” error
    hey, great post…
    my go pro gives me a “hot” error only when in video! need help to resolve this…i tried diferent bateries and cards still doing it!
    any tips to solve this???
    best regards

    Reply
  7. reply to hot error
    Hello carlos,

    Thanks for your comment. Did you get your camera wet or is it just getting a hot error without any incident?

    If it’s the latter, I would suggest using your 1 year warranty to get it fixed.

    I used to have a similar problem with GoPro and I just shipped in and they gave me a new one!

    Reply
  8. saltwatered gopro
    it´s alive… tough little camera, all functions up and running, txs for all the tips.. followed them step by step and even used a bit of wd40 before leaving it on rice for five nights. now i´m giving it a lot of use to see if it fails… hope not, so far so good.

    Reply
    • great to hear
      RMQgopro,

      Glad to hear the GoPro is still alive! Congratulations!

      The use of WD-40 (water displacement-40) sounds like another good idea but I’m really curious to know how it worked out.

      Good luck with the testing and don’t get it wet again! 😆

      Reply
  9. Battery
    The camera got wet, should i replace the battery too?

    Is it common for any GoPro, when it gets wet, for it to have a red light when the camera is attempting to charge. I was retarded and tried to charge it after being impatient with it.

    Reply
    • Battery
      Thank you for your comment Dylan!

      Although I had no problems with my battery getting wet, just to be safe, I would replace the battery.

      If anything, buy a new battery… it costs about 20 bucks and the old battery could be used as a spare if it is still usable!

      Reply
  10. GoPro
    So I dropped my GoPro in my pool by excident and the camera worked but not my LCD,i took of the LCD and i dried with my towel and when I came home i dried it with my hair drier and it started to work for few seconds and that it stopped.I don’t know what to do should I try these??

    Reply
  11. LCD
    Hello Teona,

    Thanks for your comment but I’m sorry to hear that you accidentally dropped your GoPro in the pool.

    Glad to hear that the camera still works but I would advise that you never turn on your electrical device while it is wet because this can severely short circuit (fry) the electrical components inside.

    Even though it seems like you did just that with the LCD, try drying it up as mentioned above in my blog.

    If possible, I would like to hear how it turns out!

    Good Luck!

    Reply
    • SD card
      Hello Sean,

      My videos were fine. I was using a class 10 Transcend 32GB SD card and all the videos I had in it were fine.

      I could have been lucky because the card wasn’t waterproof but I kept the card dry and clean after getting it wet. Just to let you know, I continue to use the same card today on my GoPro HD Hero (Mark 1).

      If you are really concerned in protecting your videos among the elements especially from water, I would suggest you try a Sandisk card which is waterproof… but at a depth of 3.3 feet (1 meter) at a submergence time of 3 days, all according to the Sandisk website.

      Good luck and keep living!

      Reply
      • SD Card
        Thanks Adam. Just had an unfortunate where I had 3 go pros hooked up for a special waterski thing. All clips of when the cameras all got wet do not appear finished and are causing issues. Do you know of a way to make the video before the soaking reappear?

        Reply
        • SD Card Data damage possible solution
          Hello Sean,

          It seems that your cards have been damaged by water. But I wouldn’t give up yet.

          Although there are no guarantees, here are some possible solutions… just make sure your card is DRY first.

          First, try uploading all the data into your computer.

          My explanation to this is that the data when viewed directly from the SD card is not being read well because it’s possible the connections have started to corrode. However, the footage in the card could still be okay. If you can, try to upload your footage into a dry undamaged platform such as your computer, it’s possible the footage could be okay. You may also get some error messages from your computer but if you want at your own risk, try ignoring them and just try to get the data out of the card and see how the data looks like from your computer.

          Second, if the above fails, try using a data recovery program… there are some good ones and some free ones.

          Good luck!!! I hope it turns out well!

          Reply
  12. 2 Gopros
    I recently went scuba diving in Fiji and two go-pros suffered water damage!! I will deff not be buying another one of them. I managed to save one by cleaning in fresh water and putting it in a bag of rice, but the second one I left for 3 days before cleaning with fresh water, which was too late for the poor little go-pro.

    Reply
    • 2 GoPros
      Hello Chris,

      Sorry to hear about you losing one of the 2 Gopros that got wet but glad you got one of them to work.

      I guess the lesson we all learned is that if we get our GoPros wet in salt water, we should try to soak it in fresh water as soon as possible to prevent corrosion of the internal components. Salt water is a real bitch to electronics and I think 3 days was a bit too long.

      Anyway, thanks for sharing your story. Really appreciate it!

      Btw. Fiji is a nice place to dive! Enjoy your time there and continue enjoying life!

      Reply
  13. Mr
    I got caught – first time underwater with the LCD back on .

    So I Googled on my iphone and got your blog. I immediately put the kit under the fresh water shower at the beac.

    I’m home now – and again rinsed the kit under the fresh water tap

    I have used the hair dryer – on medium heat.

    Question – do I unscrew the 4 screws on the camera and the LCD screen and look and check ? or do I leave it in the rice for a few days and hope for the best?

    I bought it in Dallas USA in December 2011 but I live in France
    Any suggestions ?

    Reply
    • reply for Mr
      Thanks for your question.

      First off, I would not unscrew anything unless you absolutely know what you are doing.

      What I did to get the excess water out of the camera after rinsing it in fresh water was swing the camera with my hand several times and let centripetal force drive out the water out of the sd card port. I then put the camera and the LCD bakpak in a dry environment, i.e. an air tight silica gel filled box.

      I was on vacation at the time my gopro got wet and so I didn’t have silica gel and time readily available. I just put the camera in a hot car for several hours and then placed my gopro in a cool dry environment for another 24 hours. Worked out great!!!

      Rice and pasta seem to work as an alternative according to many viewers of this post but personally I hate wasting food.

      Good luck. Let us know how it all turns out via comment or facebook and twitter.

      Reply
  14. Love you Video
    Thanks for the post thats great to know for a future reference, now the video with the sea turtles I Love It, can you tell me what you did for it to be like that, like the settings and the lens you used, and if you used a program, that’d be great, THANKS!

    Reply
  15. Help
    Will I need a new battery for this. Also before seeing this I turned mine on however, there are still signs of life and my SD card works any thoughts.

    Thank you anyway

    Reply
    • Ben
      It all depends on the condition of the battery.
      My battery works fine but noticed a bit of corrosion on the contacts of the battery.

      Just to play it safe, I’d get a new battery if you’re in doubt.

      In regards to your gopro still being functional even though it got wet… Did you get it wet in fresh water or salt water?

      It is risky to turn on any electrical device while wet.

      Let us know how it all goes. Good luck!

      Reply
    • Ben Part 2
      The salt water is worrying me. Even if a little got in, it has the possibility of corroding internal circuits inside your camera, which is bad.

      With your camera lights, that doesn’t tell me the whole picture. Does your camera work as it’s supposed to? Is the quality of images and video tip top?

      When I dried out my camera after rinsing it out with fresh water, it worked like nothing ever happened to it.

      There’s always hope if you give it a shot and if don’t give up right?

      Let us know how it goes!

      Live it hard Bro!

      Reply
  16. Thankyou
    well it turns on now however, the SD card won’t go in any solutions or ideas. otherwise I’m gonna have to buy another one not to unhappy about that but would prefer not to.

    Thanks for all your help

    Reply
  17. Thankyou
    Scratch the last comment got the SD card in.

    Hasn’t turned on full yet but promising signs every day it seems to improve I recon a new battery will do the trick.

    Thanks so much..

    Reply
  18. You’re welcome
    Hello Ben,

    You’re welcome and I appreciate helping out! I know how it feels like when things like these happen.

    Btw, assuming you mean can’t read with “won’t go in” for the SD card thing…
    If the data within the sd card have been corrupted by the water, you could try some recovery software for damaged sd cards. Just google it and there should be some good ones out there.

    Good luck and hope that helps.

    Reply
  19. SADNESS
    I didn’t have a chance to read all the comments above; I’m still quite depressed about what happened to our GoPro. Husband and I were in Maui and last week (on 10/3) we went snorkeling. He put the LCD door on the housing – which we didn’t realize has FOUR holes in it. I didn’t check it before he brought it in the water, and since I’m the Techie in the family, he doesn’t think to check these things. To his defense, if you’re looking at the door attachment under poor light, it is quite difficult to notice holes are there. Still, I can say I would’ve checked it better myself. regardless…
    … see next comment…

    Reply
  20. SADNESS part II

    We were on vacation without easy access to the internet. The battery had already corroded (green goop) when I checked it back on land. Took everything apart & tried to dry off. Didn’t know about cleaning it out w/ fresh H2O bc I couldn’t think of dunking it in water again. So now, it’s almost a week later. I know the battery door is warped bc it won’t shut right. Do I still have a chance?!

    Reply
    • maybe there is hope
      [quote name=”Christiane”]…

      We were on vacation without easy access to the internet. The battery had already corroded (green goop) when I checked it back on land. Took everything apart & tried to dry off. Didn’t know about cleaning it out w/ fresh H2O bc I couldn’t think of dunking it in water again. So now, it’s almost a week later. I know the battery door is warped bc it won’t shut right. Do I still have a chance?![/quote]

      Hello Christiane! Thank you for sharing your experience! I have to say that one week is a bit too long. The salt water has probably corroded not just the battery but the insides of the camera.

      You can try the steps above to give it a shot but don’t expect much. Let us know how it turns out!

      Btw, Maui (esp. Lahaina) is a beautiful place and I have to say you’re an awesome wife for being cool about your husband’s mistake! I also value your sense of hope.

      Good Luck! I hope it works out!

      Reply
  21. in the pool
    Today I went with my son to the public pool with my Hero2 as always. But I forgot, that I changed last week for skeleton housing… After two seconds, I realized, what happened, I pulled the camera out, removed battery, card, tried to dry in a towel, and now as I arrived home, closed in a jar with 4 packs of silica gel, so I have a GoPro “jam” for the cold winter evenings 🙂 I put it to a warm place (max 40 Celsius) for a week, or two and now I wait and hope.
    Adam, thanks for the ideas, this site is great.

    Reply
  22. for gyuri
    Hello Gyuri,

    I’m glad you like the site. I hope my blog post helps and that everything turns out okay!

    I appreciate your comment post gyuri! If you have any more questions regarding this matter, feel free to ask!

    Live it hard!

    Reply
  23. 4 Hours Underwater
    Hey! Thanks for this!

    My GoPro fell in the water while i was taking a video of myself surfing. Another board had hit it so the case opened and it was the camera that went under without the case. I found it four hours later (i continued surfing and then had lunch), it was around 7 feet underwater. I did everything you said and the camera still works. The battery’s dead though so i have yet to find out if it will work with a new battery.

    😀

    Reply
  24. WOW!!!
    Hello Glenne!

    That’s the first time I heard about a GoPro surviving despite being submerged in salt water for four hours!!! I’m really glad your camera still works!

    Btw, I notice you posted twice and I think maybe my blog’s comment security is a bit demanding so I apologize if that inconvenienced you in anyway!

    Finally, thanks for the comment! I really appreciate you sharing information such as this.

    Where do you surf at?

    Reply
  25. GoPro Hero 3 survived!
    Thanks for your tutorial Adam. I forgot that i had the skeleton backdoor on the housing when i dipped my Hero3 in a creek for under water view. The gopro died after i stoped recording, then i realized that the skeleton backdoor was attached and i thougt that it was toasted… I red this blog and it gave me hope. I slunged it and dryed it in 4 days. Yesterday i put the battery and SD card back, charged the battery and the gopro fired up. It works perfectly as new, pheew.

    Link to the video i took while i stupdly dipped the gopro in the creek, you can see in the end that the something happens to the video quality: http://youtu.be/5yVmsz8Hzy8

    Reply
    • Saw the vid! Thanks!
      Hello Mattias (aka The Lucky Bastard) lol,

      I’m glad it worked out alright in the end!

      Thanks for sharing the video. It was actually really cool! Through your video, I’m quite impressed that the GoPro didn’t die out as soon as it went in the water!

      Say hi to Qonrad for me!

      Reply
  26. Lost my gopro today.. still unrecovered
    Hi everybody

    I just lost my gopro2 (6 months I had it) today in the ocean and Im very very sad cause it’s still unrecovered…
    Today i went to the beach to film the waves smashing against the concrete piers and as I grabbed myself to the handrail because the wind was so strong, dont know how but the gopro just slipped of the vented helmet strap mount and was blown into the water! right next to the beach but the waves were so strong (AND COLD) i couldnt get myself into the water (red alert day). My biggest problem is I had the skeleton backdoor on. The cam has been in the ocean since 17h, it is now 23:52).
    You think there’s ANY hope that that gopro might survive this night if I happen to fing it tomorrow. Despite my tragic loss, somehow im still a bit hopeful.

    thanks, kiss from portugal

    Reply
    • Give it a shot
      [quote name=”Ana”]Sorry.. correction
      *If I happen to find it tomorrow?

      that was a question. Thank you![/quote]

      Hello Ana,
      Sorry to hear about the unfortunate experience. I think everyone knows that feeling when a GoPro get wet!

      My advice is if you do find the GoPro camera, try following the steps above. [b]However, remember to follow safety first.[/b] You did mention concrete piers and waves. It’s most likely the waves might have swept the camera away to a different location and since you had the skeleton backdoor on, it’s very likely a lot of sand got in the camera.

      [b]Just play it safe when searching for your camera tomorrow and I would call the search off if the waves are too strong. [/b](A friend of mine who went fishing, accidentally fell into the ocean and was smashed on to a concrete pier by really strong waves. He didn’t make it.)

      Finally, thank you for the kiss! A kiss back with a lot of good luck!

      Reply
      • thanks!
        Thank you for your support and advice. Sadly it was unrecoverable… Somewhere in the Atlantic Im sure. Lesson learned about floaty back doors.
        Im sorry to know about your friend.
        Best regards*

        Reply
  27. Water in when surfing
    Hi. Today I was surfing when suddenly my camera started to turn on and off several times. I was worried so I went out of the sea to do something about it.
    Before I did something I notice that 5mm of the white rubber around the case cover was “stucked out of the case”.
    I stayed in the sea for just 30 minutes and there was just a little bit of water inside it.

    Before I could get out of the sea, the camera stoped to turn on and off by itself (hope just the battery died).

    Well, I found your blog and did everything you told us to. The camera is inside a bag of rice and I will leave it inside a car too.

    Do you think the fact of the camera turned on and off several time by itself with some water inside it something for me to worry about?? I dont know if this happend to someone here.

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • replt to fernando
      Hello Fernando,

      You are smart by playing it safe.

      It’s hard to say if you should be worried or not but I would.

      If your GoPro was turning on and off, that is an indication that something is not right. So it is most likely your camera did get wet.

      However, it seems you took immediate action so the camera could still be useable!

      Let us know how it goes.

      A lot of people who read this blog had high success rates in reviving the gopro from the dead.

      Thanks for reading my blog and feel free to share it on Facebook, Twitter, or G+ for the other people who need help on this!

      Reply
      • IT´S ALIVE!!!
        Hey..
        After 6 days in some silica I tried to turn it on again with another battery and it works normally. I am very happy about it cause my camera is just one month old.

        Another very cool thing is that even the battery that got wet is working.

        Thanks a lot for the help. I would NEVER clean the camera with fresh water if it wasnt because of you.

        Check out this video and you will understand why the white rubber of my housing got stuck outside causing the water leakage.

        https://www.dropbox.com/s/m3leqelum8adzrv/V%C3%ADdeo%2020-11-13%2000%2003%2005.mov

        I hope it never happen again and I hope I did remove all the salty water inside it and anything goes wrong after a few months.

        Thanks again, and sorry about my english. I am from Brazil.

        Reply
  28. Congratulations
    [quote name=”Fernando”]Hey..
    After 6 days in some silica I tried to turn it on again with another battery and it works normally. I am very happy about it cause my camera is just one month old.

    Another very cool thing is that even the battery that got wet is working.

    Thanks a lot for the help. I would NEVER clean the camera with fresh water if it wasnt because of you.

    [/quote]

    No need to apologize for the English. Your written English grammar is so good, I didn’t even notice you were from Brazil!

    But importantly, I’m really glad you got the camera working again.

    Congratulations!

    Also, thanks for the info about the battery… however, I would recommend you replace it because a damaged battery is quite dangerous esp. to overheating.

    Finally, Live Life and surf like there’s no tomorrow!

    Best,
    Adam Go

    Reply
  29. eng
    GoPro is not a waterproof camera is a HD camera with a waterproof case. Makes no sense that being a very expensive camera entirely depends of a plastic case to avoid serious damage. It’s unbelievable how much bullshit they sell with their marketing videos.

    GoPro?? get your “super” (“up to 60m waterproof camera”) but be careful to get it wet without the plastic case (it’s not cover by their warranty) hahahaha! just ridiculous!

    Reply
  30. Mr
    Hi i have just got a go pro hero 3 + black edition for christmas and the white rubber has been caught on the outside. it has been out of the salt water for a few hours now but if i was it in salt water will it been salvaged

    Reply
    • yes it can
      Tyler,

      Try the steps I described above. Several hours is not that bad considering some users were able to recover their GoPros after it being wet for up to 12 hours.

      Let us know how it turns out and Merry Christmas!

      Reply
      • Help
        [quote name=”adam go”]Tyler,

        Try the steps I described above. Several hours is not that bad considering some users were able to recover their GoPros after it being wet for up to 12 hours.

        Let us know how it turns out and Merry Christmas![/quote]

        How bout .more than 24 hours?? I still can turn on my camera but i cant charge it. I use Gopro Hero 3+ . Please help

        Reply
        • GoPro will not charge
          24 hours is a bit long but these little cameras are very durable!

          Btw, I’m guessing your charge port on the Hero 3+ is damaged on the camera but there’s an easy fix!

          Just get one of these from Amazon [url]http://amzn.to/VSGjfD[/url]

          Hope that helps. Let us know how that turns out!

          Reply
  31. Many thanks
    My sons new gopro got wet with salt water because the housing must have had a leak. The gopro wouldn’t turn on so I did as you suggested and now it works even after three days , thanks so much

    Reply
    • After three days?
      [quote name=”Karen”]My sons new gopro got wet with salt water because the housing must have had a leak. The gopro wouldn’t turn on so I did as you suggested and now it works even after three days , thanks so much[/quote]

      Hello Karen,

      It’s great to hear that you got your son’s camera working after three days! That must be a new record!!! Congratulations! Live it hard!

      Reply
  32. Thanks So Much!
    Hi Adam
    Found your blog 12 hours after getting my Hero3+ blank edition wet.
    I followed everything in your instructions word for word plus sealing it in rice for 36 hours.
    Bought a new battery and just tried to turn it on for the first time.
    OMG my gopro is back from the dead!!
    I was actually worried it was not going to work coz after getting it wet in the swimming pool (due to the white rubber seal partly getting stuck on the outside of the casing) I did the stupid thing of trying to switch it back on whilst recharging the battery.
    But thank god I found your site and everybody’s comments because my gopro is alive again! Thanks so much for sharing your experience and tips!

    Reply
  33. Power Button Question
    Hey. Thanks for all the help. I went in the water with the wrong casing, real briefly, but didn’t know I made that mistake and tried the power button once or twice. It’s in rice now, but is it certain that I fried the camera or perhaps it’ll work in 3 days? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Jay
      [quote name=”Jay”]Hey. Thanks for all the help. I went in the water with the wrong casing, real briefly, but didn’t know I made that mistake and tried the power button once or twice. It’s in rice now, but is it certain that I fried the camera or perhaps it’ll work in 3 days? Thanks.[/quote]

      Any update on your camera?

      Reply
  34. Help?
    Hi Adam
    Thanks for sharing our knowledge.
    In my case, i was diving in Malaysia with my brand new hero 3+ with no internet access to check ur guide before.
    As soon as my cam got wet i quickly dried it shaking it and left it on a bowl with rice.
    After 24 hours i found out ur guide.
    I soaked the cam with water and left it to dry for another 4 days.
    My original battery is dead, i bought another one and its turning on BUT it stays on the first screen (video modeo) and it wont turn off nor record a video.
    It still recognizes when u attach a sd card and it can transfer the footage to the pc.

    Any suggestions?

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • Help for Luciano
      [quote name=”Luciano”]

      Any suggestions?

      Thanks in advance![/quote]

      As with help, 24 hours is a bit over the limit and in this particular case, I think salt has actually damaged your camera via corrosion.

      The camera could be already goner but since it’s considered unusable now, why not go for broke by following my steps above again. Just make sure you soak your camera really well in fresh water to take out the salt. Then dry it out well and see if it works.

      Good luck and please update me on your camera!

      Dive safe buddy!

      Reply
  35. some lights but not main
    Hey! My go pro got wet and I used your advice within 2 hours, had to use rice rather than silica. I waited a couple of days while it was in the rice, then put a new battery on it and the blue (wireless) light and the red charge light comes on but not the main “power on” screen. Do you think there’s any hope?

    Reply
    • Hope for BJ
      Hello BJ,
      I’d like to ask, can you still use the camera (i.e. record, take pictures, etc.)? If not, the camera probably short-circuited when it’s components got wet.

      Btw, which GoPro do you have? Do you have the Hero 3?

      Peace,
      Adam Go

      Reply
      • some lights, continued
        I have a new 3+ silver:( I’m giving it a couple more days in silica, then I’m going to see if it’ll take picts, etc.. At least the card is okay and I was able to use the footage it had taken before getting wet:-) I got to use it 5 days… that’s about $70. a day “rental” fee:-)

        Reply
        • Hope fo BJ cont
          Hello BJ,
          Make sure you washed out the insides really well and make sure it is dry. There is a chance your silica gel may not be absorbing the moisture well.

          Just an FYI but many electrical components such as black boxes from crashed planes go through a similar process of its electrical board being rinsed out and then placed in a special oven of some sort to dry it out.

          The silica gel method was one way to dry out. As I wrote above in my blog, I placed my gopro on the dashboard in a car out in the sun for several hours.

          Just experiment and take it to the edge! Just do it carefully!

          Reply
  36. I used a Vacuum Cleaner
    Rather than shaking it around, I used a vacuum cleaner. I held the vacuum on parts of the GoPro like the ports and screen and I saw loads and loads of water get sucked out from the sides of the screen and from inside the ports. I defiantly reccomend!! Then, as you mentioned, left it in the car windscreen. Good as new!

    Reply
    • Vaccum Idea
      [quote name=”Matt”]Rather than shaking it around, I used a vacuum cleaner. I held the vacuum on parts of the GoPro like the ports and screen and I saw loads and loads of water get sucked out from the sides of the screen and from inside the ports. I defiantly reccomend!! Then, as you mentioned, left it in the car windscreen. Good as new![/quote]

      I never thought of the vacuum cleaner. That is a very intuitive tip! Thank you!

      I would like to add that not all vacuums can handle water (esp. salt water) so make sure you got one of those all type heavy duty ones!

      Again!!! Thank for the tip!

      Reply
  37. Water damage GoPro
    Bought a GoPro Hero 3+ Black edition ($500). Took it out for its first time spearfishing. Double checked that there was no debris anywhere in the waterproof case lining and that it seemed to seal correctly. First dive, the housing failed and flooded the GoPro with saltwater. Me not realising that it was flooded, because i was out in the water kept turning it on and off until suddenly it didn’t work. I had no idea that i was meant to wash it out with fresh water straight away, and so now 4-5 days on i have a GoPro sitting in a tub of rice. I’m utterly disgusted that after spending so much of my hard earned money, i’m likely to be left with a completely useless piece of plastic and componentry. First dive and it fails, and worse still it’s not covered by water damage. It’s disgusting that people who have used their GoPro in the correct way have no way to recoup their losses. I mean do i actually have any hope of getting it working, or better still a refund?

    Reply
    • Send it in
      Clayton,
      Give those guys a call and tell them what happened. It’s very rare for a housing to fail on the first dive. Also [b]how deep did you dive?[/b] Remember these camera housings have a maximum depth of 65 meters (135 feet).

      A failure on the first dive within the Hero 3’s dive limits leads me to assume that the housing or the O-ring has a defect. Even a tiny crack on the O-ring will definitely cause leakage even before hitting 30 feet.

      Make sure you take pictures of the housing and the O-ring for your evidence and tell them about the waterproof failure on your 500 dollar camera.

      It sucks to hear the loss but give those guys at GoPro a call or an email. You could get lucky and get an RMA with a brand new Hero 3 coming soon in the mail.

      I also hope what I wrote above helps in anyway but it sounds like you didn’t dunk the camera in some fresh water soon enough.

      But I am hoping for the best!
      Live it hard!

      Best,
      Adam

      Reply
  38. Gopro saltwater pt1
    Hey Adam,
    First of all thank you for your help!
    So what happend to me:
    I was surfing for 2 weeks now in Costa Rica and filmed everything with my gopro hero3 black. Today (last day..) I took it into the ocean again and realized there was mist in my case. As the mist got more and the gopro didn’t react while pressing the buttons I got out out quick (30 minutes after entering the water), ran to the house and took it out of the case. There was a little bit of water in the case. If U turn the case to the side, the bottom corner full. I took the batterie out, dried all of imidiatly and put it in a bowl with rice.
    I went back surfing for 6 hours, came back, put the batterie back in. The gopro didn’t turn on again.. BUT the red back led was slightly shining (batterie ist ok, it worked on an other gopro).
    Now I followed all your advices (dumping in freshwater, swing it, put it in a closed back of rice and put it in the sun).

    Reply
  39. Gopro saltwater pt2
    So now I guess I have to wait… ITS KILLING ME!

    Question:
    1. I have a sandisk sd card that I didn’t remove in my first try with the bowl (I removed it immediately after reading your blog and going on with your steps). You said that they are waterproofed. Do you think my footage will be alright?
    2. What about the slightly shining led light on the back of the camera?
    3. Because I didn’t dump the camera in freshwater in my first step (rice bowl), I had blue/green crystals (I guess corrosion) in the slots of the USB charger, sd card, LCD backpack and hdmi. They washed of a bit after the freshwater bath.
    What do you think about that?

    Thanks a lot for your help!
    Finger crossed

    Cheers David

    Reply
  40. Pimo
    Hello David,

    Thanks for the comment!
    Keep your fingers crossed. If you think there was a defect in the housing case, then GoPro might give you a brand new camera. Just hit them up with an email.
    To your questions:
    1. Test your sd card. If the footage in the sd card is readable via a computer, then your card works. Most high quality sd cards are made to withstand getting wet. However, the metal contacts will erode if the salt water is not cleaned out well.

    2. My opinion on the red light is that something works but it is not as strong. Something might have already been damaged as you said you tried to turn on your camera as you noticed water in the housing case. But keep up the hope.

    3. That greenish blue stuff is a sign of corrosion. Washing it off may help but I would not expect it to give me stable performance in the future. Test it out but I wouldn’t expect much.

    Let me know how it all turns out!
    Good luck!

    Reply
    • Gopro saltwater
      [quote name=”Adam Go”]
      Let me know how it all turns out!
      Good luck![/quote]

      I will try t turn it on again when I arrive home. The camera had 3/4 days of recovery by then.
      I’ll keep you updated!

      Cheers David

      Reply
  41. GoPro saltwater damage
    Thanks to this site I was able to save my GoPro Camera that was damaged by saltwater. There was a small amount of salt corrosion around the lens and I was unable to power it on, the red light flashed but it would not operate. I followed the tips provided by many user’s on this site, I removed the battery and Sim card from the camera and started by dunking and rinsing my GoPro camera in fresh water for less than a minute,then aired it out by hand, swinging it back and forth as hard as I could to get rid of the water then stored it in dry rice for 3 days in a sealed zip lock bag. I then removed the camera from the rice, inserted the battery and the Sim Card and I was astonished, THE CAMERA WORKED AGAIN! I thought it was a goner but this really worked. Thank you to those of you that provided the tips. I still can’t believe it worked.

    Reply
  42. Mr
    GoPro flooded in salt water at about 1pm – despite being in 60m dive housing with the double latch secure. Rinsed in fresh water at about 6pm on same day (after getting back to hotel and finding this blog on Internet – and learning that warranty does not cover water damage). Dried off with hairdryer on low settting. Tried to make homemade dry box but didn’t have the gear and shops shut.
    Next day purchased airtight box, 500 grams of rice and some insulation tape (to ensure box properly airtight). Left for 6 days – including flight from Indonesia to UK. Opened box. Camera works as does SD card. Unfortunately LCD BacPac and the battery are dead – but I saved the camera and the images (my biggest concerns).
    Many thanks for your advice.
    I’m now discussing with GoPro support how best to test the 60m dive housing – weighting it down in a bucket of water will not properly replicate diving at 40+ metres! Any ideas on this?

    Reply
    • Stress Testing
      Hello Barry,

      Glad to hear you got your GoPro working again.

      The camera housing for the go pro unit is actually quite good given that the seal is clean and intact. There are some reports of GoPros going deeper than 60 meters

      But I understand your concerns and stress-testing is definitely a smart choice.

      I test my housings by simply diving with the housing only, meaning no camera in it. When I hit 40 meters, I check the housing and shake it as violently as I can. Sometimes, I see little droplets of water leak in, other times all is good.

      Most times when I see droplets in the case, there is usually some debris on the seal or a small crack on the O-ring.

      There are pros and cons to this but this is definitely my surest way of testing the housing before any film project.

      Good Luck!

      Reply
      • Follow Up
        Adam

        Quick follow up on this. The nice people at GoPro have sent me a replacement 60m dive casing and a battery. They have also offered me a 20% discount on a replacement LCD Bacpac. Slightly less positively, they have invalidated the balance of my camera’s warranty because I soaked it in fresh water, which they do not recommend.

        Camera and SD card working well.

        Many thanks once again for this blog and your advice.

        Reply
  43. Need help with go pro hero 4 black
    I accidentally dropped my Go pro hero 4 black in water without its case and now when I try to put the battery in the Bluetooth light stays blue and turns off my camera still turns on but I can’t use Bluetooth please help

    Reply
  44. Salt water
    Sorry to send another message but just one more thing: I’m at Curaçao. Do you think I should leave the bag I’ve put camera in the air conditioner of the hotel or in my bag?
    Hope you can understand my doubts since English isn’t my first language 😳

    Reply
  45. Followed steps – water under lens now
    Hey Adam, I just followed all of your steps – i just dropped it in water today so I haven’t tried turning it on yet, but I soaked/swung and am drying. I have noticed moisture gathering under the lens? Did you run into this issue at all? If so, did it go away or am I S.O.L.?

    Reply
    • Lens with fog
      Hey JTLA,

      Thanks for the comment and great job for not turning it on yet!

      Most of us had that problem with the moisture in the lens. Unfortunately that indicates your gopro is still wet. Swing the camera around a little bit more with the slots facing the outer side so water can slide out easier. After that, try to keep in an air tight sealed box filled silica gel to take the moisture out.

      In addition, this may not work but when I got my camera wet, I had my camera lay on its side with the slots facing upwards in a really hot car to let the heat evaporate the water and exit the camera as steam. After that, I put it in a box with moisture absorbing material just to be sure it is dry.

      Good luck!

      Reply
      • RE: Lens with fog
        Adam,

        Update: The fog is gone! (I guess that’s what the hot Hawaiian sun will do!) I’ve since put it in the hotel room and have gone out. How quickly should I have put it in silica gel? Do I still have time or…. (I can’t bring myself to say it.)

        Thanks for responding!
        JT

        Reply
  46. Update #2 – Is Hope Lost?
    Adam,

    It’s been a few days now and I pulled the GoPro out, popped a fresh battery in (not the one that was in the GoPro when it hit the ocean floor) and the record light sporadically flashes blue and then nothing happens.

    Have you seen this? Does that mean it’s fried?

    Thanks,
    JT

    Reply
    • Re: Hope Lost?
      JT,

      It seems possible that your camera was not dry when you popped in a fresh battery.

      That part about the blue light flashing sporadically is not a good sign.

      Perhaps you can try waiting for the camera to completely dry up and try again. There is that change that you can still be lucky!

      Good luck!
      Adam

      Reply
  47. Go pro rescue please
    Hello. So you see I’m having trouble with my go pro, it accidentally got wet by the waves of the sea then got soaking wet. I tried tapping the water out of it and place it at a dry place yet it still did not open. I tried to turn it on wc based from your post it shouldn’t be.

    Should I still try to wash it with fresh water? Or naah? Pls help meee :(((

    Reply
    • Bianca
      Yeah,
      Since its wet with sea water, the salt will mess with your camera. Wash it out with fresh water then dry it completely before turning it on.

      Good luck!

      Reply
  48. Bro you saved my life!!! I jumped into salty water with skeleton housing on n kept on seiming for 30 mn without noticing th wrong housing on!!!! And after I followed exactly wht you said step by step and my camera is back to life… Just the TOUCH LCD on my gopro hero 4 silver not working th touch screen takes commands but it light dark…. Maybe later on i will replace mean while am happy to use the front screen and i teested everythin work normaly…

    Reply
  49. Hi Adam
    thanks for the tip, we put my kid’s seemingly dead gopro on the car dash in the sun yesterday as recommended and today it’s revived.
    Thanks again.

    Reply
  50. I stupidly dropped my Hero+ LCD in seawater when using it for the first time and tried turning it on as I didn’t realised it had been water damaged it turned on for a second and was dead. I managed to find some rice with in under and hour but was only able to keep it there for 20 minutes but found more rice half and hour later and it has been covered in the rice for 6 hours now. No sign of it turning on or coming back to life yet. Do you reckon it will be ok still? I’m opptimistic after reading the comments but I’m not sure!

    Reply
  51. great post, thanks. I don’t think my gopro can be fixed though. It’s a hero 5 and I accidentally put it in the pool without the usb port closed properly (I think thought i had). I shook it, put it in a bag of rice for days and it still doesn’t work. When I put the battery in it makes a faint buzzing noise, no lights coming up. I plug it in to charge and it gets very hot and smells a bit. I think I fried it. It was brand new :-(. Go Pro offer me 40% discount to buy a new one but I don’t think I can afford a second gopro….. Any advice would be highly appreciated.

    Reply

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