Skip to main content

HD action camera with touchscreen LCD, released October 5, 2014.

87 Questions View all

Why my camera doesn t open?

My camera's case broke,saulty water get in and i put my camera in rice for a week . After that ,camera was working fine with some issues ( open random itself,with wifi on ,battery didn t charge normaly)

Sometimes didn t turn on but when i remove sd card and battery ,issue been solved.

Now my camera doesn t open(also without battery,just with usb ),red light doesn t turn on . When i charge it ,camera gets warm but nothing happens. Any suggetions?

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

Is this a good question?

Score 0
Add a comment

1 Answer

Chosen Solution

Hi,

As you know water and electronics and electricity are not a good mix.

The water, especially salt water, causes corrosion and provides circuit paths for the electricity which were not in the camera's operating design and could damage the components.

Also while rice is good to eat it does nothing to fix the problem caused by corrosion.

Don't Put Your Device in Rice. Here's Why...

First do not turn on your camera and then you need to remove the battery as soon as possible from the camera to minimize further damage.''

Then you need to dis-assemble the rest of the camera and clean all the affected parts using Isopropyl Alcohol 90%+ to remove all traces of corrosion and water. Do not use "rubbing alcohol" as in some cases this is only 70% and is not as effective. If you do check the label to verify the amount

Here is a link that in general, describes the process.

Electronics Water Damage

You will probably have to replace the battery as it is very hard to recover a battery from water damage.

As always with electronics, especially surface mounted PCBs be gentle when handling and especially when brushing away the corrosion. You do not want to remove any components from the board.

Hopefully after you have done all this the camera might possibly work correctly again.

Here is a link to the Ifixit guide on how to dis-assemble your camera.

GoPro Hero4 Silver Motherboard Replacement

If this process seems too daunting, take your phone to a reputable, professional camera repair service and ask for a quote for a repair. If you decide to do this, do it sooner than later.

Was this answer helpful?

Score 2

2 Comments:

Hi jayeff and thank you for yor answer. That happend about 3 months ago.I removed the battery and sd card immediately . Put in rice for one week and after that i used isopropyl alcohol 90%. Camera was working fine for 2 months + with the issues i reported. Now it doesn t turn on and i wan t to detect where the problem is. I suppose that if battery was the only problem , camera should open just with usb . But it doesn t,so i want to check somehow if motherboard is the only problem.

by

Hi, Without a schematic diagram of the motherboard it will be very difficult to find the problem. You could try visually inspecting it with a magnifying glass and a strong light to see if you can 'see' any obvious problems such as corroded connections (you might have accidentally missed them when you cleaned the board) or heat stressed components. Also when you cleaned the board did you also clean the flex cable connectors and the sockets that they plug into? Just a thought.

by

Add a comment

Add your answer

George Sarris will be eternally grateful.
View Statistics:

Past 24 Hours: 0

Past 7 Days: 0

Past 30 Days: 0

All Time: 107