Good service center to fix Nikon DSLR in Thailand(maybe unofficial)

[SergeDoe]

Sorry for doubleposting.

Hi everyone!

I've seen some questions about repairing camera here in Thailand and followed advise with no luck (.

I own Nikon D800 and on the second day after my arrival I was shooting in the ocean (water was below my knees) and some water pored to my camera from little wave ( . Everything was fine, I continued shoting about 5 minutes. After about 5 minutes after shoting I turned off camera and then turn in on(mechanically), but with no luck. I've found some drops inside card slot near the lid. I removed the battery and left it to dry. After 3 days camera was in the same condition. Next day I came to Bangkok to official Nikon service (Empire tower on Sathorn Rd) and left it for diagnostics.

Today had passed 7 days and I received email with the price for repair ~ 77000bht!!!(replace front body unit, image sensor unit, togo pcb unit, cf pcb, tft monitor, af sensor unit, grip unit, etc - almost everything!!) I think they can only replace parts (. For this price I can by brand new D800.

I need help to find another service to actually clean and try to fix my camera.

phuketrichard advised to use http://www.niksthail...o.th/index2.php

- good option if it doesn't relate to official service.

Any other thoughts highly apprecciated

Thanx in advance!

I live in Pattaya.

Sergey

[sunshine51]

Hello SD...

Was your 800 purchased in LOS? If not NikonThai has a nasty habit of screwing

around with photogs from overseas. Especially in what they wanna charge you.

You do have the International Warranty (extra price when you buy) don't you?

This warranty can also be called the "extended" warranty.

Was the camera "splashed" or actually soaked? Big difference there matey.

Phukrtrichard gave you good advice on an alternative option that "may" be

cheaper.

PM me for additional help if needed.

Good luck

[SergeDoe]

sunshine51

I bought mine in Russia in July 2012 . It has official warranty.

It was splashed a little from right(I'm right-handed), so I shielded it naturally. In service they said after brief inspection that there are traces of water in CF slot and in hotshue and they have to find out what to repair.

Thanx for your interest to my problem

[sunshine51]

Hello again SD,

OK...traces of water in the CF slot/compartment & hotshoe (perhaps under the HS inside the camera?).

That seems to be a lot less than Nik-Thai quoted you for!

One of my 800's was actually dunked in a river when I slipped on a log. I pulled it outta the water quickly,

toweled it off, turned it off immediately after using the towel then opened all the covered bits & removed

the CF card. Lastly removed the lens and let everything set in the sun for a few hours. That night I used

cotton buds & WD40 to swab out all the electrical contacts & compartments...spray WD 40 on cotton bud

first then swab out the compartments....finally ending up with spraying WD40 on a clean towel & wiped

the exterior of the camera. This happened about a year & a half ago & the camera works fine today.

Mind you I did send it for servicing as I do every year...to Nik-Singapore where I bought it...and even

told them about the dunking it got....They charged me a normal service charge & pronounced the

camera in good health!

Then again...it was dunked in fresh water...not the ocean.

Please let me know the results you get.

On a personal note I prefer Nik-Sing to Nik-Thai anyday....just FYI.

Cheers,

ss51

[SergeDoe]

Hello sunshine51,

It's a truly horrible story with happy ending.

I'll give it a try with wd40 after picking my camera up on monday.

Maybe water didn't get far, and it shouldn't, because of weather sealed body and your story confirms this.

Almost 2 weekes passed since the incident.

And if it won't work I'll try to fix it in niksthailand.co.th or another place(I'm figuring it now).

Did you have bad experience with nik-thai? Details? )

Deeply appreciate your help!

Thanx,

Sergey

[sunshine51]

@SergeDoe.....there's a PM on it's way to you.

[oTwoPies]

Salt water and cameras:

Cheap Cameras (<10,000 baht)

Simple, throw away and start again. Salt water is equally as good as orange juice at destroying cameras; they are both very corrosive. Salt water will 'weld' the moving parts of a lens very effectively.

Mid price Cameras (between 10,000 & 25,000 baht)

Follow the recommendations below for 'Expensive cameras' and take to a cheap repair outfit hoping for the best. You can try a genuine repair shop but keep in mind my comments for Expensive Cameras. With salt water it really is a 'hope for the best'.

Expensive Cameras (>25,000 baht)

Immediately, and this has to be the very first action, take the battery out. Water and modern IC's do not mix. If you do not believe me ask anyone who has dropped their smartphone in water. Outcome, dead! Yeah yeah you may be lucky, dry it off, and it works as normal but chances are the phone is dead. I used to work for Nokia and part of the production assembly process was to attach a secret marker to the PCB to ascertain if the phone had been in contact with water. If the marker indicated water damage the warranty was void.

So, back to the Expensive Camera......

If possible, separate the lens from the body and take apart everything else that is removable i.e. SD card etc. etc

Wipe all obvious salt water with a clean cloth and now follows the drastic bit...

Dunk, and leave, in a bucket of clean distilled or RO water hoping that any backup battery in the camera body does not destroy the electronics. This may seem, and is, drastic but as the op has found, the repair costs can be horrendous after just a little salt water ingress.

One of the reasons the repair cost is high is very simple: it may work now with a quick and dirty fix but it will certainly fail again in a week, month or maybe a year. The only way to guarantee the repair is to replace virtually everything.

As I said, salt water and orange juice are equally corrosive.

What would I do; take the camera to a cheap repair outfit and hope for the best. If the camera fails again sometime down the road then I would cut my losses and buy new. It is no use blaming the backstreet repair shop for shoddy workmanship. They tried and now the salt water corrosion has caused a further failure. As the op said, the genuine repair cost is almost the same as buying a new camera which may be precisely what Nikon decide, i.e. it is a cheaper, more cost effective solution, for Nikon to replace with new.

I hope this helps but if you do not like my words then please, "Don't shoot the messenger."

p.s. the above, apart from 'removing the battery as soon as possible' does not apply with river water. River water is nowhere near as corrosive as salt water.

[SergeDoe]

Salt water and cameras:

Cheap Cameras (<10,000 baht)

Simple, throw away and start again. Salt water is equally as good as orange juice at destroying cameras; they are both very corrosive. Salt water will 'weld' the moving parts of a lens very effectively.

Mid price Cameras (between 10,000 & 25,000 baht)

Follow the recommendations below for 'Expensive cameras' and take to a cheap repair outfit hoping for the best. You can try a genuine repair shop but keep in mind my comments for Expensive Cameras. With salt water it really is a 'hope for the best'.

Expensive Cameras (>25,000 baht)

Immediately, and this has to be the very first action, take the battery out. Water and modern IC's do not mix. If you do not believe me ask anyone who has dropped their smartphone in water. Outcome, dead! Yeah yeah you may be lucky, dry it off, and it works as normal but chances are the phone is dead. I used to work for Nokia and part of the production assembly process was to attach a secret marker to the PCB to ascertain if the phone had been in contact with water. If the marker indicated water damage the warranty was void.

So, back to the Expensive Camera......

If possible, separate the lens from the body and take apart everything else that is removable i.e. SD card etc. etc

Wipe all obvious salt water with a clean cloth and now follows the drastic bit...

Dunk, and leave, in a bucket of clean distilled or RO water hoping that any backup battery in the camera body does not destroy the electronics. This may seem, and is, drastic but as the op has found, the repair costs can be horrendous after just a little salt water ingress.

One of the reasons the repair cost is high is very simple: it may work now with a quick and dirty fix but it will certainly fail again in a week, month or maybe a year. The only way to guarantee the repair is to replace virtually everything.

As I said, salt water and orange juice are equally corrosive.

What would I do; take the camera to a cheap repair outfit and hope for the best. If the camera fails again sometime down the road then I would cut my losses and buy new. It is no use blaming the backstreet repair shop for shoddy workmanship. They tried and now the salt water corrosion has caused a further failure. As the op said, the genuine repair cost is almost the same as buying a new camera which may be precisely what Nikon decide, i.e. it is a cheaper, more cost effective solution, for Nikon to replace with new.

I hope this helps but if you do not like my words then please, "Don't shoot the messenger."

p.s. the above, apart from 'removing the battery as soon as possible' does not apply with river water. River water is nowhere near as corrosive as salt water.

[rnw]

why didn't you venture to

NIKON (THAILAND) CO., LTD. ( ROCHANA INDUSTRIAL PARK) ?

thai engineer or technician working there might help u out in their sparetime.

77,000THB is quite enough for u fly airasia to tokyo,find a reliable reparman fixing up at very resonable price@Akihabara whole sale market then purchasing another new pentax body...if u venture to nikon HQ in tokyo, file complaint to CEO, they may change a new one to you...

in akihabara you should be able to find all spare parts to asemble dslr by yourself or well-trained technician.

why did u go the agent in Empire tower?( middle man between nikon Hq and end users.)

[SergeDoe]

hi rnw,

I've got it on Nikon official site. I thought it was the fastest way. Now I waisted 2weeks almost.

Do you think getting to Rajona park is so simple?

Wait for some guy to pass and ask him to fix my camera ? ))

Thanx,

Sergey

[SergeDoe]

Just took my camera back from off service. It seems they didn't opened it to exam (.

In Nik serviceman said that office in Empire tower is their main office ( and suggested to buy a new one.