Troubles with my Monstro

[Mark Andersen]

So I had a saltwater attack of sorts with my weapon VV camera. I had a leak in a Ewa Marine splash bag and got a couple of inches of water in the bottom. It appears most of the contact came when we tipped the camera and bag upward and the batteries and batts plate contacted the water. It doesn’t appear the camera body made any or very little contact with the water itself. However, it’s not working, something has obviously shorted out. The media, monitor, lens all survived, there’s no trace that the port of the camera ever got near the water, if fact the whole camera seems dry and had no signs of any corrosion. I sent it in for repair and was told that repairs would cost more than a brand new camera ($54,500) and it’s a total loss. I am having a hard time believing that the camera body has no value at all and is a total loss. Certainly the sensor has value, what about the body, media bay, port, etc. I can believe that some or even all the boards “fried” through some sort of effect of the batteries and battery plate getting wet. It’s hard to swallow the idea that new boards would cost more than $55K, or that they couldn’t be fixed. I totally understand that Red doesn’t want to repair a camera that my have other unknown issues from the water, there is no way they can insure I’ll have a solid product unless they call it a total loss and get me a new one. My thought are this, #1 is there anyone else on this planet that can repair it? I know I won’t get a guarantee from anyone but I might get a working camera. #2 can I pull my monstro sensor out and put it in my Weapon Helium or can I put my Weapon Helium boards in my Monstro? #3 Can I get any value for this camera to offset the price of purchasing a new one? I’d like to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

 

[Phil Holland]

Ouch. Once a real amount of water gets inside the body and touches various boards especially while the camera is on, bad things are happening. 2 inches is a lot of wetness in reality. I've had my cameras in fairly light rain and nothing happened, but you're saying there was a 2 inch puddle in there, that more or less would be like pouring a small coffee cup of water through it. I hear what you're saying that you don't think any got in there, but there's no telling which direction the camera and gravity we're moving things under the water.

First question. Is this camera insured? I don't know anybody putting cameras in the drink uninsured and this sounds like the exact reason why.

In terms of cost that RED might be stating, full on repair, QCing, testing every board and connection, and the very likely swapping off hardware would likely end up costing more in parts and labor. This wouldn't be a one day job at all. I mean just properly testing the boards then going through QC would be a several days if that was an individuals only task.

To answer your questions.

1. Any authorized RED service provider will open it up and look at it, but I suspect if RED has already given you this answer the water went around inside the body.

2. RED does have the Sensor Swap program under RED Armor. If they feel the sensor is in tact and the hardware attached to it are functional, that might be worth exploring. You won't be able to simply rip it out yourself and do this.

3. Occasionally you'll find people looking for parts from a busted brain, but I'd say it's real rare with Monstro.

 

[Mark Andersen]

Thanks Phil, I’m going to submit a claim with my insurance but they may try (possibly successfully) to wiggle out of this. I’m better off dropping it in the ocean than putting it intentionally in a splash bag according to my agent, I’d be curious if any others had cameras covered by insurance when damaged in an underwater housing.

 

[David J. Buchanan]

Thanks Phil, I’m going to submit a claim with my insurance but they may try (possibly successfully) to wiggle out of this. I’m better off dropping it in the ocean than putting it intentionally in a splash bag according to my agent, I’d be curious if any others had cameras covered by insurance when damaged in an underwater housing.

Which insurance? If it's accidental damage. It would be covered. In fact, water damage is one of the many things most insurance DOES cover. Also, I don't see why RED wouldn't replace the body for the price of a body... I think their pricing has become transparent enough to know that bodies are actually $10K if my math is correct.

 

[Brian F Kobylarz]

Mark,

Deja Vu....

A couple of years ago my Magnesium 6K suffered the same fate.
Also in the EWA splash bag.
Less water inside he bag than your description but it did not take much for the camera to shut down.
My camera looked dry as well.
I too was surprised with the considerable damage to the internals - not only directly to components, but contamination to connectors.

I tried everything possible on location - immediate drying, desiccants - all in vain.

RED ended up replacing a number of boards and did a fantastic job turning the camera around.
It was not a total loss, but close enough.

The Ti mount was evaluated and found to be undamaged.
On the other hand, the Duclos / Tokina 11-16 lens I was using had to be fully disassembled and rebuilt.

The ET back power plate was stripped down - corrosion was evident but ET was able to clean, test and certify...
The Anton Bauer battery found a new home as a recycled product.

Insurance did take care of most of the damage (after deductibles).
Took a lot of discussions on the phone with the agent and needed to provide specs on the EWA bag and how it was used.
They did not argue with any aspect of the claim - just wanted to ensure that it was all legitimate.

Of course, documentation from RED, Duclos and ET after the repairs was required for reimbursement to be approved.

While they settled the claim, at the end of the process I was told that they would no longer provide coverage as my "use" of the equipment was not what they had anticipated.

 

[Mark Andersen]

Brian, thanks for the input, that gives me some hope. I’ll start the process and hope that my results are as good as yours.

 

[Björn Benckert]

There was a thread here by someone dissembling and putting a damaged epic x together with a damaged scarlet x....

But yes seams like some bits could possibly still be reused. But I would try with the insurance company. Possibly also with the rental house insurance company... Especially if the splash house was at fault. Because what ever happens with that camera later on.. no matter if its just the smallest of hiccups you will always think its related to it being submerged so possibly better to have it swapped for a new one and if possibly buy the broken one back from insurance and keep as a spare. As you say possibly the sensor can be used or such.