How to clean foggy Nikon 18-55 lens?

[dave lackey]

This lens was given to me after it was dunked in a river and dried out immediately. It works perfectly well but there is obvious "fog" on the lens inside which results in foggy photos. Since the lens is relatively inexpensive, no one wants to work on it.

How can I disassemble and clean this lens? It would be a shame to trash it.

 

[sevo]

Toss it. At least the first version with stabilizer contains too many plastics welds to get between the groups - all you can do is split it in five blocks (front group, aperture, stabilizer group, rear group, barrel) that can theoretically be individually replaced. But spares are more expensive than a good used copy of the same lens - and even after merely peeling it apart for inspection you'll already need a new bezel and decorative barrel parts if you don't want it to look ratty.

 

[pvdhaar]

Do you have or know someone who has a vacuum sealer (such as used to keep food fresh)? The vacuum should help outgas the water from the lens.. maybe worth a try.