Housing leak

[neverneverever]

:dunno::dunno: Last weekend i went p.Aur to dive and at my first dive my housing leak..
i straight away took out my dsmb and surface my camera first and then i sowly surface... i was hoping that it will help but my ixus 65 died... any of u guys here experience this before?? at surface i use my tank to blow dry it but still it cannot work.. i sent for repair dunno how much will it be..

what could have cause the leak... i jus grease the o ring before i dive and the housing is less then half years old??

 

[lovells19]

Ouch.. sorry to hear that.

could be a crack in the housing, could be a hair in the grease that u applied

could be o ring never seat properly

actually, removing the grease from the o ring before the dive would be better. apply grease when you're storing the o-ring

usually when flooded, electronics are goners, I have friends who managed to get it working but it usually dies after a few more tries. Salt + Water + electronics = Waste

Unless your camera itself is splash proof or water proof, shooting your cam to the surface would not really help, in fact in the deep the pressure helps hold the housing together.. most floods happens in the shallow.

Most prob you have to get a new one, Hope you bought insurance.:embrass:

 

[kthan]

not that i want to rub it in, but it is a matter of when, not how. Most times, it is due to the o-ring not sitting properly in the groove.

i myself have flooded a MX-10, Motormarine II, DS-50 strobe, DS125 strobe and D70.....hope this will make u feel a little better

Still shooting u/w whenever i can.

Afterall what is life without passion and a little lunacy

eric

 

[gargamel]

Next time, routinely send the housing for pressure test. You may want to consider buying Travel insurance to minimize your loss.

 

[lovells19]

Guess flooding is part n parcel of UW photography, IF you haven FLOOD YOURS means you're not into it enough!!

just joking

I flooded a Oly c5050.. due to bad seating of O ring
and a DS-50. i think too much grease

so Ouch..

 

[neverneverever]

So well i'm not the only one... haha... maybe is because i put too much grease.. too ks...

 

[kthan]

so welcome to the club......

that makes u a qualified u/w photographer

 

[cityofangels]

Guess flooding is part n parcel of UW photography, IF you haven FLOOD YOURS means you're not into it enough!!

Ouch!! And I'm due for a dive end of this month. Hope my uw housing doesn't flood! *Crosses fingers* :sweat:

 

[eudon]

Flooded my Oly 3040z around 4 years ago. Surprisingly it still worked as not a lot of sea water got inside. I removed the battery and wash down with fresh water and dried it over night under the air-conditioning unit. And it worked!

I wasnt sure what went wrong. So I wanted to take the housing down without camera, to test. However i skipped the dive and my wife brought the casing down with her instead. She lost the housing during the dive. Which was great because it allowed me to upgrade without too much debate with her! :bsmilie:

Ive since dived with an Ikelite housed 350D and then a 400D, making around 3-4 dive trips per year. No floods. *cross fingers* *touch wood*

I dont believe in insurance for underwater photography. (I think it will be difficult to file claims.) So my insurance is taking time to slowly and carefully prepare the camera and housing. When ever i feel rush and/or lazy to do something in my checklist, i remind myself "This is my insurance."

And i agree with everyone, most likely fault is too much grease. Common mistake. Its not a sealant, its a lubricant and protection against drying-out. Used for storage of o-ring, or when there is movement of a another surface against the o-ring. (e.g. joining dome port extension tube to the dome port.) Clamping down on a o-ring with the housing door is not surface movement. Too much grease prevents an initial good seal.

Eudon

www.pbase.com/eudon

 

[animian2002]

Ouch!! And I'm due for a dive end of this month. Hope my uw housing doesn't flood! *Crosses fingers* :sweat:

i'm due for a diving trip to lembeh strait next month, hope mine wont flood too :sweat:

 

[lovells19]

my wife brought the casing down with her instead. She lost the housing during the dive.

Long Live the WIFE!!

Ive since dived with an Ikelite housed 350D and then a 400D, making around 3-4 dive trips per year. No floods. *cross fingers* *touch wood*

3rd party housings like Ikelite 10bar offers a much better built housing..

which is why we're digging out the little piggy banks and buying them

hmm maybe i should get a wife too

 

[Dylan]

I dont believe in insurance for underwater photography. (I think it will be difficult to file claims.)

When I was in Sipadan 2 years ago, I 'lost' my WA lens. Managed to get full claim within the month. It's a matter of how the report is written. Getting partial claim is also better than nothing. IMHO.

 

[kirkchua79]

i try not to open the casing too much.less chance of flooding.always ask someone to pass the camera to u when makin entry or pass to others in the water 1st.

 

[scubanel]

Hi,

from my point of view. You may have the right amount of grease, no particles and placed the ring correctly. But one more to check. Make sure the "tension" of your O ring is spreaded evenly. Also ensure there is no slight twist. Cos this will happen when you close the housing.

This is a usual case that various divers may not be aware of. Then the moment you take the camera out. open the case, everything falls back to place....dunno what happened but guessed.

The next thing is how you normally store your O ring also requires some care. Cos rubber will detoriate in time no matter what. You got to check the workability of the ring.



I see that some of you mentioned about insurance or travel insurance. Be very careful and also the witness or operator witness report or police report must be ready. Proof of your trip and receipt is also required. Some insurance only covers up to a max of SGD500.

If you were to take up other equipment insurance, you may have to consider them like DEPP which you need to insure yourself first and also your dive gears before adding on your camers setup for their insurance. Do your math first.

Hope these helps. Any hey...who doesn't flood their cameras? May it be the first or second setup....haha..mine was like years ago using my sony P9 then. Half filled with water flushed it with the battery taken out and leave it to dry for 2 weeks. And hey, it worked again!

Happy Shooting

 

[lovells19]

IMHO best way to prevent flooding is to put the camera in the housing, then put it in your dry cabinet at home.

 

[bighead]

IMHO best way to prevent flooding is to put the camera in the housing, then put it in your dry cabinet at home.

use housing to take photos in bath tub ?? :bsmilie:

 

[scubanel]

IMHO best way to prevent flooding is to put the camera in the housing, then put it in your dry cabinet at home.

?? The O ring cannot be too dry also.

In my personal view, I will grease the ring then put in into a container/zip block and store them in cool temperature rather than the dry cabinet lor. Cos sometimes the dry cabinet will make use of "heating" effect to prevent moisture inside. I think no need to put the camera into the housing. Best is separatly keep the housing and O ring in another container that is out of heat and moisture will be good enough. Like for example if your room is really warm or hot, then do not store them there.Or cabinets at the recessed into the wall that can feel warm at the end of the day by just feeling it.

 

[neverneverever]

Hi,

from my point of view. You may have the right amount of grease, no particles and placed the ring correctly. But one more to check. Make sure the "tension" of your O ring is spreaded evenly. Also ensure there is no slight twist. Cos this will happen when you close the housing.

This is a usual case that various divers may not be aware of. Then the moment you take the camera out. open the case, everything falls back to place....dunno what happened but guessed.

The next thing is how you normally store your O ring also requires some care. Cos rubber will detoriate in time no matter what. You got to check the workability of the ring.

Ohh lesson learned... maybe is due to that..

 

[airfins]

IMHO best way to prevent flooding is to put the camera in the housing, then put it in your dry cabinet at home.

:sweatsm::sweatsm: I like this ideal then I can enjoy my dive without being so busy taking pictures :sweat:

?? The O ring cannot be too dry also.

In my personal view, I will grease the ring then put in into a container/zip block and store them in cool temperature rather than the dry cabinet lor. Cos sometimes the dry cabinet will make use of "heating" effect to prevent moisture inside. I think no need to put the camera into the housing. Best is separately keep the housing and O ring in another container that is out of heat and moisture will be good enough. Like for example if your room is really warm or hot, then do not store them there.Or cabinets at the recessed into the wall that can feel warm at the end of the day by just feeling it.

I think what he meant is a joke la, keep it in the dry cabinet and don't bring for dive then never will flood liao :bsmilie: It should not be a problem if the RH is kept at 45-50%, but I think your method works too :bsmilie:

 

[cat64fish]

Just would like to add that there are *many* o-rings in a standard underwater housing ... and that any one of them could fail and cause a leak. In most cases, we have access to only one, or a few of the o-rings.

The o-rings around the buttons and knobs are usually "neglected" because we have no access to them, normally. Which is why is it important to soak your camera housing after along trip, to try and remove any salt and sand deposits around these o-rings.

All other causes mentioned earlier (hair-line cracks, twisted o-rings) can also contribute to the demise of your electronic toy, which once flooded with seawater, is a total write-off.

On the topic of insurance, some policies cover loss, but not flooding, so read find print carefully.

I was looking at DEPP (Diver Equipment Protection Program). Anyone have experience with them?

Cheers, Jeff