Canon Housing Leaks - Easy DIY Fix

[Reefwalker]

A Dremel... Jesus Christ....

My thoughts exactly

 

[ScubaMarc]

A Dremel... Jesus Christ....

As I have said, i tested before on an old case with no issues prior to destroying my g11 case. I guess the plastics have changed.

 

[jackohsk]

Hi

I just want to know if any of you has dropped your Patima Housing for G10 (if you have that), and whether do u experience any fault thereafter?

Thanks

 

[barracuda]

dear jeff,

i am a friend of Diggy who has done his uw photo course with you.

we are currently in Pulau Weh indonesia where i brought of group of divers over from india and disaster !! one of the divers stepped on my G10 Canon housing resulting in the housing developing a leak which is minor at depth but as i ascend i found water collecting at the base in the shallows. luckily i saved the camera and then took only the housing for the next 2 dives with the same results but try as i did, i could not identify the source of the leak !! any guesses on this and if it can be fixed would be great.

also are there any other good housings available for G10 other than ikelite which allow fixing wet lenses ? appreciate any info including estimated costs for same. hope to come on your Komodo trip one day and do the Photography course. warm regards.

venkat
barracuda diving india

 

[jbb]

Hi There,Problem with Canon Housing? most of the the sea rider client what they did is, they change the O-ring.They bought the same size of O-ring and they replace it with Olympus brand O-ring! it works and no leak!
Warning! this is there experiment but it works! try it but its risky!

Which Olympus O-ring? They have lots of housings.

 

[Reefwalker]

dear jeff,

i am a friend of Diggy who has done his uw photo course with you.

we are currently in Pulau Weh indonesia where i brought of group of divers over from india and disaster !! one of the divers stepped on my G10 Canon housing resulting in the housing developing a leak which is minor at depth but as i ascend i found water collecting at the base in the shallows. luckily i saved the camera and then took only the housing for the next 2 dives with the same results but try as i did, i could not identify the source of the leak !! any guesses on this and if it can be fixed would be great.

also are there any other good housings available for G10 other than ikelite which allow fixing wet lenses ? appreciate any info including estimated costs for same. hope to come on your Komodo trip one day and do the Photography course. warm regards.

venkat
barracuda diving india

Hi Venkat
I would suggest that the housing has probably either cracked, or distorted from being stood-on. You may not see a crack above water, as they are hard to see in clear acrylic housings. I would suggest for the cost of a new housing just to replace-it, as you will never feel safe with it again. Better to spend a couple of hundred now, than have to replace the camera as well.
If you'd like to get another housing, try the Patima or Fish Eye Fix (alloy housings), also 10Bar have a nice housing that is much better than the original Canon. A google search will find plenty of suppliers of these housings.

 

[Reefwalker]

Which Olympus O-ring? They have lots of housings.

Many of Olympus 'O' Rings are made from a softer silicon than the Canon WP-DCXX housings utilise. This will allow the (softer) 'O' ring to 'flex' around the moulding release fault-line.
Personally I would just sand-off the mould release line(s) and stick with the standard 'O' ring.
I had one lady who had a regular leak in her Canon A640 housing, this was fixed by installing a new 'O' ring.... which would last around 8-10 dives then leak again, I'm sure this was just because the new 'O' ring was just more supple for a short time.
I sanded the x4 moulding lines and it now doesn't leak with any of the (20 odd) 'O' rings she has in her collection!!

 

[Jax]

Here's a couple of pics of the "Mould Release Line" - First Pic shows one end of the door, with Two Lines marked with arrows, The other end also has two in the same positions. I have found that the one shown here on the Left is the one that causes most leaks, but its easy to fix all 4 while you have the sand paper out !

Second Pic shows a close-up of the Left Hand "Mould Release Line". When it is sanded this line is no longer visible, and you can't feel it when a toothpick is run along the groove. I have now heard from around 15 people that I did this modification too their housings, and all have done plenty of dives with absolutely NO LEAKS.
P.S. Please don't ask me if I can fix your housing "Mould Release Lines", it is so very easy to do yourself.

Jeff!!!! I love ya, Man! You are my most favorite person today!!!!

- a new G10 owner

 

[Jax]

I just ruined my case, I tried to buff the grit lines and was a little to agessive. I was using a polishing cloth, that was not removeing it, then used my dremal on very slow and put a divit in the grove. $175 down the drain.

Well, since it's already ruined, you might try a bit of fiberglass epoxy to fill it. Then sand it down manually!

 

[daud11]

My canon housing for g11 leaked (a few drops of water on the shutter button) on my 3rd dive trip with it. Didn't logged many dives on the previous 2 trips. I checked the internet and found that the buttons can be removed by removing the eclip. I have tried to remove some of the buttons but I don't seem to be able to remove the shutter button - the assembly is different and I just cannot find the eclip that holds it to the shaft. Anyone knows how to do it?
I thought if i can remove the buttons and of course put them back again later after greasing the o-ring, i can maintain the housing myself. It is just that one button that I am not able to remove yet so far. By the way, it seems like the o-rings from canon are quite hard compared to nikon. I have an old nikon housing and i found that the o-rings are much softer.
Right now the housing is with a scuba shop ... hopefully they can get it fixed and pressure tested. My canon camera is with with canon ... hopefully canon will not charge me for the repair.