YIKES! salt (?) on my o-ring after a dive?

[M DeM]

Hi all-

I just took my first (successful) dive with my new-to-me used Subal CD7.

The first time I ever used it, I flooded it completely. The nice folks at Reef Photo totally re-serviced it and tested it.

So today was my first time with it since the re-furb, and everything went well during the dive. I let it soak at home for 20 min in fresh water, because there wasn't a fresh water source at the dive site.

I dry it with a paper towel, then let it air dry for an hour. Then I opened it up. I found:

• Salt on my o-ring (or sand, or something)
• a drop of water on the o-ring
• some drops of water in the housing (where the o-ring goes).

(see pictures)

The o-ring was brand new, out of the bag. I did put grease on it, and inspect it prior to diving.

Now, the especially nerve-wracking thing is that the dive was only 17 feet at it's max and only 72 minutes. So I can imagine that at 70 feet I might have had a problem.

Anyone have any advice? I'm guessing I should ditch the o-ring. I have another (new) o-ring, but should I ditch any more dives and go back to reef photo?

 

[tursiops]

It is probably sand. Taste it. Were you diving in sand?
Put very little grease on the o-ring before installing; the grease is NOT for filling gaps or sealing, it is only for making the o-ring slippery so it will slide in the groove when compressed.
If nothing got past the o-ring and into the body of the housing, you are likely OK.
Shallow dives are the worst; no pressure on the housing to seal everything well. Sand can easily get into the o-ring space.

 

[M DeM]

It is probably sand. Taste it. Were you diving in sand?
Put very little grease on the o-ring before installing; the grease is NOT for filling gaps or sealing, it is only for making the o-ring slippery so it will slide in the groove when compressed.
If nothing got past the o-ring and into the body of the housing, you are likely OK.
Shallow dives are the worst; no pressure on the housing to seal everything well. Sand can easily get into the o-ring space.

It was suuuuuuper sandy. And it was my first time doing super-macro with this camera so I was kind of a mess kicking up all kinds of sand.

Thanks!

 

[Cali_diver]

Looks pretty normal to me after a dive with particulate in the water. If you are worried at all, fill it with tissue (not a camera) and submerge it for a couple hours. Then open and see if any tissue is wet. If not you are probably good to go.

 

[M DeM]

Looks pretty normal to me after a dive with particulate in the water. If you are worried at all, fill it with tissue (not a camera) and submerge it for a couple hours. Then open and see if any tissue is wet. If not you are probably good to go.

Great! Thanks for giving me piece of mind.... I'll actually be able to go to sleep tonight.

A question -- should I just soak and clean the o-ring or do I have to replace it?

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

Great! Thanks for giving me piece of mind.... I'll actually be able to go to sleep tonight.

A question -- should I just soak and clean the o-ring or do I have to replace it?

Give it a good look with a flash, if you cant see any cracks or tears its ok to use.

 

[Cali_diver]

What Jack said... After a good muck dive my O ring will be covered with grit. As long as you don't let salt etc. sit on o ring for long time it should be just fine. I never have to replace my o ring and I put 100s of dives on my housing.

 

[tursiops]

Great! Thanks for giving me piece of mind.... I'll actually be able to go to sleep tonight.

A question -- should I just soak and clean the o-ring or do I have to replace it?

Just clean the o-ring, VERY lightly grease it, and do the tissue test overnight in a tub.

 

[M DeM]

Just cleean the o-ring, VERY lightly grease it, and do the tissue test overnight in a tub.

Will do! Thanks for the help!

 

[northernone]

I'll second what the others are saying. Shallow and silt/sand is the worst. Grit works it's way into the oring seat, particularly badly if excessive lube is used.

If the oring isn't nicked, just clean it and you should be good to go. (I use my tongue/lips to feel from imperfections... But that might be just me and the old salt I learned it from.)