A soggy G11 ,, mutter mutter !!

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Wantonmien

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Location
Philippines (Ex Taiwan & Oz)
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:depressed:

Last Monday in Boracay, last dive of 8 of my few days there, a night dive, rolled off the boat, had G11 in Canon WP-DC34 housing passed to me, and as soon as decending had a customary quick look at the camera/housing to ensure no sign of water leakage.

Then at max depth 29 m in the blackness - flashed my torch onto housing to turn camera and strobe on and :shakehead: - there in the housing sat the G11 with about 20mm depth of water in the housing .. :depressed:

The camera and housing had previously made around 100 trouble free dives with me, and seeing the housing failure meant that was the first dive I've taken and not enjoyed !! ... Ah well such is life, and if anyone wants to buy a drowned G11 make me an offer !!!
--

Anyway - causes / reasons ?

Took the housing into the very helpful staff at local diving camera shop here in Taipei on day of return - and it seems all I had done was smear too much silicon on the main o-ring, and not taken the main o-ring out and cleaned it often enough, so a bit of a build up of silicon seems the big stupid mistake :depressed: (or of course might have been a grain of sand or something but excess silicon highly likely).

After cleaning of the main o-ring and lip, the housing was then statically pressure tested by the shop to equivalent of 40m depth, and no sign of a leak/crack or problem. This weekend I'll also take the empty housing diving to depth and twiddle all the buttons to make sure there's no sign of leak also, I'll then try and decide if I invest in another Canon (G12) and use the same case, or go for something different.

Questions though -

- how often do other users of the WP-DC34 -take out the main o-ring and clean it ?
- how often to apply silicon to it ?
- what about the buttons, do other users occasionally find a button sticks in ?
- should oil / grease of any type be applied from inside housing to the button springs ?

- I liked the G11, so pretty sure I'll invest in the G12 - so can anyone recommend an alternative housing less likley to leak ?

The one good point :D The SD card from the G11 is fine, so didn't lose my new pics

cheers
 
- how often do other users of the WP-DC34 -take out the main o-ring and clean it ?

Not enough! I got caught out in Malaysia recently. Luckily it was a small amount getting in so it didn't damage the camera, but it was due to my rather slack pre & post care routine
- how often to apply silicon to it ?
Again not enough. A more experienced underwater photographer advised me to put a small amount of silicon grease in a ziplock baggy, roll the grease around the bag, then put the o-ring and roll that around. This has a two fold benefit. You'll find that only a thin layer is applied to the o-ring (which avoids the over- greasing scenario) also you avoid any contaminants from your fingers
- what about the buttons, do other users occasionally find a button sticks in ?

Yes. I on the odd dive I've found the button completely seizing up. Normally when I go below 20m. However since I cleaned up the housing this has stopped being an issue.
- should oil / grease of any type be applied from inside housing to the button springs ?

Can't comment, no idea
- I liked the G11, so pretty sure I'll invest in the G12 - so can anyone recommend an alternative housing less likley to leak ?


The WP DC34 is fine as long as you take care of it. I have an old fuji casing that would seal no matter what, so I got used to that and a bit lazy when I upgraded to G11.
Your main alternatives will be the IKELITE housing runs about $600 and you can only use the flash in macro mode. Alternatively there is the Fisheye housing, but you could buy 5 WP DC34's for the same price!!
 
No fun but here is a link to a most excellent article on housing maintanence by Jeff Mullins:
Underwater Camera Maintenance

I believe Jeff also sells a housing leak detector. He posts on SB so I bet a PM will get a response. A drop of food grade liquid silicone (McNetts sells this, pretty available in dive shops or online) applied w/ a toothpick directly on the button shafts will help. Don't try to grease them, especially inside the housing, since grease will become a sand magnet.

I'm using a G10 in a Canon housing and try to be pretty consistent on maintanence, no leaks yet (150+ dives on it). Might make sense to buy a second camera if you don't go for a pricey housing. Cameras get changed just enough to warrant a different housing and then that camera model becomes hard to find when discontinued.

Not to drag this out but Canon's S95 offers a lot of temptation, especially if you use any wet lenses. Were money no object an S95 in a RecSee housing is ideal. For us mortals however Canon housings are still a practical way to go. Oh, I'm told Canon repair offers a "buyer loyalty" option sometimes. If they can't fix your camera they might offer a discount on a replacement model. Worth a call to whatever Canon repair facility is nearest. Good luck! // ww
 
Questions though -

- how often do other users of the WP-DC34 -take out the main o-ring and clean it ?
- how often to apply silicon to it ?
- what about the buttons, do other users occasionally find a button sticks in ?
- should oil / grease of any type be applied from inside housing to the button springs ?

cheers

-I take the main O-ring out after every dive day and keep it in a zip lock sandwich bag. Careful not to damage it.
-I lightly grease it, if needed. Only a very small amount is required. Run the O-ring through your fingers until there is no excess grease. I use a magnifying glass to check it for any hairs, lint etc.
-NO oil or grease on the plunger controls. If any of them get stuck put a drop of pure liquid silicone (photo below) on the the exterior of the control and work it in by pushing the plunger several times.

trident_silicone.jpg
 
My wife has the same setup, but I get to do all the maintenance.

- how often do other users of the WP-DC34 -take out the main o-ring and clean it ?

I remove, inspect and clean the o-ring before every trip. If she repeatedly removes the camera from the housing during the trip, I clean and inspect the o-ring again.

- how often to apply silicon to it ?

I only apply silicon after removing and inspecting the o-ring. Applying silicon without removing the o-ring results in excess silicon and can affect the seal.

- what about the buttons, do other users occasionally find a button sticks in ?

I haven't had this problem on the Canon housing, but have used a drop of liquid silicon on a different housing.

- should oil / grease of any type be applied from inside housing to the button springs ?

I avoid any oil/grease inside the housing. I treat the inside like a clean room and minimize foreign substances.

While it wasn't flooded, my wife left an older Canon camera outside in the rain, completely flooding the camera. I was able to take the camera apart, dry it out and lubricate the moving parts. The camera still works...
 
Your main alternatives will be the IKELITE housing runs about $600 and you can only use the flash in macro mode.

Nonsense. The Ikelite housing for the G11/G12 will operate the flash in both "macro" and "normal" mode. In fact, how would the camera even know which housing it's in?

The Ikelite housing has a hotshoe adapter that extends out through a bulkhead fitting so you can attach a full TTL strobe if you have one. Other than that, you can still use the "black velcro over the internal flash to a fiber optic cable" routine.

-Charles
 
I've often thought less is more when it comes to silicone grease. Its purpose is to prevent abrasion of the O-ring, so a little bit is sufficient. More tends to allow sand and grit to adhere on the outside, then when you open it the sand/grit migrates and you have a leak. Inspection is the key. Watch for salt dried, and fiber or hair. Sneaky stuff.

About your camera: Canon won't repair it, but they will offer a refurb G11 for $259 plus tax and shipping. Send it to them and wait for the email offering that. The refurb is usually a new camera with maybe 50 shots on it, returned stock, so you can't go wrong.
 
FWIW, I flooded my G-11 (similar lack of o-ring awareness) last September. For a mere $180 Canon sent me a Refurb camera....Looks and acts just like a new one.

My Card appeared to survive as well.....but went bad very shortly after. I suggest you save your shots while you can!!! and get a new card as cheap insurance...

Good luck!
 
Nonsense. The Ikelite housing for the G11/G12 will operate the flash in both "macro" and "normal" mode. In fact, how would the camera even know which housing it's in?

The Ikelite housing has a hotshoe adapter that extends out through a bulkhead fitting so you can attach a full TTL strobe if you have one. Other than that, you can still use the "black velcro over the internal flash to a fiber optic cable" routine.

-Charles

Actually IKELITE claim that on the website!!!!
 
And they're flat wrong. I'm sitting here right NOW with the G12 in an Ikelite housing and a DS-161. Specifically, I have:

- Canon G12
- Ikelite 6146.12
- Ikelite 3945.01

Photo:

IMG_0155.jpg


The G12 isn't in the housing because I had to take the photo and I don't have my other camera here with me.

Anyway, I can absolutely assure you I can take flash photos in and out of macro mode. If it was truly limited to "macro only" I would have never bought this kit.

-Charles
 

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