Another S90 case issue

[Puffer Fish]

I have almost gotten over the fact that the case destroyed my first S90 (poor quality ring gear pushed the lens into the side of the case resulting in the drive unit being damaged), and the fact that the case does not work below about 110 ft (pressure distortion moves where the buttons hit on the camera)...

But this weekend the latch fell off. After inspection with the one pin I could find (not sure if the other one was thrown when it popped off or fell off earlier), the design uses two pins stuck in holes in the plastic. After repeated opening and closing, the holes in the plastic have become much larger and the pins simply fell out.

Putting the pin back is rather meaningless, as it now is very loose.

Admittedly, the case has been used a fair amount, something between 100 and 200 dives, but the design is one that could not withstand any wear.

Other than the standard "send the case back and we will look at it" comment, has this design been changed?

 

[slowhands]

I checked my similar housing for the SD970. Mine is barely used and the pins are snug, but those roll pins don't inspire a lot of confidence. I wish they used a solid riveted pin all around.

There are three pairs of pins, two pairs on the latch and one pair on the hinge. The latch is very positive yet simple. It looks cheap to make, but... if grit gets in the hole, it would enlarge the hole with use, and the pins could eventually fall out as you discovered. I hope they look at this with your experience in mind.

 

[Ikelite Staff]

I'm sorry to read of your problems with the S90 housing. As of this date we are aware of latches falling off in less than 0.1% of ULTRAcompact housings sold over the last 2 1/2 years. The few cases we have seen with this problem all had severely dry o-rings which does place additional stress on the latching mechanism when closing the housing.

We have reviewed the parts and assembly method used and modified both to prevent this from happening in the future.

If you have an original S90 case with 3/4 round front ring gear, you may wish to request modification for the full circle gear when you return your unit for repair.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

 

[Puffer Fish]

I'm sorry to read of your problems with the S90 housing. As of this date we are aware of latches falling off in less than 0.1% of ULTRAcompact housings sold over the last 2 1/2 years. The few cases we have seen with this problem all had severely dry o-rings which does place additional stress on the latching mechanism when closing the housing.

We have reviewed the parts and assembly method used and modified both to prevent this from happening in the future.

If you have an original S90 case with 3/4 round front ring gear, you may wish to request modification for the full circle gear when you return your unit for repair.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

I would guess that my case is opened and closed on average, at least twice every week (perhaps closer to three times). It would not surprise me if that was in the top 1% of the population.

Dry O-ring would not be an issue with me.

Structurally, those pins are under the highest force, and if you have a material engineer there, it is pretty easy to calculate that the force on the pins is greater than the plastic's strength (without some sort of force distribution). A few high force closings or a lot of lower force closings will, rather naturally result in the plastic deforming and the hole getting larger.

I understand the concept of cost effective engineering, however, using returns as a driver does have a few flaws in it.

It assumes that every failure will be sent back.

It assumes the voice of the .5% customer is equal to those that use the case once a year.

My initial take on this issue is, that if that is the way the latch is made, then why bother sending it back, as it will just fail again. I am betting there are others with the same view.

There is a lot to like about the case, but a good latch is pretty critical.

 

[Ikelite Staff]

I definitely appreciate your feedback and I have passed your feelings along to our engineers. We do have over 3 decades of experience making latches in this manner, previously on our extremely popular line of Aquashot and Auto 35 cases. Many of our cases are used in very "extreme" circumstances as you describe and do not suffer this failure. I have a hard time believing that there is a large population of our customers for whom their latches fall off and they simply discard the case or re-engineer it on their own.

We did make a change in our assembly process to reinforce that point in the latch mechanism and are confident in the design of the case. I apologize sincerely for your troubles and inconvenience. We strive to maintain the best levels of after sales support and appreciate an opportunity to correct any failures of our products.

Regards,

Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

 

[alect626]

thanks for the heads up. i just got my s90 housing last week. wont be using the ring gear then when i test the case this weekend

 

[blibecap]

Could someone please post a good close-up picture of the parts in question.