Canon Housing Leaks - Easy DIY Fix

[blibecap]

Great Post Jeff, very good reading for all underwater photographers. If someone reading this post has a dslr and are concerned with housing leaks I have a product on my site called the Housing Sentry that you should look at.

 

[ozziworld]

I too have an old canon housing and never had any problems. Just kept the o-ring clean and lubed. not much else in terms of maintenance. Outstanding value I think.

However, having said that, I do recognize that the existence of this thread seems to indicate a different experience for many. What I am curious to know is what kind of statistics we are all looking at. I think it would be safe to assume there are more Canon OEM housings in the water than other brands which implies that we can also expect more reports of leaks than the ikelites or other brands.

Also, was wondering if the other OEM housings from olympus, panasonic etc. have similar numbers of leak reports.

 

[Jax]

It seems that the photos I linked with this post have been automatically removed after one month, so here are the direct links:

Mould Release Lines Photo

Mould Release Lines Close-Up Photo

Sketch of How to Fix

You could report your post and ask the mods to put these pic links into the 1st post. The link is still there, BTW, it just doesn't show when there's nothing to show.

I am sincerely grateful for your post.

 

[pcwu]

Too Bad! 3 of us bought the G11 and 2 out of 3 of the new WP34 housings have the slightly leakage problem, well, the remaining one has got shutter button stuck issue occasionally(<60 feet). So disappointed with Canon housing.:depressed:
I would definitely try the fix before my next trip. Thx so much for the info.

After two trips, the problem has been proved gone with the mod(both 2 housings could go 40+ m without any tiny leakage!) :banana:

 

[Jax]

After two trips, the problem has been proved gone with the mod(both 2 housings could go 40+ m without any tiny leakage!) :banana:

Super news!

That shutter button thing -- are you putting your camera in the fresh water camera bucket? I understand that the slightest bit of salt drying on the button can cause sticking -- no expert here, but advice from some!

 

[Reefwalker]

I too have an old canon housing and never had any problems. Just kept the o-ring clean and lubed. not much else in terms of maintenance. Outstanding value I think.

However, having said that, I do recognize that the existence of this thread seems to indicate a different experience for many. What I am curious to know is what kind of statistics we are all looking at. I think it would be safe to assume there are more Canon OEM housings in the water than other brands which implies that we can also expect more reports of leaks than the ikelites or other brands.

Also, was wondering if the other OEM housings from olympus, panasonic etc. have similar numbers of leak reports.

From my experience of repairing & servicing housings. I've seen leaks on every brand available. But most of them are user error! I've seen a brand-new D300 drowned in a Nexus housing (left the port 'O' Ring out!!) and a D90 in a Sea & Sea housing with sea water half way up the dome port (left the main 'O' Ring out!!).
But it is pretty rare to see a housing fail to keep water out if it is maintained correctly.
Of the compact housings:
Olympus lead the way with far sturdier housings, particularly the button mechanism.
Panasonic seem to have had some problems with catostrophic full-floods, their housings are the most 'toy-like' of all.
Canon have a nice housing, but with light duty buttons. Most of the repairs I do for these are sticky shutter buttons and sanding mould release lines.
Don't ask me why someone at Canon hasn't spotted this problem, Every single Canon G9 thru G12 housing I have opened has the lines, some are a little worse than others, but ALL have it. I figure the guy who works in Quality Control is probably off on 'stress leave' and no-one else cares?
If you'd like to read-up on how to maintain your own housing, then please read my Housing Maintenance article at DivePhotoGuide.com, regular use of the button lubrication method I describe will certainly help stop sticky buttons on Canon housings. However it won't fix an already sticky button.

 

[ravimedha]

That should be really useful inf!
And so simple!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[sbfish]

I have a Canon WP-DC16 that started forming water drops on the dome port rubber and killed the camera before I could get out of the water. I thought maybe the lens port needed to be cleaned and seemed easy enough to unscrew the lens from the housing. Having put it back together (a few times) water now floods the housing. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong:nervous: Any ideas?

 

[slowhands]

I have a Canon WP-DC16 that started forming water drops on the dome port rubber and killed the camera before I could get out of the water. I thought maybe the lens port needed to be cleaned and seemed easy enough to unscrew the lens from the housing. Having put it back together (a few times) water now floods the housing. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong:nervous: Any ideas?

Without seeing the actual housing, here is just a best guess. You may need to replace the O-ring on the housing, and clean the area where the O-ring seats very well and tighten the 6 screws very well. Unfortunately the port O-ring is very hard to get, so maybe it's best to buy a new housing, unless you just want to upgrade to a newer camera at this point.

Likely you have salt deposits or grit that are preventing you from making intimate seal. Once everything is clean, you have to tighten it very well to avoid seepage. There is a very remote chance that you have a stress crack that is leaking, and there is nothing to cure that but replacing the housing. If you do find the cure, let us know.

 

[gypsyjim]

From my experience of repairing & servicing housings. I've seen leaks on every brand available. But most of them are user error! I've seen a brand-new D300 drowned in a Nexus housing (left the port 'O' Ring out!!) and a D90 in a Sea & Sea housing with sea water half way up the dome port (left the main 'O' Ring out!!).
But it is pretty rare to see a housing fail to keep water out if it is maintained correctly.
Of the compact housings:
Olympus lead the way with far sturdier housings, particularly the button mechanism.
Panasonic seem to have had some problems with catostrophic full-floods, their housings are the most 'toy-like' of all.
Canon have a nice housing, but with light duty buttons. Most of the repairs I do for these are sticky shutter buttons and sanding mould release lines.
Don't ask me why someone at Canon hasn't spotted this problem, Every single Canon G9 thru G12 housing I have opened has the lines, some are a little worse than others, but ALL have it. I figure the guy who works in Quality Control is probably off on 'stress leave' and no-one else cares?
If you'd like to read-up on how to maintain your own housing, then please read my Housing Maintenance article at DivePhotoGuide.com, regular use of the button lubrication method I describe will certainly help stop sticky buttons on Canon housings. However it won't fix an already sticky button.

THANK YOU! A very thorough article! Just a quick scan gave me some useful tips.