Canon Housings-repairable or disposable?

[amajamar]

I am preparing for our upcoming trip to Curacao this winter. I pulled one of my Canon housings out of storage, put the o-ring in and did a dunk test in a trash barrel full of water. I pressed all the buttons several times and left it at the bottom for an hour. Upon retrieval, I noticed that it did not leak. Great! However when I opened it up and began looking carefully at the small plungers, I found them to be slightly corroded (some more than others) and what looks like salt buildup on the inside near the little rubber tips. Now, I am much less confidant in the housings ability to stay dry for the trip and wonder about what my repair options are and is it worth it? I realize the a better housing such as an Ikelite is designed to be repaired and refurbished, but what about the Canon?

In any event, what is the proper care and lubrication techniques for the small plungers on the housing? I can clean and lube the big o-ring, but the little ones, I never did anything but soak and press the buttons several times in fresh water, and I guess that's not enough...

Advice is required!

Thanks in advance!

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

each individual plunger should be able to be disassembled by removing the c-clip on the inside and sliding the plunger out. Once out, you can probably soak them some more or wash off the salt residuals off, or if they are corroded, sand it with very fine sandpaper until it is smooth again. Assemble back lubing the shaft and oring.

What I usually do is have the housing underwater, press every button a whole bunch of times, then let it soak for some time to dissolve whatever that might have crusted up on it. Whichever buttons are slightly harder to press, that is usually the one that has the most crud on it. After doing that and the housing has sat there for a little bit of time, the ones that sticks and has some initial resistance are usually the ones that has internal salt built up or corrosion.

You might be able to use some fine point to dab some grease into the internal part of the oring and press and twist the button in order to work the lube into the whole shaft. But since there are usually 2 orings, it might be a little harder to lube the outside ones.

 

[flareside]

Canon presumes them to be disposable. Some places like Backscatter will work on them but you need to ask if the cost is worth it as a full overhaul would likely be more than the value of the housing. Depending on the age of the housing however, you may be able to find a lightly used one on ebay fairly cheap.

I would worry that the salt crystals may have abraded your o-rings and thus you would have the potential for seepage. You can replace replace the o-rings yourself as there area plenty of sources online. If you are so inclined, search the forums as there are a couple of good maintenance and repair threads.

 

[amajamar]

Thanks for the replies! From a different perspective; obviously small amounts of salt water get on the inside of the plunger shafts, so how do you clean the inside? Do you (or should you) ever rinse the inside?

Can you put silicone or other oring lube on the shafts? If I use Sea and Sea oring lube on my main oring (which I do) can I also use this for the small orings?

 

[flareside]

amajamar, here is the best guide I know of: Underwater Camera Maintenance

 

[amajamar]

amajamar, here is the best guide I know of: Underwater Camera Maintenance

That is great!! Thank you!