Corossion on Housing Buttons - help!

[RockyHeap]

crap. Leaving on a trip in 48 hours, rapid responses would be great.........

long time photographer, trust me I always rinse my gear well, HONEST, pushing the housing buttons under fresh water, on boat or dock........ rinse, dry........ repeat in fresh water at the hotel room in sink or (yeah sometimes I even shower with my camera gear, but that's a whole 'nother story)...........then it sits for 6 months and I find this packing for a trip when I pull it out for shaft lubing.....

48 hours till I'm leaving to Bonaire, I'm thinking the cotton cloth wrap that I store my housing in must have absorbed salt moisture, and imparted it into lovely green corossion on my Ikelite housing buttons.


I'm thinking some swabs dipped in Vinegar from the outside to remove the bulk crud. I always lube with Ikelite silicone gel from the inside on the shafts to keep the o-rings lubed without sand/debris sticking to the shafts............

suggestions?

as I said, less that 48 hours till 9 days in Bonaire over the holidays......


crap. the shaft move freely, but I want to clean the exterior gunk off before damaging the internal o-rings.

no I don't want my vintage SP-350 Oly to die an early flooding death.


suggestions?

Vinegar?

Silicone lube?

Upgrade to a $4000 DSLR unit?

 

[Dsix36]

Get some salt-x or salt away from your local marine supply. Dilute it properly and soak the entire thing for awhile, then rinse with fresh water. This is what we use for our rebreather handsets and computers.

 

[FrankPro1]

I would watch what type of solvents you use on your housing. I couldn't find any lists of compatible materials for salt-x but salt away mentions it is safe for "virtually" all surfaces. Both products Dsix36 mentioned might be safe on acrylic, seeing as he has used them on computers & handsets, but without talking with Ikelite first, I wouldn't risk it.

My recommendation would be to just scrub the affected areas lightly with a tooth brush while soaking in warm water.

Question: After soaking the housing, do you push the buttons once you take it out of the water? "To properly drain the remaining water"

 

[jcclink]

If there's a chance that any of the salt buildup is in the housing bore holes, I'd recommend disassembly & complete cleaning of buttons, shafts & housing bores. Any debris in the bore can cause buttons to bind up & become disfunctional (which also usually effects other camera functions). This procedure should only be done if you have replacement o-rings & stainless c-clips that retain control shafts. Although the deposits appear to be external to the housing, they're right at the interface, so a little salt may have just entered the bore.
Not familiar with salt-x/away solutions. Will they dissolve or remove silicone grease?

Also, don't store housing in material that can absorb moisture (but you know this now).

 

[RockyHeap]

Thanks ALL for your input.

looking edge on through the good old thick Ikelite housing, nothing (no corrosion has reached into the critical seal area.

I think I'm good.

GREAT idea with the tooth brush, doing that an gun cleaning cotton swabs with vinegar is taking the surface green oxidation off............dangnabit.........I'm pretty anaaal about my housing cleaning. as I said, rinse in fresh water within 5 minutes of exiting saltwater while pushing all button controls..........then will repeat back at hotel/condo and even soak in a bathtub and or shower with my gear pushing all buttons at the same time.........

so yeah I'm pretty preventative, my guess is that the cotton bag I store stuff in absorbed moisture and introduced this green scrunch.......oh well.........going to dive with it in a couple days, it'll be fine...........I hope..........


cheers and merry christmas to all those who've helped.

 

[Nemrod]

Vinegar will destroy O rings.

N

 

[bvanant]

Vinegar will destroy O rings.

N

HUH? I am quite sure that vinegar will have absolutely no effect on silicone rubber o-rings and minimal effects on buna-n. The chemical compatibility charts suggest that Buna-N is compatible with 30% acetic acid which is 5-6 times higher acetic acid concentration than vinegar. Certainly for a quick wash then rinse there should be no problem with either Buna-n or silicone.

Bill