Curing condensation?

[xoomboy]

Hi everyone,

I have an Olympus C-4000 and PT-010 housing. It's awesome, I love it. The pics it takes are absolutely great. However, I'm having a little bit of a problem with condensation inside the housing. My hand gripping the housing combined with the battery warmth seems to cause a lot of fogging. Those little dessicant packs handle a little bit of it, but it's still pretty tough keeping the shots clear for more than 15 minutes or so.

Does anyone have suggestions on keeping the condensation to a minimum?

Thanks,

Matt

PS: A couple of you may notice that I slightly plagiarized the above from a previous post I made today -- It's not deja vu, it's laziness

 

[Finesse]

Best bet would be to try to keep the LCD screen OFF as much as possible when not in use.......Thats where you are generating heat.....

If you think your hand is adding to the problem then the next step would be to add a tray to the housing ...that way your not in continuous contact with the housing....as your holding onto the tray handle

Condensation is a pain in the butt!!!!!!

 

[xoomboy]

Thanks for the tip! I'll try keeping the LCD off as much as possible.

Yep, definitely thinking about a tray. Maybe Santa will leave lots of dive gear this year

Has anyone had any luck with chilling the batteries down in a cooler, or even putting the whole assembly in one? Seems to me like doing that may at least put off the fog for a little while longer...

Matt

 

[Finesse]

Tell Santa that you've been really good and you want a strobe on top of the tray to boot!!

Anyway....the batteries in the fridge.....Hmmmmm .... Seem to me you might suffer the condensation problem in reverse.....as the camera would get cold and fog up due to the warmer ambient conditions (air temp in the housing and the water temp)....vs. a warmer camera and cooler water (well relatively cooler water)....The reason I say this is.... try taking a camera that’s been in air-conditioning (68 degrees) outside on a warm day......instant lens fog up!!!!

Do you see what I mean??

Scott

 

[Dee]

xoomboy once bubbled...
Thanks for the tip! I'll try keeping the LCD off as much as possible.

Yep, definitely thinking about a tray. Maybe Santa will leave lots of dive gear this year

Has anyone had any luck with chilling the batteries down in a cooler, or even putting the whole assembly in one? Seems to me like doing that may at least put off the fog for a little while longer...

Matt

Matt....it's the difference in inside and outside housing temperatures that's causing the condensation. Like Finesse mentioned, turning the LCD screen off when not using it will help alot. It builds up alot of heat. Another is keeping your housing cool/warm before getting in the water. I usually have a problem keeping mine cool on a dive boat. So I wrap it in a wet towel and keep it out of the sun or put it in a camera bucket if there's no others in there. If you dive in cold water, dip a bucket of the water you'll be diving in and keep it in there. Keeping it in the fridge would do the same thing, only in reverse!

Also be sure to keep more than one of the dessicant packs in the housing.

 

[cmdasia]

Additionally - once you get condensation , it is a real pain to get rid of it - you have to figure out if its only in the housing or has it gotten into the lens assembly of the camera also.

I use the very non technical procedure of putting both the camera and the hosuing in the sun to attempt to dry it out - you need to get rid of every little bit of it. I am also going to steadfastly refuse to set foot on a liveaboard that does not have at least one room airconditioned all day long - last weekend I had 6 dives in a row with condensation after the first 15 minutes - what a pain - all due to me not being able to "load" the camera up in a cold and non humid environment.

 

[FredT]

There is a product called Waterguard that is a deliquescent gel forming powder. If you have seen the "cooling bandanas" sold by MSC and some camping supplies it is a similar chemical. It basicly absorbs moisture until the gel is restrained from expansion.

Most deepwater submersible scientific instrument packages use it as a dryer to prohibit condensation on the housing walls and boards as the housing cools due to water temps dropping. I believe it maintains a 20% or less relative humidity in the container until the package size is maxed out by the enclosing packaging. Dry it at about 120°C to regenerate.

Put a fair sized packet in before closing the housing, and wait a half hour or so befre taking into the water. You should have no condensation problems.

If you need contact info I'll have to dig a bit to find out who currently carries it. The website I had for the manufacturer is down right now, but we just got about 50 pound of it in so I know it's still available. Be aware this stuff works better than ANYTHING else on the market, and the manufactuer knows it!

FT

 

[kdietz]

IMHO, loading in a cold room is the last thing you want to do..........keep the camera outside and I'll be surprised if you have any problems

 

[xoomboy]

FredT once bubbled...
There is a product called Waterguard that is a deliquescent gel forming powder.

If you need contact info I'll have to dig a bit to find out who currently carries it. The website I had for the manufacturer is down right now, but we just got about 50 pound of it in so I know it's still available. Be aware this stuff works better than ANYTHING else on the market, and the manufactuer knows it!
FT

Hi Fred,

I assume you mean that Waterguard leans toward the costly side, but IMO, if it works, it's worth it! If you could root up some contact info and either post it here or send me a PM, that would be great.

Also, I'd love a quote on a BP, as xmas is right around the corner!

Matt

 

[cmdasia]

"IMHO, loading in a cold room is the last thing you want to do..........keep the camera outside and I'll be surprised if you have any problems"

The condesation is caused by the difference in temp inside the compared to the exterior of the housing when underwater - as (ok in hot countries) the water temp is always less than airtemp on 99% of rec dives - loading the inside of the housing with cold air reduces the temp differential when you are underwater - ergo lesser chance of condensation.