Divevolk housing leak or flood

[mtnpool]

Good to hear the bubbles didn't affect your case - I did notice a bubble the other day but heard that was normal according to divevolk's FAQ:

FAQ

[Material] The membrane of the housing feels soft, so is it easy to break? The membrane of SeaTouch housing is one of its core patent. It consists of 2 special material -- the bottom film is hard and strong, the upper film is stretchable and tough. The material passes a series of test -- impact...

www.divevolkdiving.com

[After-sales] Is the air bubble in the membrane a quality defect?​

The air bubble is generated from the liquid in the membrane. During the production, a small volume of air would dissolve into the liquid, and under some circumstances, such as low air pressure on high altitude area or high temperature or after repeated operation, the air would come out from the liquid and gathering to be air bubbles that we see. Storing in low altitude could help the bubbles dissolving again back to the liquid, however, some of the air might not be able to dissolve again. Therefore, this is a normal phenomenon and the air bubble doesn’t affect the housing operation.


Has anyone had success charging the phone wirelessly while in the divevolk case? Thinking of doing this so that I won't need to take it out between dives.

 

[Darnold9999]

wow, only 3 dives, I've had 4 dives on mine so far, glad to hear you didn't have any damage at least, but I'm guessing you're not diving with that case again - did you contact divevolk about a possible replacement?

I am in Alor right now with limited internet so will wait until I get home to deal with it.

 

[David Haas]

Folks,

1) Don't leave ANY underwater housing out in hot bright sunlight for extended periods of time.

2) Bubbles in the gel of DiveVolk as stated aren't any problem. They'll come and go but affect nothing.

3) NEVER dive the DiveVolk housing without either the storage block or proper phone block. This adds rigidity to support the gel screen. I have no idea how a phone without it wounldn't have slid around in the case unless someone had a screen protector glued on their phone.

4) Never have ANYTHING extra of your phone in the case. No screen protector, wrist lanyard, whatever......

5) The silicone multi-sealing surface of the one opening on the DiveVolk Seatouch 4 MAX housing is simple. Needs no o-ring grease etc. but it and the flat black plastic housing's sealing surface need to be clean when closing the housing.

I press the door closed flush then thread the little screws snug. Don't over tighten the screws either.

Once all is flush stop.....Occasionally at depth as that seal compresses I may give the screw a teeny tighter twist.

The DiveVolk has been a wonderful innovation. I usually have 5-10-15+ people now using them on my trips.

Just one guy's opinion

David Haas

 

[Rick Brant]

Thanks @Rick Brant , glad to hear the phone survived, how deep were you? Did you safely abandon the dive at that point, or did you continue the dive before resurfacing? I'll make sure to definitely bring the slide insert - i just keep it in there all the time now.

Separate question - have any of you @rmorgan @DirtFish @David Haas @Rick Brant ever had issues with condensation on the inside? I generally try not to take the phone out between dives, but thinking in case I have a 4 or 5 dive day, will need to charge at some point (I do plan on using low power mode and airplane mode). Just wondering if taking it out while on a dive boat and putting it back in might cause some condensation. Thanks!

I did not figure out it was leaking until I surfaced at the end of the dive. I had been having trouble focusing the camera but I did not realize what was going on. When I surfaced, the gunk was easy to notice and then when I took the phone out of the housing I could see it was flooded.

I took it without the insert as I wanted to get a photo of someone that I don't think will be able to dive any longer, it was either get a photo then or never. I did get several good photos. I knew I was taking a risk but we were only at about 40' max so I thought I could get away with it.

I've never had any condensation issues. I don't charge between dives but the phone does get very warm if you use the settings that DV suggests. Basically they have the phone set up to turn on when it is raised.

Re charging while in the housing, I doubt that would work. The housing is very chunky.

 

[mattfish]

I’ve had mine on about 40 dives and haven’t had a leak (knock wood). I do get a little bubble in the gel membrane sometimes, but it goes away. During the day, I use just the case with a red filter, but if it’s very cloudy or a night dive, I mount it on a tray with video lights. When I’m just using the case, I keep it in my thigh pocket when I’m not filming so my hands are free.

 

[mtnpool]

Understood, hopefully you can get the problem fixed when you get back. Have a great rest of your trip in Alor!

 

[mtnpool]

Thanks @David Haas for all the sound advice and tips! I value your opinion. Will keep it in my notes as a reminder.

I might have been tightening the screws too much, as it was always kind of hard to open after the dives, and I would need to use a shirt or something to get a better grip to open it - so will try not to tighten as much and just snug as you suggested.

Great to hear that so many are using divevolk on your trips, hopefully I'll get to join one of your trips someday!

 

[mtnpool]

Thanks RIck - glad to hear it survived at possibly 40 feet! I do have "raise to wake" turned on as Divevolk suggested - do you not use that feature in order to conserve battery life?

Yeah I tried charging it wirelessly through the case but it was way too thick with the filter mount attached, possibly with the mount removed but that's too much of a pain to have to do each time so I'll just deal with it.

 

[mtnpool]

Thanks for sharing your experience @mattfish - I've been diving in poor vis here in Northeast Taiwan so usually need some lighting, but hopefully when i go where visibility is better I won't need it as much and can get away with just using the red filter. Glad to hear you haven’t had a leak yet (knock wood)!

 

[Darnold9999]

OK. I very carefully cleaned the seal and inspected it, and the seat and could see no reason that properly seated it would leak. Put the blank in and very carefully sealed it up and took it to 3M. Leaked like a sieve from the end of the housing with the seal. Inspected seal and seat post immersion and no obvious issues. Will have to contact divevolk when I get home. Just to clarify, I have been diving DSLR’s for 15 years or so. Don’t think this is user error - something is wrong with the housing.