housing maintenance.

[Big fish63]

i was in scuba-cam Singapore this afternoon picking up some new equipment. i'm new to everything to do with videography topside and underwater. David the owner of the store was very helpful and was running through some basic routines i need to get into regarding looking after the housing.

He advised me to keep it in a dry environment such as a aircon room to prevent fungus from growing on the lens and to keep the inside of the house moisture free. i've been travelling for 3 days now so my brain wasn't really in gear, i should have asked more questions...

does he mean store it in a dry environment at all times, when i go diving this month i will be staying in a fan room and due to the humidity in the air its going to be pretty damp. will the housing be ok like this for a few weeks (3)? he advised me to get some sachets to put inside the housing to soak up the moisture, but where im going these will be hard to come by.

please let me know any tips you have for storage or just generally maintaining your housing, directly after a dive and after the diving day, thanks guys.

 

[jdandvalerie]

Not sure what particular rig you purchased but I'll give you my 2c. Once you are done with your dives for the day, cleaned and maintained the rig and downloaded the images (whatever your workflow might be). Place the camera back in the housing and secure it unless the manufacturer specifically tells you not to do this in the manual. Don't forget to charge the batteries for the next dive! With the camera secured in the housing you shouldn't have to worry about the humidity as much. I've done this with ike housings for years when I travel and have had no problems. I dive with other photogs and videographers who do the same thing but I would check the manual or read it online if you can. The sachets (moisture munchers is a popular brand) should have been available at the shop though you can also get them online at the usual places (scuba.com etc). I've never once used them as I reseal the rig when I travel.

At home the rig stays at room temperature, open to air but covered by a towel.

General maintenance no matter what is quick rinse after each dive, then thorough rinse at end of day (pressing all buttons, moving dials, etc...while submerged). I very lightly clean and lube the o rings (on Ikes there are 2 removable) at the end of each day. Once a month I lube all the buttons with my manufacturer's suggested product. With the rig's lens the best is to use or carry the softest towel you have or carry a microfiber ish product. It may also not hurt to bring a small keyboard cleaner to blow away specs of sand/salt/dirt in hard to reach places.

Also, wherever you are going ask someone on the boat or at the LDS who has a camera what they do. May be best to get the local advice.

 

[Al Evans]

Some extra tips I hope may help you....

Blow dryer:
On location, if you have your camera or housing in a/c and it is cold either will get condensation on cold surfaces once you leave the a/c. For the camera that can be problematic because that might include some of internal electronic components. So, exafter rinsing my housing I keep it outside if at all possible on a patio to keep it at ambient temps. The camera, I will keep in the room ....and it gets cold. So, also pack a small compact brookstone hair dryer. Before taking the camera outside into the humidity I leasve it in a drawer with the blow dryer for a few minutes and increase it's temp. This also is a remedy if your camera does get some condensation and decides to shut down.

Alka-Seltzer:
Also, for leak insurance, I keep an alka-seltzer tab inside the housing when diving. If there is a small leak it will fizz up releasing CO2 and increase the pressure inside the housing forcing air outward at the leak site (instead of water in) giving you enough time to the housing out of the water.

 

[craracer]

Alka-Seltzer

Interesting. I've never heard this before. Could it produce enough of a pressure gradient to displace an o-ring? How long does an Alka-S off-gas? How's cleaning up after one gets wet (I suspect that cleaning would be better than the alternative).