How long should a housing hold a vacuum?

[PatW]

Mine holds the vacuum as defined by the sensor staying green for 8 hours. By this I mean, I set up the camera, get the vacuum and do a day‘s worth of dives. In facts, one I get a vacuum, I have never lost one. I think the process of setting a vacuum clamps everything together so tightly that it is virtually permanently sealed.

You might want to clean all of your O rings and see if your camera will hold a vacuum. If that does not work, you could just carry on and hope. But you might want to send the housing in for servicing.

By the way, my housing is a Nauticam Nikon D800 housing just for the background.

 

[Akimbo]

Another tip on a related subject is to blow ultra-dry air from a Scuba tank into your housing before closing the back. This will virtually eliminate the water sensor from setting off an alarm due to condensation after the housing cools off to water temperature.

 

[Cali_diver]

Just a side note and (a do not try this at home warning) I came home from a month long trip to Indo and did my usual soaking where I pump up the Nauticam housing for the soak. When I pulled it out to dry I was also feeling punky so I tested myself and tested positive for covid and went directly into isolation. Forgot about the housing and 2 weeks later after recovery it was still pumped up with a green light! Poor o ring is probably a little compressed but it held for 2 weeks.

 

[ivantterrible]

Just a side note and (a do not try this at home warning) I came home from a month long trip to Indo and did my usual soaking where I pump up the Nauticam housing for the soak. When I pulled it out to dry I was also feeling punky so I tested myself and tested positive for covid and went directly into isolation. Forgot about the housing and 2 weeks later after recovery it was still pumped up with a green light! Poor o ring is probably a little compressed but it held for 2 weeks.

gotta love the Nauticam vacuum system.

 

[MrChen]

I'd be concerned that if there was a small leak, the vacuum would suck water into the housing.

 

[PatW]

I have the Nauticam vacuum system. Once I get a vacuum seal, things are good. I have never had a problem of loss of vacuum even with a full day of diving and 3 50 minute dives over a 8 hour time frame.

The Nauticam system, has 3 different LED lights. You turn on the lights, pump the housing to get a vacuum and when the green light shows, you are good. A yellow light shows a loss of vacuum and a red light is bad news. I have never had a problem of even getting a yellow light. It looks as if once the seal is established, it is virtually impregnable.

If you do not have a nauticam housing, do not despair. Backscatter can fit their system on most housings or so I understand;

 

[coreb62]

Is it a best practice to apply the vacuum the night before a dive? Do you tend to leave the camera sealed in between dives if multiple dives per day?

 

[PatW]

I'd be concerned that if there was a small leak, the vacuum would suck water into the housing.

Air is less viscous than water. If it holds a vacuum, it is water tight. Also the vacuum causes the housing to seal itself tighter because the outside air pressure clamps things together.

 

[PatW]

Is it a best practice to apply the vacuum the night before a dive? Do you tend to leave the camera sealed in between dives if multiple dives per day?

I don’t like having my vacuum housing light running that long. I initiate the vacuum shortly before getting on the boat.

 

[Cali_diver]

Is it a best practice to apply the vacuum the night before a dive? Do you tend to leave the camera sealed in between dives if multiple dives per day?

I personally tend to pump it up the night before my first dive when I travel long distances just to make sure it all made it safely and is still working properly. After that I will just do it in the morning when getting ready or between dives if changing lenses.