How often to grease the O ring?

[herman]

It also depends on how the Oring seal is arranged. The grease is to lubricate the Oring as it slides past the sealing surfaces of the housing. It must SLIDE, if it rolls instead it can/will leak. Some housing, most all Ikelites for example, directly compress the Oring and do not have any sealing surfaces that slide past each other. It really does not need to be greased at all. Others are made in such a manner that the Oring slides between 2 surfaces, this type must be kept greased, how often depends on several factors. My Oly housing actually uses both types at once. I remove, clean, grease and replace the compression one before each trip. The slide past one gets a close inspection with a magnifying glass every time the housing is opened. I clean and grease it about every 3rd or 4th time it's opened. Over greasing is almost as bad as no grease on the slide past type seal.

 

[diver 85]

How often do you add grease to the O ring. Each season? Every day you dive? Every month or so? I bought a camera and housing a few months ago. Used once so far. Going to try and get some dives in the next few weeks before the quarry gets too cold again and get some practice before Bonaire. Wanted to know what I should do about the housings O ring. Thanks.

I add a little everytime I open the case or strobe....not much but a little bit........

 

[alcina]

Add me to the "when they need it" camp. I certainly don't do it every dive or even every week when I'm diving a lot.

I do, however, check the orings extremely carefully every time the housing is opened and closed - even if for storing short periods. Would hate to have an ookie stuck on the oring when I store it only to open to find it's caused a nick or an indentation in the oring

 

[DiverLS]

It also depends on the color of the o-ring. I have a Seaquest DC600 with black o-rings. The information packed with the camera said don't grease the o-ring. Huge difference since my film days.

 

[Charlie99]

I kind of grease it each time I open the housing. After removing the o-ring, I carefully run it through my fingers making sure there isn't any salt crystals or grains of salt. Then I pop it into a ziplock bag that has a light film of grease inside. Then I clean both the now empty o-ring groove and the mating surface.

I find that the easiest way to get just a light film on the o-ring is to squirt a bit of grease into a ziplock sandwich baggie and smear it around. Then I run the o-ring around inside the bag, before removing it and again running it through my fingers feeling for imperfections, sand grains, or salt crystals.

I replenish the grease in the bag every once in a great while, and if I ever detect a grain of sand on a o-ring that has been in the bag, I just throw the bag away and start again.

You aren't trying to make a seal with the grease. It is just there so that the o-ring won't get caught by other other surface and moved out of the groove as you close the housing. It takes just the tiniest bit of a film of grease.

 

[rjsimp]

How often do you add grease to the O ring. Each season? Every day you dive? Every month or so? I bought a camera and housing a few months ago. Used once so far. Going to try and get some dives in the next few weeks before the quarry gets too cold again and get some practice before Bonaire. Wanted to know what I should do about the housings O ring. Thanks.

Depends on if you want to run the risk of a flood or not.. After reading some of the posts here, I am not sure if the o-ring grease's purpose is fully understood.

The primary purpose of the grease is lubrication. Any o-ring that will have twisting friction, the grease lubricates the o-ring so it won't bind and will stay in place nicely. So these o-rings require a thicker coating of grease than a pressure o-ring which is just pressed to a flat surface.

Should the o-rings that are not friction ones be lubricated as well? YES! They just don't need very much. The purpose though is for the o-ring to keep from binding and to lay as even as possible in the channel it rests in. If you have put your o-ring in the channel and see how you sometimes end up with a little extra (because of slight stretching) the grease allows the o-ring to slide into place and contract without any binding in the channel.

To answer your question about how often.. Any time I open my housing, I inspect the o-ring for any sign of lint/hair/or SAND. If there is anything on the o-ring, it comes out and is cleaned with water or a lint free cloth/napkin. After it is cleaned, it will have very little if any grease left. I then apply the appropriate amount of grease for that o-ring and check again for any contamination. I also check the channel it will rest in and the other mating surface. If I see anything, a lint free cloth with a little grease on it cleans it good.

It may seem anal, but I have never had a flood or even a hint of moisture in any camera in over 10 years. The key is clean un-contaminated o-rings, and appropriate lubrication.

 

[philmayer]

How much is your camera and photos worth to you?

Is an extra 30 seconds and $0.10 worth of grease that big of a deal?

My o-rings get greased every time the seal is broken, and at least once a day when on a multi-day trip.

 

[Nismo]

After reading this and some other things on line from some of the manufacturers and photo sites. I think if you store the O rings properly and clean everything, it does not need to be greased every time. When we go to Bonaire the case will be opened each day to unload the memory card. I think greasing each night will be a bit much. However with the our normal diving routine where my wife and I go to the quarry every month or so, then it might be worth wiping down and regreasing the O ring. It looks like a good inspection is better than anything. Almost everywhere I read said over greasing is about one of the worst things you can do for multiple reasons.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

 

[rjsimp]

After reading this and some other things on line from some of the manufacturers and photo sites. I think if you store the O rings properly and clean everything, it does not need to be greased every time. When we go to Bonaire the case will be opened each day to unload the memory card. I think greasing each night will be a bit much. However with the our normal diving routine where my wife and I go to the quarry every month or so, then it might be worth wiping down and regreasing the O ring. It looks like a good inspection is better than anything. Almost everywhere I read said over greasing is about one of the worst things you can do for multiple reasons.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

Just to clarify something for you.. When they say "Over greasing" they are not referring to how often, but rather how MUCH grease is applied when you do apply grease. You can grease an o-ring as much as your heart desires and as long as the total grease on the o-ring isn't too much, you are fine and nothing bad will happen, on the other hand, not greasing it enough can cause some serious problems.

If the O-ring has a hair, sand, or any other kind of contaminate on it, it should come out and be cleaned and re-greased.

One of the best ways to clean I have found is to use running water on it.. Second best is to use a napkin or paper towel that is not "fuzzy" and that will clean all lthe grease off and contaminates. The real issue is the grease can make the contaminates hard to get off and the more you have the harder it is to clean and will even hide something that you should know about.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

To answer this question, I think it helps to put myself in the shoes of an o-ring for a moment. (Not that o-rings wear shoes in the first place, but bear with me here.) What would o-rings feel?

When the diver seals the housing I get squished (ouch). A little grease helps me to slip into position and find my fit in the housing's groove. Groovy! Now the diver jumps into the water and starts descending. As the water pressure increases, I get squished more and more into the corners of the groove. Small particles, sand and debris floating in the water settle down in the groove. As the diver ascends and descends during the dive, I expand and get squished accordingly, which causes the particles in the groove to get caught between me and the surfaces of the housing groove. When the diver heads to the surface, I expand back to my original shape, further trapping small particles in the groove. After the dive, the housing gets a quick rinse, but not all salt is flushed away, especially from the water trapped in the nooks of the control shafts. As the housing dries, salt crystals start to form in the groove, cutting into my smooth rubber surface unless the housing gets a good long (1-hour) soak in freshwater, followed by a rinse in clean water.

In a perfect world I would clean and grease the o-ring after every dive. If I'm lazy and do a lot of dives that day, I may rather leave the housing unopened that day, but make sure it's submerged all the time (in the bucket when I'm not diving) and clean and grease everything at the end of the day. For long-term storage (more than a few hours), the o-ring should never be left in the housing. I put mine in a clean ziploc bag after I cleaned and greased them thoroughly.