diver 85
Contributor
Man, sorry to hear this-------I have no thoughts but do have a knotted up gut feeling right now after reading your post.......I hope the rest of your trip goes well-----
Leaking Recsea Housing for Canon S95
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fab50diver
Contributor
Me too!
OP
Dive-Boarder
Registered
Thank you all for your kind thoughts and helpful suggestions; it really is comforting. I thought it might be useful to post a little more information about what has happened and the set up involved.
The tray I have is made by Ultralight, with one handle which is positioned on the right hand side as you look at the camera window. This tray does have a lip, but with the camera positioned in this manner it is at the front of the housing. Furthermore, I have always closed the housing first, and then attached it to the tray, rather than trying to load the camera after attachment. I have NOT had the strobe attached to the camera during any of the dives so far.
The O ring used has obviously been new; I have examined it carefully and it does not appear to be damaged. I have not tried the replacement ring that I bought as part of the package. The O ring is black, and to me would probably not reveal debris as clearly as the yellow ones I have used previously with Canon housings. I have also examined the O ring seat for any signs of distortion etc.
I have carefully followed all the instructions in the manual regarding pre-dive set up (O ring preparation etc). NEMROD, you make a good point in suggesting that the O ring is reseated to avoid any possible twisting during set up by lifting it up all round using a suitable tool. However, this is NOT in the manual. I have examined the positioning of the O ring following the last leak, and this does not seem to be an issue. Please note that I am an average user who expected that carefully following all the instructions provided would be sufficient.
The leaking seems to occur in an unpredictable manner. After the first leak, the housing was OK for a further 10 dives. It then leaked again, taking a second camera with it. After that I dry tested it with tissue paper inside. The housing leaked approximately 40 ml of water during the dive. In other words, it has leaked WITH and WITHOUT a camera, which suggests that there is a general problem. After this dry test, I replaced the tissue paper and took the housing on a second dive; it DID NOT leak although I did NOTHING to the O ring with respect to grease etc. I merely opened the housing, removed the sodden tissue paper, tipped the water out, dried the inside, replaced the tissue paper, and reclosed the housing. How is this possible? I suspect it is now waiting for me to add another camera before it leaks again.
I therefore believe the housing to be faulty. If the problem really is the result of user error then I would be very surprised and annoyed (by the way NEMROD, what does FOD stand for?). I have a PhD, but if that were the case it would seem that a similar degree or technical qualification is needed to use this housing. I had a Canon housing for my A720 for 5 years; it flooded once when knocked during a giant stride entry (this Recsea housing has always been passed to me from the boat). Is the Recsea housing really that much harder to use In comparison to the Canon housing? It costs FOUR times as much; I would expect better from it.
What really galls me at the moment though is the lack of customer support from the retailer involved (Plongimage). There is no suggestion that a replacement will be offered. The housing must, it seems, go all the way back to Japan for inspection. What would have happened if say a button was faulty? Would it still be back to the manufacturer? Surely the retailer, who takes a profit, should be responsible? In the UK, the Consumer Protection Act states that all goods offered for sale must be fit for purpose. I would not attach this description to this Recsea Housing. After all, its basic function is to prevent the influx of water, and thus protect the camera; it has clearly failed to do so. If goods sold by a retailer in the UK are not deemed to be fit for purpose, the consumers first recourse is a return to the seller. Is this different in France? Note also, that I have not received any reply to my email to Recsea in Japan; customer service, I dont think so.
I have another five weeks of this trip remaining, so it looks like I will have to quickly replan my itinerary to include a shopping trip in Manila. If possible, I will buy a Canon housing and a new S95, though since I have neither a working camera nor a decent housing, I suppose I can choose any system available. Thanks Recsea (or WrecCamera) and Plongimage.
The tray I have is made by Ultralight, with one handle which is positioned on the right hand side as you look at the camera window. This tray does have a lip, but with the camera positioned in this manner it is at the front of the housing. Furthermore, I have always closed the housing first, and then attached it to the tray, rather than trying to load the camera after attachment. I have NOT had the strobe attached to the camera during any of the dives so far.
The O ring used has obviously been new; I have examined it carefully and it does not appear to be damaged. I have not tried the replacement ring that I bought as part of the package. The O ring is black, and to me would probably not reveal debris as clearly as the yellow ones I have used previously with Canon housings. I have also examined the O ring seat for any signs of distortion etc.
I have carefully followed all the instructions in the manual regarding pre-dive set up (O ring preparation etc). NEMROD, you make a good point in suggesting that the O ring is reseated to avoid any possible twisting during set up by lifting it up all round using a suitable tool. However, this is NOT in the manual. I have examined the positioning of the O ring following the last leak, and this does not seem to be an issue. Please note that I am an average user who expected that carefully following all the instructions provided would be sufficient.
The leaking seems to occur in an unpredictable manner. After the first leak, the housing was OK for a further 10 dives. It then leaked again, taking a second camera with it. After that I dry tested it with tissue paper inside. The housing leaked approximately 40 ml of water during the dive. In other words, it has leaked WITH and WITHOUT a camera, which suggests that there is a general problem. After this dry test, I replaced the tissue paper and took the housing on a second dive; it DID NOT leak although I did NOTHING to the O ring with respect to grease etc. I merely opened the housing, removed the sodden tissue paper, tipped the water out, dried the inside, replaced the tissue paper, and reclosed the housing. How is this possible? I suspect it is now waiting for me to add another camera before it leaks again.
I therefore believe the housing to be faulty. If the problem really is the result of user error then I would be very surprised and annoyed (by the way NEMROD, what does FOD stand for?). I have a PhD, but if that were the case it would seem that a similar degree or technical qualification is needed to use this housing. I had a Canon housing for my A720 for 5 years; it flooded once when knocked during a giant stride entry (this Recsea housing has always been passed to me from the boat). Is the Recsea housing really that much harder to use In comparison to the Canon housing? It costs FOUR times as much; I would expect better from it.
What really galls me at the moment though is the lack of customer support from the retailer involved (Plongimage). There is no suggestion that a replacement will be offered. The housing must, it seems, go all the way back to Japan for inspection. What would have happened if say a button was faulty? Would it still be back to the manufacturer? Surely the retailer, who takes a profit, should be responsible? In the UK, the Consumer Protection Act states that all goods offered for sale must be fit for purpose. I would not attach this description to this Recsea Housing. After all, its basic function is to prevent the influx of water, and thus protect the camera; it has clearly failed to do so. If goods sold by a retailer in the UK are not deemed to be fit for purpose, the consumers first recourse is a return to the seller. Is this different in France? Note also, that I have not received any reply to my email to Recsea in Japan; customer service, I dont think so.
I have another five weeks of this trip remaining, so it looks like I will have to quickly replan my itinerary to include a shopping trip in Manila. If possible, I will buy a Canon housing and a new S95, though since I have neither a working camera nor a decent housing, I suppose I can choose any system available. Thanks Recsea (or WrecCamera) and Plongimage.
ghnouer
Contributor
Sorry to hear about the cameras!!!
Anyway you have 5 more weeks. Don't give up.
Go to Manila buy another camera and a canon housing and enjoy your trip!!!
GHN
On Droid, forgive brevity.
I would not have used the O ring again after it leaked once unless I found obvious FOD on the O ring or seal and was able to remove it. FOD is foreign object damage/debris such as a hair etc., a military/aviation term and commonly used elsewhere and easily defined via Google. Removing twist from an O ring is a standard practice, do it or be sad. Instructions often don't address standard practices.
I am very suspect of the tray deforming/flexing the housing. My DIY tray has a doubler to prevent this and the door should never touch, ever! If the door is riding on the tray, I would space it up from the door with washers or similar.
I do wonder if there is a leaking control gland, replace door O ring, remove from tray, no camera installed, go to depth, operate controls, push, pull on door.
Instructions or not, untwist the O ring if twisted any at all.
Once an O ring leaks I would never dive with it again without careful scrutiny and determination of the leak, if no other source of leakage is found the the O ring is still the primary suspect culprit regardless of how OK it might appear.
Do not over lubricate an O ring, it should be just barely shiny.
Again, hope you find resolution one way or another, the place you bought it from should offer you more guidance than they have at the very least.
N
I would not have used the O ring again after it leaked once unless I found obvious FOD on the O ring or seal and was able to remove it. FOD is foreign object damage/debris such as a hair etc., a military/aviation term and commonly used elsewhere and easily defined via Google. Removing twist from an O ring is a standard practice, do it or be sad
. Instructions often don't address standard practices.I am very suspect of the tray deforming/flexing the housing. My DIY tray has a doubler to prevent this and the door should never touch, ever! If the door is riding on the tray, I would space it up from the door with washers or similar.
I do wonder if there is a leaking control gland, replace door O ring, remove from tray, no camera installed, go to depth, operate controls, push, pull on door.
Instructions or not, untwist the O ring if twisted any at all.
Once an O ring leaks I would never dive with it again without careful scrutiny and determination of the leak, if no other source of leakage is found the the O ring is still the primary suspect culprit regardless of how OK it might appear.
Do not over lubricate an O ring, it should be just barely shiny.
Again, hope you find resolution one way or another, the place you bought it from should offer you more guidance than they have at the very least.
N
Last edited:
ozziworld
Contributor
Come to Manila and look for Jovic of Splash Underwater Photography, He can get you set up quickly.
He might even be able to tell you what the problem is with the housing. He has a pressure chamber and is a Fisheye dealer as well.
You can get a S95 here gray market for about USD340
He might even be able to tell you what the problem is with the housing. He has a pressure chamber and is a Fisheye dealer as well.
You can get a S95 here gray market for about USD340
ghnouer
Contributor
BuceoFilipinas
Contributor
Sad to hear what happened to your set up
If you are in Manila, you may check prices with a cameras specialist like Henrys Store in Quiapo beside SM and the old church, the camera comes with 3 years guarantee by Canon, 8Gb class-10 card
I nor anyone else at this time understands the leaking housing and can only offer consoling thoughts to the OP however these are some things I know can cause leaks and have caused leaks on other housings I have seen in use or have owned. The tray is often a culprit. When I saw the design of the little, tiny, bitsy, FIX (Recsea) housing I knew I wanted one but I also knew it would require a tray/handle solution that I did not see a commercial off the shelf design I was happy with. I did use an Ikelite for a bit with a custom spacer and it was fine and plenty stiff and did not interfere with the door but it was not perfect with my dual strobes so I went shopping yet again and ultimately made my own.
Anti-flex doubler/adapter designed to isolate the housing from the tray and reduce the possibility of flexing the housing even with heavy lenses and strobes:
Anti-flex doubler/adapter on housing:
Camera and dual handle DIY tray assembled:
Door MUST clear the tray!!!!!!, if the tray can flex and push on the door, well, watch out!:
Another shot of door clear of tray:
Not being an O-ring and camera housing engineer I would prefer to see double spring latches and a thicker or dual O ring even if the resulting housing was a bit larger. I would also like to see a stiffer, thicker bottom. This is not unique to the FIX and RecSea housings but an issue with many aluminum and plastic housings. I had an Ikelite that creaked so loudly at depth it was scary and it was possible to off seat the door O ring at shallow depths and flood the camera by flexing the housing, I learned not to do that. However, I must say, Ikelite housings are generally very robust. Now there is this new Olympus XZ-1 and it's OEM housing with a single attach point, OK, now mount a heavy Inon lens on that sucker and I predict a flex-flier, JMO, could be wrong.
This allows me to mount all of this heavy stuff and even more and then pull, twist, tug, drop, bang and yank on the handles without any flex being imparted to the camera housing base:
While the OP figures through his disappointing circumstance I thought to take an opportunity and show what I mean.
BTW, the blue and gray grips that everybody is using on these trays are Serfas brand MTB grips or similar.
Why are the knobs so big on my tray, because I have arthritis and I need the big knobs when I get cold and it was what I had on the shelf when I made the darn thing.
I know the Canon OEM housings have had seeping/leaking issues with mold flash as I had one myself and had to polish the sealing surface, however, I suspect some of the mystery leaks on the Canon housings are also the housings being flexed in use and allowing the O ring to partially unseat.
N
Anti-flex doubler/adapter designed to isolate the housing from the tray and reduce the possibility of flexing the housing even with heavy lenses and strobes:
Anti-flex doubler/adapter on housing:
Camera and dual handle DIY tray assembled:
Door MUST clear the tray!!!!!!, if the tray can flex and push on the door, well, watch out!:
Another shot of door clear of tray:
Not being an O-ring and camera housing engineer I would prefer to see double spring latches and a thicker or dual O ring even if the resulting housing was a bit larger. I would also like to see a stiffer, thicker bottom. This is not unique to the FIX and RecSea housings but an issue with many aluminum and plastic housings. I had an Ikelite that creaked so loudly at depth it was scary and it was possible to off seat the door O ring at shallow depths and flood the camera by flexing the housing, I learned not to do that. However, I must say, Ikelite housings are generally very robust. Now there is this new Olympus XZ-1 and it's OEM housing with a single attach point, OK, now mount a heavy Inon lens on that sucker and I predict a flex-flier, JMO, could be wrong.
This allows me to mount all of this heavy stuff and even more and then pull, twist, tug, drop, bang and yank on the handles without any flex being imparted to the camera housing base:
While the OP figures through his disappointing circumstance I thought to take an opportunity and show what I mean.
BTW, the blue and gray grips that everybody is using on these trays are Serfas brand MTB grips or similar.
Why are the knobs so big on my tray, because I have arthritis and I need the big knobs when I get cold and it was what I had on the shelf when I made the darn thing.
I know the Canon OEM housings have had seeping/leaking issues with mold flash as I had one myself and had to polish the sealing surface, however, I suspect some of the mystery leaks on the Canon housings are also the housings being flexed in use and allowing the O ring to partially unseat.
N
ghnouer
Contributor
Hi Nemrod, I d like to see more photos of your DIY tray. Some details and specs for the holes of the tray.
Im having problems with the ULCS tray for two strobes. The spaces between handles doesn t match my needs. So I d like to do my own tray.
Thanks in advance.
GHN
Im having problems with the ULCS tray for two strobes. The spaces between handles doesn t match my needs. So I d like to do my own tray.
Thanks in advance.
GHN
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