Metal Housings in Cold Water?

[Storker]

Try to close the housing in a room with Air Conditioning on

Who the heck is running their AC if it's around freezing outside?

 

[davehicks]

Who the heck is running their AC if it's around freezing outside?

Clearly not a cold water diver! In Seattle it can be 90F outside, and the water is still 48F.

But seriously, don't be so literal. Fogging can be a problem is hot or cold weather.

 

[leadduck]

Certain types of plastic are not resistant to freezing temperatures, become more brittle and are more likely to crack under pressure. Could be a reason for the recommendation to use metal housings when ice diving.

 

[M DeM]

I spent 5 days diving Silfra in Iceland.

Initially we had issues with the lenses fogging. I found, if we put the cameras in the water whilst we kitted up, when we picked the cameras up for the dive the lenses where OK for the dive.
I put it down to the temperature differences in the camera and the water causing the fogging.

The biggest issue we had after that, was the cold really effected the battery life in the cameras and strobes.
(We beat the cold with a mix of thermal layering, heated vests, and dry gloves.)

Crap - I never even thought about the batteries. How long do you suspect you'd get? And curious- did you have fiber optic or sync chords?

 

[M DeM]

Norwegian here... Been using my Nauticam and D800 with Inon Z240/330 or Symbiosis Flashs in water down to -2C. Never had an issue with fogging or freezing. (I also happen to know that one of Norways best and most active UW photographers use Subal housings.)

I put my camera together in my home, plop it in the sea and no more fuss about it.

good to know! Thanks!

 

[Bob DBF]

I'm surprised there isn't a way to flush with tank air or an inert gas to purge the housing of moisture.

@Searcaigh Although I wouldn't want to be in it, sea water freezes at about 28.4 f which would it make it below freezing water to dive. The ice made does not contain salt.


Bob
.

 

[Akimbo]

Housings used on deep submersibles and ROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles) are often purged with pure Nitrogen before they are closed. Pure Nitrogen is an ultra-dry gas because it is produced from cryogenic (liquid) gas. You can accomplish nearly the same thing by blowing compressed air from an HP source in the housing before closing. No moisture to condense = no fogging.

This technique is more likely to be valuable in humid environments than cold climates where the environment is relatively dry. I do it routinely just because electronics hate moisture.

 

[bvanant]

Not if it’s salt water and has a current or continuos movement in it but correct me if I’m wrong.

Well he said above freezing, not 32 or 0 degrees. So yes the temperature of liquid water is by definition above its freezing point (ignoring all sorts of second order effects)
Bill

 

[EireDiver606]

Well he said above freezing, not 32 or 0 degrees. So yes the temperature of liquid water is by definition above its freezing point (ignoring all sorts of second order effects)
Bill

I understand that. He was asking if water has to be above freezing point to be liquid.

I said it doesn’t. Waters can be -2 degrees Celsius in the coldest part of the world.

 

[bvanant]

We are not communicating. Freezing is a change of state from liquid to solid. The temperature at which is happens depends on many things, like dissolved solids (this is a colligative property), motion of the water, and pressure as well. The fact that pure water at 1 atm freezes at 0C is immaterial here.
Bill being pedantic