My GoPro is a NoGo :(

[gabeee]

Its very unfortunate that this has happened to you, I had a loss of 2 GoPro HD1 cameras in a EOM 3D housing. It was a freak accident where I was diving with a very playful seal in 1-2m of water and he was bumping the camera a bit. I hadn't noticed the cameras had shut off and continued on for about 30 minutes, when I got to the surface the first thing I noticed was the fogging inside the housing. The cameras were both off and only a few drops of water were visible in the housing the latch was loosened on the housing but it was still closed.

At first I didn't know what happened but I managed to recover the corrupted video file from one of the cameras, it showed the moment the seal bumped me that a few seconds later a bit of water came into the housing. There was a plasticy type sound which I assume was when the latch loosened due to the impact and then 30 seconds later the video went all weird and then died. I tested the housing in a chamber to see if it had any issues but it was fine as this was before I saw the video and I assumed it was a housing fault. Both cameras were unrecoverable and so I realized my biggest fear of the 3D housing which is risking 2 cameras at once, luckily I had been in touch with gopro and let them know what had happened and what I discovered the cause was. They gave me a good discount for me to replace my 2 lost cameras which I was very thankful for.

@Robint all the 3rd party housings are still just modified GoPro housing's and they all suffer the same minor design flaw by GoPro, under pressure on some housings the latch may come loose as the white gasket compresses and takes away some of the pressure keeping the latch tight. In very rare circumstances this can completely open the latch if bumped in a certain direction or possibly even water movement from currents or moving of the camera could unlatch this. It will not open at depth though as the pressure is still keeping the housing closed until you are very close to the surface which is the most dangerous time as the reduced pressure may allow it to open. Im surprised Backscatter doesnt even acknowledge that the gopro housing may have this issue in some cases, mako have released a stronger rubber band but I just use regular thick ones and replace them each time. A large pack of these costs around $1 so they will last me a long time

This is a design flaw of the latch system but can be fixed easily with a rubber band over the latch preventing it from opening, or on your accent from a dive during your safety stop check the latch and ensure it is properly seated. I do both due to my past experience but only a rubber band would have saved my 2 cameras in my freak accident.

There is a 3rd party latch and possibly others may come up with something, Im not sure if the GoPro dive housing has made any modifications to the latch setup as I don't have one yet but to me it looks the same.

Hmm this is actualy quite worrying if this happens more frequently. So ur saying that just putting regular rubber bands help? I think that the dive housing might be tougher than the regular ones. I feel that the dive housing is tighter than the regular ones, like harder to click in. IMO though

 

[robint]

Its very unfortunate that this has happened to you, I had a loss of 2 GoPro HD1 cameras in a EOM 3D housing. It was a freak accident where I was diving with a very playful seal in 1-2m of water and he was bumping the camera a bit. I hadn't noticed the cameras had shut off and continued on for about 30 minutes, when I got to the surface the first thing I noticed was the fogging inside the housing. The cameras were both off and only a few drops of water were visible in the housing the latch was loosened on the housing but it was still closed.

At first I didn't know what happened but I managed to recover the corrupted video file from one of the cameras, it showed the moment the seal bumped me that a few seconds later a bit of water came into the housing. There was a plasticy type sound which I assume was when the latch loosened due to the impact and then 30 seconds later the video went all weird and then died. I tested the housing in a chamber to see if it had any issues but it was fine as this was before I saw the video and I assumed it was a housing fault. Both cameras were unrecoverable and so I realized my biggest fear of the 3D housing which is risking 2 cameras at once, luckily I had been in touch with gopro and let them know what had happened and what I discovered the cause was. They gave me a good discount for me to replace my 2 lost cameras which I was very thankful for.

@Robint all the 3rd party housings are still just modified GoPro housing's and they all suffer the same minor design flaw by GoPro, under pressure on some housings the latch may come loose as the white gasket compresses and takes away some of the pressure keeping the latch tight. In very rare circumstances this can completely open the latch if bumped in a certain direction or possibly even water movement from currents or moving of the camera could unlatch this. It will not open at depth though as the pressure is still keeping the housing closed until you are very close to the surface which is the most dangerous time as the reduced pressure may allow it to open. Im surprised Backscatter doesnt even acknowledge that the gopro housing may have this issue in some cases, mako have released a stronger rubber band but I just use regular thick ones and replace them each time. A large pack of these costs around $1 so they will last me a long time

This is a design flaw of the latch system but can be fixed easily with a rubber band over the latch preventing it from opening, or on your accent from a dive during your safety stop check the latch and ensure it is properly seated. I do both due to my past experience but only a rubber band would have saved my 2 cameras in my freak accident.

There is a 3rd party latch and possibly others may come up with something, Im not sure if the GoPro dive housing has made any modifications to the latch setup as I don't have one yet but to me it looks the same.

marty,
I have no clue where a rubber band will fit without covering the lens or the display window. Do you have a photo of your "fix" ?
I agree the problem is with that white plastic piece, and my suggestion to Backscatter was that a good fix would be to replace that with a real O-ring. But as I said, the e-mail reply I got back from them is no problem is acknowledged as no floods have been reported, therefore no fix will be offered.

I probably won't be taking mine back underwater for a month or two. Hopefully before then, I will get some some of resolution.

robin

 

[electrix]

I think what is happening is that at depth the pressure of the water causes the case to compress enough to cause the latch to come loose and then when you start to surface the case is not sealed if the latch opens I have not had a problem with mine but it has happened to others.

 

[Marty Cerven]

marty,
I have no clue where a rubber band will fit without covering the lens or the display window. Do you have a photo of your "fix" ?
I agree the problem is with that white plastic piece, and my suggestion to Backscatter was that a good fix would be to replace that with a real O-ring. But as I said, the e-mail reply I got back from them is no problem is acknowledged as no floods have been reported, therefore no fix will be offered.

I probably won't be taking mine back underwater for a month or two. Hopefully before then, I will get some some of resolution.

robin

The rubber band can go around the side of the housing like this image.

I normally use a thicker rubber band but this one would do fine, what you need is one that puts enough force on the latch that it cant be lifted without removing the rubber band. All housings I have are slightly different in how tight the latch locks down, my 3D housing is the loosest and would be a reason it happen with that.

The thing that causes the issue is the water pressure on the front and back of the housing can compress the white gasket enough that it may in some cases allow the latch to pop open due to the lack of force keeping it locked down. In our other gopro forum with 1000's of users its still not something that comes up that often but many have reported it getting loose while Ive only heard of a handful that lost cameras because of it.

You can test you own housing by pushing the front and back with as much force as you can to compress the white rubber seal, if your housing is prone to this issue the latch will get very loose when max force is applied. I use the rubber band on all my housings though as even though its unlikely to happen with most of them a quick very cheap fix it guarantees that it wont.

Its not to say that its a hugely common issue that risks all gopro's and is a massive design issue but its just like ensuring your rubber seal is spotless and testing any new housing prior to using it with a camera. The housings themselves are very tough and a pretty solid design if you see how much shock and force some have survived its amazing, Ive seen a couple taken down to a free dive world record (not recommended but surprisingly it survived at over 130m) seen them fall off cars, take huge wipe outs in the surf and even surviving falling 10,000ft.

If you do your best to avoid any known ways that water can enter it will just reduce your risks and there is nothing worse then if you lose a camera that could have been saved by a 5c 10 second fix.

 

[mmcdanie]

Jax sent me some instructions on how to get my GoPro breathing again and they worked! The battery was ruined so I have a new one on the way. Here is the suggestion:

Okay . . . if you are sure it is a goner, go buy 5 gal of distilled -- NOT drinking -- distilled water. Remove battery! cover and soak the gopro for a couple of hours. Do it again in fresh distilled water. Third time, make sure it's in a container big enough to slosh around, with fresh distilled. Slosh slosh slosh . . . Lots!!!! Until you're sick of it.

Shake it off, wrap it in a lintless towel, and shake shake shake. Get a fresh dry lintless towel. Wrap it loosely. Put a bunch of rice in a pan and lay the gopro in it. (towel protects it from rice dust). Put it in an oven that is off - (cold) - and set the oven to the lowest warmer temp - usually 150 or so (no more than 170!) Leave it for a few hours, turning the gopro carefully and regularly. Be really, really, really sure it is dry. Inspect the battery compartment for corrosion -- use some distilled vinegar on Q-tips, wipe with distilled water Q-tip.

Replace the freshly charged battery.

Hey, you've already written it off. . . isn't it worth a try?

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It was a great little camera. May it rest in peace!! Now go out and buy it's replacment with the backscatter housing and enjoy!!

These look great. What does backscatter do?

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yes, may it rest in peace! Question for you though, were you using lights or a red filter with your gopro to get video that clear? If lights, which ones/how bright? I'm probably getting a gopro setup soon and I dive at Catalina and Laguna Beach, so trying to get a feel for what other people use at those spots.

No lights or filters just a cheap flat lens, a sunny day, and a max depth of 20 feet.

 

[robint]

thanks Marty! I will try that. I didn't realize you were putting the band over the latch only , and not the whole housing to hold it shut.

 

[fdarden]

Or you could step it up a notch or two and use a bungee. If you notice I wrap the bungee around the button on the front of the housing to keep it always attached. I have used this method for many dives with my gopro and it has not failed me yet.

 

[Marty Cerven]

thanks Marty! I will try that. I didn't realize you were putting the band over the latch only , and not the whole housing to hold it shut.

You will find that when pressure is pushing against the housing the latch may get pretty loose, if this happens the the latch may pop up which is what will allow the housing to open once the pressure is reduced. The other method works ok too and will prevent the housing from opening at the same time as keeping the latch shut, but if you use an LCD screen like I do then you don't want to block any of the screen if it can be avoided.

As long as your putting enough pressure on the latch in a similar method to my pic, the latch will not be able to pop up so the housing wont be able to open. It may get a little loose at depth but at this point the pressure is keeping the housing closed and you just need to ensure the latch doesn't unlock itself here. Once there isn't as much pressure on the housing then the locking clip will do its job properly keeping the housing closed, its when this latch pops open at depth without you noticing that may cause it to open near the surface.

 

[FM1520]

Thanks, I just got my housing will be diving it on the 4th. i will definitely be using a rubber band, even if its just a precaution.

 

[socaljohn]

yes, may it rest in peace! Question for you though, were you using lights or a red filter with your gopro to get video that clear? If lights, which ones/how bright? I'm probably getting a gopro setup soon and I dive at Catalina and Laguna Beach, so trying to get a feel for what other people use at those spots.

Marks dive buddy here-
No light and no filter... It was low tide and we stayed inside the rock. We were maybe 20ft for most of the dive.

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Marks dive buddy here-
No light and no filter... It was low tide and we stayed inside the rock. We were maybe 20ft for most of the dive.

DOH...did not see that mark had answered the question.....