Nauticam Vacuum Check System

[fisheater]

Or, you can consider going a whole cheaper and getting an Underwater Leak Detector from Underwater Camera Housing Leak Detector - Underwater Camera Housing Leak Detector - Home Page. It's a perfect fit for my E-PM1's Oly housing.

Here's a video showing it action in an Olympus PEN housing.

[video=youtube;HDgxOElFaDc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HDgxOElFaDc[/video]

 

[Akimbo]

Nauticam housings already come with a water leak detector. The advantage of a vacuum leak detector is you can detect an air leak at low pressure and exercise all your controls before getting in the water.

---------- Post added November 10th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ----------

Nauticam vacuum leak detectio system @ DEMA 2013 on Vimeo

 

[Akimbo]

Nauticam Housings
Anyone in the US (or North America?) interested in getting their Nauticam housing fit with the sensor and valve should look at this form from Nauticam USA:

http://reefphoto.com/forms/nauticam...il&utm_term=0_10680d01a0-7cc4982883-293933777

They offer a discount on housing service when done at the same time as the sensor installation.

Non-Nauticam Housings

I understand that Reef, and possibly other Nauticam dealers will install the sensor in other brand housings at a shop rate for labor rather than for the fixed rate offered in the above link. The vacuum valve could be another brand if your housing doesn’t have an M14 or M16 port. Note that you can use the Nauticam offset vacuum valve on a M14 or M16 port that is already in use by another device.

You can use Backscatter’s or a home-brew vacuum valve if you have an available port that isn’t M14 or M16. You might need to send the pump back with the housing if you already have a valve installed so they can test the vacuum sensor installation though.

As referenced above, there are other options for valves and/or sensors that might work better for you.

 

[James R]

I talked to Reef the other day, and I am sending my housing to get serviced & the new electronics installed as long as they can have it back within a couple months. They did ask that I send the pump & gauge for my backscatter airlock so they could test I assume.

 

[Akimbo]

James

Reef has my Nauticam NA-EM5 now to install the sensor as well. I got the non-offset manual pump M16 valve at the same time. The Vivid's Leak Sentinel V3 would have been less expensive but I figured the Nauticam would be better for resale one day, especially now that they are standard equipment on all their housings above compacts.

I didn't get the housing service since it is so new and I am comfortable servicing it myself... especially with a vacuum system installed to test my work! However, it is a clever offer for them to make. I do like Nauticam's valve cap design better than the others I have seen, but that is really a very minor consideration. The main thing I don't like about the Nauticam sensor over the Vivid is you have to open the housing to manually turn it on and off.

 

[James R]

I don't blame you.

A small c-clip fell out of my housing after the last time I used it, and I can't find where it came from after looking everywhere in for a long time, so I am going to get it serviced to be safe -- mainly b/c the next time I use it will be in Lembeh & Bali...it's not worth saving $380 to get all the way over there and have a problem with my housing.

 

[Akimbo]

I have read a lot of arguments indicating that vacuum systems are a crutch for people who are sloppy at maintaining their housing. That is such a crock. I have seen lots of housings with water in them where none of the techs onboard could figure out why it leaked or sometimes get the housing to leak again.

Some of the arguments suggest that the differential pressure of the vacuum is too low to be reliable. That suggests to me they don’t really understand how O-rings work. At really low pressures like recreational camera housing see, O-rings are more likely to leak at the surface than at 200'



This illustration is from the Parker O-ring Design Manual. The O-ring is supposed to move in the groove so increased pressure improves the seal, at least until you approach extrusion. Another huge factor is air is 772 times as dense as air. That does not mean water is 772 times less likely to leak than air, but air is significantly more likely to leak and won’t cause damage.

IMHO, the biggest advantage in this case is all dynamic seals (control shafts and buttons) can be exercised on deck to check for leaks. I am sure that many of us have seen housings that are watertight until a shaft was rotated or a button was pushed.

Is it impossible to get a water leak with a vacuum system? Of course not. Does it reduce the probability of a water leak to the point it isn’t worth worrying about? IMHO, yes. Now all we have to do is worry about flooding strobes and lights!

 

[Doubler]

The vacuum will also assist in setting the oring in the groove. Another fairy tale is that the more grease you use the better the seal, rheas is just a lubricant to keep the packing supple.

 

[Akimbo]

More specifically, you want enough lubrication to minimize micro abrasion on the O-ring as it moves in the groove. Excessive grease makes a mess but doesn't hurt O-ring function. That mess isn't so great once it gets on the optics or sensors though.

Just look at O-rings in hydraulic systems which are lubricated by the media they act against. They are not only lubricated better, the media is far more dense. Anybody who doesn't think density matters has never been around piping much. Systems that hold water under pressure will often leak air and systems that are tight against air usually leak like a sieve on Helium or Hydrogen.

Lubrication on the O-ring on the neck of an HP cylinder isn't so important since it rarely sees zero pressure until the next time the valve is removed — it basically only moves once. Camera housing O-rings move with every submersion cycle.