O-ring Storage And Maintanance?

[khsjsilver]

I just purchased the Olympus TG-4 with the PT-056 Housing. I had my previous Canon setup for a lot of years.

I've been searching through Scubaboard for posts on O-Rings and all of the threads seem very old. Are there any new thoughts on O-Ring storage and maintenance?

1) Should O-Rings be store in the case or outside in a zip lock bag?
2) How often do you re-grease the O-Ring on a dive trip? Before every day of diving? Once a week?

Current opinions are welcomed!

Ken

 

[smoore]

I prefer a zip lock bag. I re-grease my O ring every time I open the housing even if I am only taking the camera out to change a battery. This means I clean the o-ring with a microfibre cloth, clean the o-ring groove in the housing, re-grease the o-ring and install it in the groove and close the housing. I also dunk in in the housing rinse tank to see if it is leaking before going in the water.

 

[snowdog61]

being meticulous about cleaning will never hurt you. I can typically get 2 dives per camera charge but I'm with the smoore, if I open the case, the ring comes out and gets a cleaning, inspection, and a re-grease before it gets wet again. I haven't had a flood or a leak yet thankfully but I'm sure there's one out there with my name on it. AFA storage, I try to limit compression time so if it's not going to the boat, it is removed, wiped, and stored in a ziploc. I also use a foam tip swab to clean the groove. The more you can limit or reduce the system to contamination, the better your odds of keeping things dry.

 

[Ardy]

O'rings have changed in the last 10 years. You could pretty well ignore them, keep them anywhere and grease them only once before a weeks trip. Nowadays I think you need to look after them better as smoore says in a zip lock bag and beware if you don't regrease them every time you open them. I lost a Z240 flash on a second dive due to this issue.

They are also a lot more flexible and prone to pinching and tearing. I dived with a Nikonos for 10 years without once looking at the o'rings apart from the lens and the back to regrease. I suspect this would not be the case with modern housings. My housing (12 months old) had sticking buttons when I looked at it prior to my latest trip.

 

[coldfire22x]

If you're storing them, then you're not diving often enough!

All kidding aside ..

1) When storing for longer periods of time, you can remove the o-rings, throw them in ziplock bags, and then store the bags inside whatever they belong to. (I'm not convinced this is necessary but it doesn't hurt either.)

2) Personally, I only clean and re-grease when necessary (and whenever I return home from a dive). If I'm on a dive boat and I need to swap batteries/lenses, I will open up the housing, do what I need to do, and then perform a visual inspection of the o-rings. If they have any sand or debris on them, I will remove/clean/re-grease. If they are clean, I don't worry about it too much.

This has worked out well for me (I've never flooded a camera housing in my 4+ years of doing underwater photography). However, like snowdog61 said, you can never be too meticulous! Just three quick tips though:

1. When you grease up, make sure you don't use too much! You only need a *thin* layer on the entire surface of the o-ring to make sure it doesn't stick anywhere along the seal. Too much grease won't directly cause a leak but it will attract debris which can cause leaks on subsequent dives.
2. Perform a visual inspection of the o-ring every single time before sealing things up! Even if you just cleaned and re-greased the o-ring, always inspect every square millimeter right before sealing everything up. All it takes is one small hair to float through the air, land on your o-ring, and keep it from creating a seal at depth.
3. Only use the rinse bucket for rinsing and then get your camera the heck out of there! Not only will it prevent other cameras from scratching/damaging your housing/lens ports but there's actually a higher chance you'll flood your housing in a rinse bucket than at 100'. It seems counterintuitive, but the o-rings rely on pressure to push them into the groove, creating a seal.

 

[Ardy]

good advice coldfire. I have been doing uw photo's for 30+ years and the Inon Z240 was my first flood. Not sure about these new softer o'rings.

 

[coldfire22x]

good advice coldfire. I have been doing uw photo's for 30+ years and the Inon Z240 was my first flood. Not sure about these new softer o'rings.

Admittedly I've never had an Inon strobe, so can't speak to the quality or durability of their o-rings

 

[Ardy]

HI coldfire, Inon's are good flashes and well made I just don't think their cap closure is as good as SnS.

 

[KeithG]

I just purchased the Olympus TG-4 with the PT-056 Housing. I had my previous Canon setup for a lot of years.

I've been searching through Scubaboard for posts on O-Rings and all of the threads seem very old. Are there any new thoughts on O-Ring storage and maintenance?

1) Should O-Rings be store in the case or outside in a zip lock bag?
2) How often do you re-grease the O-Ring on a dive trip? Before every day of diving? Once a week?

Current opinions are welcomed!

Ken

i store all of my housing and strobe orings inplace, i unlatch the housings and remove the strobe battery cap.

i only grease orings if they need it. neither of my housings require grease. my SnS strobe orings get a small drop of grease when the battery cap gets hard to insert. generally about every other 1 week dive trip (every 50ish dives)

 

[anenomefishman]

I just purchased the Olympus TG-4 with the PT-056 Housing. I had my previous Canon setup for a lot of years.

I've been searching through Scubaboard for posts on O-Rings and all of the threads seem very old. Are there any new thoughts on O-Ring storage and maintenance?

1) Should O-Rings be store in the case or outside in a zip lock bag?
2) How often do you re-grease the O-Ring on a dive trip? Before every day of diving? Once a week?

Current opinions are welcomed!

Ken

i currently have these 5 olympus underwater cameras:

i have never replaced or removed an o-ring from any of these cameras. the housings still work fine. i only open my camera once a day after i am done diving. i never open my cameras anymore on the boat. have flooded a couple of them that way. i leave the o-rings in the camera with the housing closed. i apply some silicon grease each morning when i put my camera back together. i go through the pictures on the camera after last dive with my laptop and upload the pictures i am keeping from that day to my laptop. the middle camera (SP-350) has about 250 dives on it. the XZ-1 on it's left has about 175 dives on it.