OLY C-8080 and PT-023 housing repair

[tripntx]

Trying to breath some life back into my OLY. Been using a Cannon A720IS since '08 because of the trouble I was having with broken tabs on OLY PT-023 housing.

Haven't used my Oly C-8080 since summer of '07 because I didn't feel the PT-023 housing was secure. Plastic tabs holding port to housing had broken off, and I had used an adhesive that was sort of working to hold the pieces together, but just didn't trust it enough after making 20 dives to continue taking it under water. Well, just had holes drilled and taped, used 6-32 x 1/4 set screws, and some weld-on #16 cement. The weld-on is used to make acrylic aquariums, it actually dissolves and chemically adhears with the polycarbonate housing. Gonna let it set for 24 hrs, and hopefully take the empty housing UW this weekend to see if it will hold up.

 

[tripntx]

Want to replace OLY C-8080 and Cannon A720IS with an Oly E-PL1, but can't afford it right now.

 

[slowhands]

I have a similar problem with my old PT-023. Those plastic tabs just shear off. You did the right thing, replacing with a metal stud. The red plastic latch is a little weak too, It is just screwed in and if the screw backs out, the latch gets quite loose -- loose enough to ride over the tab. Be sure it's screwed tight, and maybe loctite it.

This set of problems was well documented back in the time these housings were released.
Here is an old post about a similar housing and some fixes:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/olympus-outlet/128781-pt-020-vs-pt-027-whats-difference.html

From Germany, Michael Finger published one set of latch mods too. Here is Google translate's wording:

Google Translate

Michael's recommendation is not to use the PP-05 because of the weakness of the latch. Putting more mass out on the port seems to be a recipe for trouble. If I were using that jumbo port, I think I would duct tape it on to be sure.

 

[tripntx]

Thanks for advice and link. I'll check red latch screws before every dive, and will also use black electrical tape on them to make sure the red latches don't rotate open.

 

[rwe]

Thanks for advice and link. I'll check red latch screws before every dive, and will also use black electrical tape on them to make sure the red latches don't rotate open.

Black electrical tape will creep under pressure if there is any way it can reduce its extension. I would recommend duct tape instead.

From what I can tell, every PT-023 housing ever used has broken port tabs and Olympus began refusing to even discuss/respond to the issue very soon after the housing was released. I have been using a PT-023 housing with the broken port tabs for over 2 years; about 90 dives. I simply use duct tape to hold it on. I removed the red tabs to make the taping easier. Looks ridiculous but it has never leaked.

 

[tripntx]

Went on a 1 hr 18 minute dive this afternoon in Mammoth Lake and took my Olympus C-8080 with wide angel lens along, unfortunetly visibility was only 6' were I wanted to take pictures, so didn't get many because the murky water just didn't allow details on fish to show up good.

f8, 1/2000, iso 200

f8, 1/4000, iso 200

f8, 1/250, iso 200

 

[tripntx]

Links came up as red x's so I attached the photo's.

 

[slowhands]

Black electrical tape will creep under pressure if there is any way it can reduce its extension. I would recommend duct tape instead.

From what I can tell, every PT-023 housing ever used has broken port tabs and Olympus began refusing to even discuss/respond to the issue very soon after the housing was released. I have been using a PT-023 housing with the broken port tabs for over 2 years; about 90 dives. I simply use duct tape to hold it on. I removed the red tabs to make the taping easier. Looks ridiculous but it has never leaked.

I agree, use duct tape.

I don't trust the red latches either. I have seen the screw holding them loosen, and then they are very sloppy, almost not there. I can shake the port off. This was a terrible design and killed a lot of cameras. I use a dome port by Athena on my PT-027 housing -- it has a beefier latch.

Michael Finger said on his website he has repaired over 300 bad ones, and that was as of 2006. He had a little cottage industry fixing them by replacing the plastic tab with a metal screw, and the latch with a more reliable one of his design (see the website). Reef quit selling the Olympus compact housings because of the problems; the SLR housings are much better, I believe made by Sea&Sea.

This may have been part of the reason Oly killed the Cxxxx product line about 6 months after release of the C7070 and C8080. They made no announcement, just discontinued it. Great cameras, but some fatal flaws in the housing design.

If you care about your camera, use duct tape on the entire joint. It's cloth reinforced and sticky underwater, so it sticks and does not creep or tear. Looks bad, but I dive in the Philippines where the entire place is held together with bubble gum and baling wire, as my pappy used to say, so it fits right in.

 

[rwe]

Links came up as red x's so I attached the photo's.

A few seconds in Adobe Elements will help with the colors if you don't have a strobe (see attached). Also I recommend shooting in RAW. The delay time to store will annoy you but the editing options are much better. You can see some of my C-8080 pictures here but be be forwarned that, as my older son frequently tells me, I have no concept of culling so there are a few decent pictures scattered among a lot of bad ones: Flickr: rwe0207's Photostream .

 

[tripntx]

Use of duct tape does sound like good cheap insurance. Wanted to prove to myself first that it would hold up, and it has so duct tape from now on.
Thinking about placing C-8080, PT-023, PPO-05, oly wide angel lens and oly telefoto lens all on feabay with a starting bid of 150 and a reserve set a couple of hundred higher to see if it will move. It's been sitting in my closet for the past few years, and i've really gotten used to my Cannon A720IS. Might be better off splitting the whole package up selling off individually but i haven't decided yet.