Reefmaster Mini Sticky buttons

[Bazooka Joe]

I have owned my Reefmaster mini for over a year of faithful service. Lately I am having trouble with the buttons, they are becoming slow to repond when pushed and they do not like to pop back up. I do notice a slight discoloration around the buttons on the stainless. My wife suggest that I use a q-tip and rub some white vinegar on the buttons to clean them and then soak the whole camera in in water.

Before I try this I though I would ask the question here. What do I do about my sticky buttons?


Thanks in advance,

Joe

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

First, you stop doing that, or you'll go blind!

Now, I've had my DC600 for a couple of years. I tend to give it a soft tooth brush when I soak it in water after each day of diving (learned after having the same issue as you are having... notice I didn't write "sticky buttons"...)

The build up is normal, especially if you are diving salt water or water that has other "muck" in it. When it first happened to me (about a year after I started using the camera), I used some electric razor oil on the outside housing area of the buttons. This seemed to "lube" the area, but left a "greasy" mess on them. It did serve to bring them back to life once I used the oil and then held the camera underwater and pressed the buttons repeatedly. I also noticed that the buttons will turn if you can get a grip on them. That may help dislodge any "on-see-em" deposits while you have it soaking.

Since my attempt with oil (which I haven't done since the first time), I added the soft toothbrush and pressing the buttons repeatedly when rinsing/soaking the camera after my day of diving. More than a year later, and I have not had the "sticky buttons" issue again. I just use tap water and the toothbrush and everything has been fine since.

 

[SeaLife Joe]

Cooltech has hit it dead on!

We recommend that when you complete the dive either on the boat or as soon as possible, with the housing in some water, fresh of course, cycle through all the buttons pushing repeatedly. This will force out any contaminants and clera out all the gook from under the buttons. In your case where it has sat for some time, fill a bucket with luke warm water and keep the housing submerged, closed, for a little bit. Then as cooltech suggested, use a tooth brush to clean the outside and then proceed to push all the buttons repeatedly. For really stubborn buttons, Grab the button with some pliers, lightly and rotate them to free them up.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

This is great, now I have something for my 14 year old son to do. I think though I will try the pliers bit myself, actually now that I think of it I will just tell my wife that my camera needs cleaning and she will do it....it's funny how women are about such things?


Thanks for all your help guys!


Joe Davis

 

[rsldonk]

Thanks for the response, I've been having the same issue.

One other issue I had in Cozumel was that the lense on my Mini would fog up half way though a dive. Is there something to help solve this? There isn't a good spot to put a dissicant pack, which would usually work.

 

[Goindrinkn]

I just saw our LDS's Sealife Rep the other day and asked him about this same issue. I've soaked it in warm fresh water in the past thinking that I had some salt creep on the underside of the buttons that I couldn't get out. And his advice was some silcone spray. I picked up a bottle (non arasol) and sprayed some on. Worked the buttons a bit and It's as good as new. (He also said if that didn't work the company was good about not costing an arm and a leg for this sort of maintenance. It was an inexpensive fix, and hopefully will get me many more 1000s of shots with it.

 

[rsldonk]

One other question: What batteries work best in this camera. Using just regular alkaline AAs, I would be lucky to get one dive worth of life. Is there a better option?

 

[Bazooka Joe]

One other question: What batteries work best in this camera. Using just regular alkaline AAs, I would be lucky to get one dive worth of life. Is there a better option?

I have had real good luck with rechargables, I always buy Recharable batterys that are over 2000 NMH...(? I think that is it, I don't have batterys here with me at work)

I got some 2400's with a charger, but the charger is so slow. I got a radioshack fast charger and it charges the batterys from dead to full in about 3 hours.

Joe

 

[SeaLife Joe]

RSLDONK, rechargeables are a good option as well as Energizer E2 Lithiums. a little more pricey but they do last quite a bit longer than any other battery I have used.

had some in my Mini for over 3 months once.