Sealife DC310 Reefmaster - Do you need to grease the O rings?

[fookisan]

Took my new DC310 on a trip to the USVI and BVI and could not have been happier with the couple hundred photos I took. Only complaint a fixed focus lens and some photos were fuzzy from being too close, but 95% were great. My question, as an old Nikonos user, is do you have to grease the main case O-ring periodically in the digital housing or just keep it clean? I don't have any tubes of Nikonos grease left what is good to use if they need greasing?

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Jon_Rhea]

I would assume that you should grease the main o-ring after each trip. That is what I have read that many other manufacturers recommend.

 

[NAIBdiver1]

I too have a DC310 and the owners manual says "Do not grease the O ring" Clean with "Q" tip, but do not remove and grease.

If you already have taken off the O ring and greased it - clean it as beat you can with something like a 3M sheet. Replace it and put a small weight in your housing with a paper towel around the weight. Then submerge your housing in fresh water (bath tub) and then examine the paper towel to see if there are any leaks.

About the fixed focal - try some of the other lenses that are offered by SeaLife. That's what I really like about the camera. You can clip on the Macro kit or wide angle lense under water and never miss that close up of a Christmas tree worm or the shot of the Whale Shark passing over head.

NAIBdiver1

 

[*Floater*]

For the o-ring Sealife suggests people do the quick "lube" test as pictured on the bottom of page 3 here: http://www.sealife-cameras.com/download/importantcardupdate2.pdf

They state: "About o-ring lubrication. The SeaLife o-ring is impregnated with a silicone lubricant during the manufacturing process. This allows the o-ring to slip easily
into position when closing the housing. This silicone impregnated o-ring may
loose its lubrication if exposed to excessive heat, chemicals, and detergents, or
when not properly soaked and rinsed after use in salt water. If the housing is
hard to open or close (i.e. fails the “quick test” described above), the o-ring must
be replaced. Applying a thin film of silicone lubricant to the outer surface of the
o-ring will not damage the o-ring and is acceptable if performed by a qualified
service technician familiar with proper o-ring lubrication techniques."

 

[*Floater*]

Also, not related to lubing, but when I visited Sealife's site I noticed they had another update to their manual as well: http://www.sealife-cameras.com/download/importantcardupdate3.pdf

And they suggest people update the firmware on their digital cameras. Mine was version 1.15P, whereas the latest one on the site when I downloaded it a few days ago was version 1.18P: http://www.sealife-cameras.com/service/firmware.html