Testing a new housing

[ssra30]

If a housing is going to leak, it wil leak in the first couple of meters. After the first couple of meters, the pressure differential will be jamming the o-rings tightly into the grooves. Testing it to 10, 20 or 30 meters is not going to make any difference.

If you have a 3 meter deep swimming pool close by, you can test your new housing without wasting a dive. Wrap a weight in tissue, put it into the housing, lower it slowly to the bottom of the pool, looking for bubbles (after the initial external air bubbles have floated off) on the way down. Leave it on the bottom for a few minutes then haul it out. Rinse it in a bucket of fresh water to remove the pool chemicals. Dry the outside thoroughly. Then open and look for droplets and / or dampness in the tissues. If OK, put the camera in the housing, carefully check the o-rings, seal it and go diving.



Regards
Peter

Hmm, I disagree a little bit here. In theory, it sounds good with the pressure sealing up the o-ring and what but I don't think it works out quite like that. For example, a wrist watch that is pressured tested and is water resistant to 100m. Basically they are being tested in static pressure to equavalent of 100m which for practical purpose, they are ok for swimming and snorkeling ie definitely good for down to 3m at the bottom of the pool however they can and will often flood when you scuba dive with them (from personal experience). Dynamic pressure change is a more robust test to test for leakage. While the biggest pressure change occur at surface, I don't think 3m of water is enough to really put the housing to the test.

I never had any experience with flooded housing but flooded my strobe once when the casing had a little crack (I dropped it on the boat before the dive). It worked for most of the dive so I assumed that the flood did not happened right away during the first 3m of descending and happened quite a bit later in the dive. Otherwise, I have flooded a couple of cheapo wristwatches here and there.

 

[fpoole]

Also, once you take it down or however you want to do it, PUSH all the buttons and make it 'sing' out as you would if you had a camera in there...

I'd have to agree with ssra30 on the depth thing... a bump here, a bump there and pushing, twisting and what-ever-ing at depth will test it a little better, IMNSHO, than shallower... doesn't necessarily mean you need to drop down to 130' or whatever the ceiling is before you use, it but 10' would be too little, 150' too much... but make sure you push and turn every knob on there...

Also something to think about later on down the line... once you get your housing, assuming it'll be the Ikelite.. you'll need to get a backup camera for when you do flood it (camera) and when the mfg ,can't fix, replace or find a replacement camera on e-bay, your housing now becomes an attractive "Planter"..... no camera, not any use for the housing either...

Hope that helps...

 

[fdog]

I know I'm in the minority here, but, I:

>Install camera
>Test moisture alarm
>Close housing
>Go diving

All the best, James

 

[Kriterian]

I know I'm in the minority here, but, I:

>Install camera
>Test moisture alarm
>Close housing
>Go diving

All the best, James

Is a moisture alarm an accessory or something that's installed in the camera?

 

[Iruka]

I was told by my girlfriend that 3 out of 4 housings leaked, so I didn't use any of them. Then #4 actually DID flood (probably pilot error, ha ha...my suspicion is that the edge of the little dessicant pack...silica gel...slid & got caught in the housing just as I closed it) and killed the camera. Decided to throw all 4 housings in a mesh gear bag, along with about 4lbs of wt to counter the empty housings. Took them to over 30m/100' for about 45 minutes, pushed all the buttons, brought them all back up to the surface. Not a drop in any of them. I think she was confusing the little bit of bubbles you get when you dunk the housing in a bucket (from the releases, strap, whatever) with air actually coming from INSIDE the camera.

 

[ssra30]

Is a moisture alarm an accessory or something that's installed in the camera?

Most of the aluminum housing such as Subal, Aquatica etc has moisture alarm built in since you can't see inside the housing. Basically it is a little probe that is connected to a LED light. When it lights up... bad news!
It is not neccessary if you have clear housing generally.

 

[Allison Finch]

On the PNG trip I just returned from, two of the three housed cameras had a flood. One BAD and one minor with the camera surviving. Mine did not flood. Why? I think it is because I am religious in my o-ring care. EVERY time I open the housing, I clean and lube the o-ring. Luckily, with the Ike housing, you can view the seal easily. One time I opened the housing 5 minutes after I closed it. When I tried to reseal it without going through the whole process again, I didn't like the way the housing sealed. It looked just plain wrong (dryish). After recleaning and relubing, I got the clean seal I wanted. Don't take any shortcuts!!! Even though I'm insured, it doesn't help in the wilds of a long trip.

 

[peterbkk]

I have been diving with cameras and video cameras for nearly 20 years and (touch wood) never had a flood or even a minor leak. I am sure that this can be attributed to two factors: (1) always buy quality equipment and (2) be careful and conscientious about cleaning O-rings and closing the camera.
Regards
Peter

 

[Ishie]

Whew! Twenty years! I flooded my first camera after four dives!

I now have the Ike housing (thanks sb'ers), and I am religious about o-ring care since they're cheap and easy to maintain. The Olympus 5060 actually has fabulous battery life, so if I'm going to do a four-dive weekend, I will seal the camera before I leave the house, sink it in the bathtub and watch it carefully. I figure if there's any thing really obvious, it'll show up there, though obviously that doesn't simulate depth, but it will give away something big (when my first camera flooded, it wasn't a "little moisture"; I was pouring salt water out of the battery compartment). Then, unless I start to get the low battery flash (usually on a sixth dive), I leave the camera sealed for the entire weekend, and let it soak in fresh water between dives.

As soon as I get the funds, I'm getting a backup camera though, especially since the 5060s are getting cheaper on ebay, thanks to the emergence of the 7070s, which I can also use with my housing. I would HATE to flood my camera at the beginning of a dive vacation, since I'm planning a couple, and then have nothing for the remainder of the trip. I have insurance, but it takes weeks to replace the camera.

 

[IlikeItwetPls]

be careful and conscientious about cleaning O-rings and closing the camera.
Regards
Peter

I second that peterbkk...I have used a oly housing without problem until I accidently closed the corner of a silicon gel pak in the door causing a small leak.