the risks of housing leaks?

[Tonym]

First of all regarding pressure changes. Last time I checked everytime I take my housing in the water it undergoes a pressure change greater than the one in an airplane. Secondly if you are concerned about a pressure change during a flight open the pressure bleed valve on the port cover if you have one. If not leave the port off the housing.
Thirdly pulling o rings out of the channels in the housing and messing with them is the primary cause of housing floods.
I have seen several Subals and several Ikelite housings flooded on the dive immediately following the o ring being pulled and put back. Obviously put back incorrectly
I have seen Nexus housings that have not had the o rings pulled from the housing o ring channel in over 1000 dives and the housing never flooded. Maybe some of the plastic housings don't have that kind of water tight integrity.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Thirdly pulling o rings out of the channels in the housing and messing with them is the primary cause of housing floods.

One word. BS!

 

[Tonym]

blacknet once bubbled...
Hello,



One word. BS!

MR. BS, perhaps you would elighten us with the make of housing that you dive that requires trips to the "Repair shops"

Your earlier post stated that:"Repair shops accuse me of changing them to often" That was you referring to O-rings.
Why do you find it necessary to send your housing to repair shops?

Gee, my housing has never been in a repair shop, but then it only has about 1000 dives on it.

 

[Dr. Jay]

Interesting. According to page E-28 of the PT-015 users manual you should perform "maintenance" on the O-ring every time you open the case. This means removing the O-ring and cleaning the groove, as well as the O-ring.

Every time I opened the case I dried the O-ring with a foam-tipped makeup applicator, and the are around the O-ring groove. No floods here - knock on wood!

Anyone else do something different with their PT housing?

 

[TedJ]

Dee once bubbled...



Microfiber cloths are also excellent for cleaning o-ring channels.

Dee,
Do you also use the microfiber cloths as lens cloths and with lens cleaner fluid? what are the advantages over conventional lens paper?

TedJ

 

[Dee]

TedJ once bubbled...
Dee,
Do you also use the microfiber cloths as lens cloths and with lens cleaner fluid? what are the advantages over conventional lens paper?

TedJ

I quit using lens cleaner fluid and lens papers several years ago. Some of those cleaning papers will actually scratch your lens over time. Not major scratches that are real obvious, but an overall 'light sanding' effect. I occasionally use just a few drops of the fluid with a microfiber cloth.

The microfiber cloths come in lots of colors so I try to find yellow ones to use exclusively with the yellow O-rings in my PT-010. Silly, I know, but it keeps me from using the same cloth with o-ring grease on it to clean my lenses! I keep another one exclusively for the lenses. Be sure to wash them both periodically.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

MR. BS, perhaps you would elighten us with the make of housing that you dive that requires trips to the "Repair shops"

I have an ikelite housing. You must have missed the part where I wrote that delta airlines droped the container my housing was in while loading the airplane. This caused a flood in the housing and I felt it wise to send the housing to the repair shop. Besides I had them make some mod's to my housing while in there and some tooling work done.

Your earlier post stated that:"Repair shops accuse me of changing them to often" That was you referring to O-rings.

Those O-ring replacments was for my nikonos.

Ed

 

[Tonym]

Howdy,
I did read the part where you said you watched it get tossed and it was injured.
It wasn't clear to me that you were disussing a Nikonos when you were talking about pulling O-Rings at every film change. Sorry I misunderstood you.
However,
Cathy Church recommends that you do not pull the o-Ring on a Nikonos at each film change, just another chance at causing a condition that will cause a flood.
I too dive a Nikonos for wide angle and have found that unless I am diving in some horribly dirty water that it isn't necessary to pull the o ring at every film change. I do examine it carefully and make sure that it is sand, hair and lint free and that there is enough lube on it to make the sealing with the body go smoothly with no glithches.
Normally pull o ring daily if I am doing 4 or 5 wide angle dives per day.
Most Professional UW Photographers do not pull the o ring at every film
change.
BUt then YMMV.

Cheers

 

[jiveturkey]

You guys are scaring me off. I just bought a new C4000 a month ago with the intention of buying a housing before the summer. Now I don't know if I want one. I don't want to lose my new purchase and I know I can't afford to buy another one. If it's as easy to flood a housing as you say, maybe I should reconsider underwater photography.

 

[Dee]

JT....a photographer mentor of mine once said....Don't take any electronics in the water that you can't afford to or don't want to replace. And....If replacing it costs more than you can afford write a check for right now, buy flood insurance before getting it in the water.

I've learned from experience he's right on both counts. It's not IF you'll flood a housing, it's WHEN you'll do it. Sooner or later it's gonna happen. BUT there are steps you take to insure you have done everything you can to avoid it.

1. Never get in a hurry maintaining your camera gear, especially getting ready for a dive.

2. Remember that even a single piece of lint can cause a leak, so when cleaning your o-rings, stay away from towels, Q-tips, etc. anything that has fibers to shed.

3. Too much grease is as bad or worse than too little. It will attact sand, hair and fiber.

Good news....I know several u/w photographers who have been doing it for quite a few years with no leaks or floods. They are also extremely anal about their routine and maintainance on the gear.