Water drops on gasket. Is this normal?

[Just Phish]

Hi folks, I am just about to try out my Canon A570 camera with camera housing to get familiar with it before my trip. I greased the gasket on the housing and submerged the housing in my pool for several minutes. When I brought it back inside and dried it off I opened it up and I noticed some water droplets on the gasket. Is that normal? Can I expect them in there?

Just in case I regreased the gasket. But now I have the camera in it and I am going to get in the water and try some stuff in an hour or so. I am terrified that was a sign of something I am doing wrong and I'm afraid I will flood my case. I looked over the gasket for several minutes making sure I removed any lint.

Thanks.
JP

 

[vondo]

Hi folks, I am just about to try out my Canon A570 camera with camera housing to get familiar with it before my trip. I greased the gasket on the housing and submerged the housing in my pool for several minutes. When I brought it back inside and dried it off I opened it up and I noticed some water droplets on the gasket. Is that normal? Can I expect them in there?

Just in case I regreased the gasket. But now I have the camera in it and I am going to get in the water and try some stuff in an hour or so. I am terrified that was a sign of something I am doing wrong and I'm afraid I will flood my case. I looked over the gasket for several minutes making sure I removed any lint.

Thanks.
JP

If they are on the outside edge, that should be normal. Inside edge, not so much. But the grease has nothing to do with the water-tightness of the seal, it's purpose is just to keep the rubber pliable. You should have very little grease on the gasket. Take the whole thing and run it through your fingers to remove as much grease as possible.

If you have lint or an eyelash on it, my experience is that you will get a very small amount of water (a few drops) in the case over the course of a 100' dive. In my case (it happened twice) it was not enough to really threaten the camera, but enought to really fog it up.

 

[diver 85]

Be careful with too much grease on the o ring...As vondo said, run it threw your fingers several times & remove any excess....What you're describing sounds fairly normal ie water on the outside of the system----make sure it's there & not inside........Also look for any very small debris on the o ring(like hair or small fibers etc etc)......Later on after actually diving, look for sand particles etc etc from the ocean......good luck, report back on your next step under water with camera......

 

[Just Phish]

Yes I know not to over grease. I put a very thin layer of grease on so it barely looks wet. It's tough trying to keep lint and clothing fibers off the gasket. I'm gonna get in the pool with the kids shortly. I'll post up my very first pics with the camera by tonight.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[--tom--]

A buddy of mine adds a desiccant packet inside his camera case (I think he uses a silica gel from some of the electronic purchases) just for the "incidental" dampness that occurs.

 

[Just Phish]

Jeeze, I'm sorry. I meant to post in the underwater photography forum and put it here accidentally. Sorry.