I've always worried that putting my camera in a tub with a half dozen other cameras might result in them banging each other around and perhaps opening or loosing a latch.
What to do with a flooded Oly SP350?
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miketsp
Contributor
JahJahwarrior:
The worst case really is just a few inches of water.
On most housings once you go deeper the housing squeezes together and the seals get better.
I know of a few of my friends' housings that let in a few drops near the surface and then nothing more as they descend.
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JahJahwarrior:
In many cases the pressure underwater causes the o-ring and door to seat fully.
Occasionaly, the increase in internal temperature due to camera/flash heating as well as solar heating (being left exposed) will cause a rise in the internal temp of the case increasing this phenomenon. It expands and causes a miniscule gap.
The condensation internaly caused by differentials of surrounding temps, as well as the moisture caused by a superheated flash and batteries being discharged- that can "look like" a leak.
Barring that, you're right. Murphy's Law violated, just slightly.
What to do with a flooded camera? The best use I have found is a door stop.
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Have your friend get in touch with Olympus. They used to offer a deal where you send your flooded camera in and they eiter fix it (mostly not possible) or send you a referbished camera with an extended warrenty for a reasonable price. Check their website for a contact list.
gary-ramey
Contributor
Alcina,
"Don't use q-tips" hmmm been doing that for two years. I always add a slight touch of silicone to keep the fibers on the q-tip from being left behind and use it to clean the groove on the PT-030. Sponge thingies huh? I guess I'll have to look around.
I generally then wash the oring under warm water with regular handsoap very gently. Use silicone and spread it around the oring until its uniform and has a thin coating. Put it back together and viola.
PS, my only flood happened because the camera was inserted incorrectly. This can happen and the housing will close with minimal effort however one corner will be slightly distorted and allow water in. Simple test is this, make sure you can operate the zoom feature when you shut the housing. If you can, you're golden. If not, your camera's not seated correctly.
"Don't use q-tips" hmmm been doing that for two years. I always add a slight touch of silicone to keep the fibers on the q-tip from being left behind and use it to clean the groove on the PT-030. Sponge thingies huh? I guess I'll have to look around.
I generally then wash the oring under warm water with regular handsoap very gently. Use silicone and spread it around the oring until its uniform and has a thin coating. Put it back together and viola.
PS, my only flood happened because the camera was inserted incorrectly. This can happen and the housing will close with minimal effort however one corner will be slightly distorted and allow water in. Simple test is this, make sure you can operate the zoom feature when you shut the housing. If you can, you're golden. If not, your camera's not seated correctly.
gary-ramey
Contributor
Rinse tank floods. The best we can figure with the video cam was that someone, getting their camera out of the tank, must've bumped a latch. The other reason is sometimes people will rinse their mask where they're not suppose to. Then they accidently get the strap hung up on a latch and instead of reaching in, they pull. Then you have multiple cameras in a bucket, jostling back and forth as you head to the next dive site. Cameras bump together and pop latches, unseat ports etc. Ever since I saw a guy get his mask strap hung up on my strobe arm (Despite a good drive briefing explaining the difference between the two buckets) and pull the entire thing out of the bucket by (thankfully) an arm, I now wait until I get to the hotel and soak my camera while going to grab some food. Then I come back, work all the buttons, dry it and remove the camera.
Yup, rinse tanks are deadly on camera gear. Stuff gets bumped, whacked, jostled, caught, snagged and otherwise badly treated. That's why so many cameras to the big Glug in a rinse tank.
I know a few people who use Q-tips with a dab of silicone and I always just shake my head. Yes, it works...most of the time. But imho you're just begging for a problem and I can't see the value of creating another potential problem for myself so I elect to start off with something that doesn't generate any fibres/lint
YMMV
Last year I did two nice long dives, shot tons of frames, spent a bunch of time at the surface chasing squigglies after both dives and came back to the boat. Conditions were lovely and I easily handed my rig to the deck crew who were well versed in how I wanted it handled. A friend bent down on the deck - we know not to touch each other's gear without permission - to look through the view finder. As he did so, the red blinking light of my leak detector came on. I was still in the water and asked him to take the camera out. Turns out there was a durned cat hair across my seal. Who knows why:
- I didn't see it on set up
- the thing didn't leak on dive one or two
- the thing didn't leak while I was futzing about in a couple of meters and on the surface
- it didn't show the leak until back on the boat and several minutes had passed. It just took that long for the teeniest drop of water to hit the sensor.
There was no water on my camera or on any of the housing bits except for one droplet on the sensor and one droplet right inside the groove seal area. Thankfully that's all.
Little story to illustrate that you just never know
I know a few people who use Q-tips with a dab of silicone and I always just shake my head. Yes, it works...most of the time. But imho you're just begging for a problem and I can't see the value of creating another potential problem for myself so I elect to start off with something that doesn't generate any fibres/lint
YMMVLast year I did two nice long dives, shot tons of frames, spent a bunch of time at the surface chasing squigglies after both dives and came back to the boat. Conditions were lovely and I easily handed my rig to the deck crew who were well versed in how I wanted it handled. A friend bent down on the deck - we know not to touch each other's gear without permission - to look through the view finder. As he did so, the red blinking light of my leak detector came on. I was still in the water and asked him to take the camera out. Turns out there was a durned cat hair across my seal. Who knows why:
- I didn't see it on set up
- the thing didn't leak on dive one or two
- the thing didn't leak while I was futzing about in a couple of meters and on the surface
- it didn't show the leak until back on the boat and several minutes had passed. It just took that long for the teeniest drop of water to hit the sensor.
There was no water on my camera or on any of the housing bits except for one droplet on the sensor and one droplet right inside the groove seal area. Thankfully that's all.
Little story to illustrate that you just never know
justleesa:
The Canon 20D and Subal housing. This is NOT the time I totally flooded it - I did that before this event. The total flood wasn't a rinse tank issue - I was kicked in the housing by another person and GLUG! Insurance is your friend!
Oscar73:
I use DEPP. Others like DAN's option or their homeowner's policy. There is more information/some links to web sites in the Pink Link in my signature (also the Sticky at the of the UW Photo area) for insurance to help you get started.
AUTiger
Contributor
I don't trust rinse tanks at all, at least for my dSLR. I usually remind the crew several times to set it on the table or out of the way until I can handle it. Its way too easy for somebody to jostle the dome or catch a latch. I'm also worried about the dome getting scratched. If the rinse tank looks mostly empty, I may dunk the camera to rinse it, but then I keep it on a table or in a collapsable cooler.
With my pocket point and shoot, I'll put it in the rinse tank sometimes. It has a very robust latch design (its a Canon housing). I would also put my old Oly 5060/Ikelite housing in the rinse tank, but only if it wasn't too crowded.
I use DEPP insurance. My one claim so far has been a broken housing - I dropped it on land! Not even a flooding issue.
David
With my pocket point and shoot, I'll put it in the rinse tank sometimes. It has a very robust latch design (its a Canon housing). I would also put my old Oly 5060/Ikelite housing in the rinse tank, but only if it wasn't too crowded.
I use DEPP insurance. My one claim so far has been a broken housing - I dropped it on land! Not even a flooding issue.
David
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