what's your UW housing gear-up routine?

[s.s.seafan]

Hi,

I just got my first UW/camera (Canon S90). After some reading on the board, I got the following questions on the preparation and maintenance on the UW Housing -

1. do I need to take the O-ring out of the UW housing sealed during air travel ?

2. once arriving destination, when do I seal the housing - if I have a dive in the morning, should/could I seal it the night before? or is that too long a time to have the housing closed? I suppose it's better to close/seal it in the hotel room, rather than doing it in the rush of getting on to the boat.

3. if the night before is too far ahead, and I have an afternoon dive, how much time in advance could/should I close the seal?

4. I'll prepare a cooler bag with a wet towel wrapped around my camera on the boat, and ask the staff to hand it to me after I get into the water. between the dives, I'll rinse it in fresh water and keep it in the cooler. After the dive, I'll give it a good rinse and dry it with a towel. If I have multiple day dives, should I open the case and add silicone grease to the O-ring every night?

5. anything else that I missed?

thanks!

-Jason

 

[CalgaryDF]

I don't store my housing with the oring in, I take it out and store it in a ziploc with the housing, because I've heard that leaving it in the case with the case sealed can cause the oring to deform over time.

I've found that it doesn't take that long to prepare the oring and seal the camera in the housing so I will do it the morning of the dive. I will, however, do a check of everything to make sure its all working right the night before.

There is no reason to seal everything up to far in advance, just find a convenient time before the pre dive rush of checking in and boarding the boat.

If the batteries are still good, there's probably no reason to open the camera between days, however you may want to download photos or use the camera to take pics on land. I don't know if it is necessary to clean the oring between dives or days of diving.

 

[HerraduraDivers]

1. do I need to take the O-ring out of the UW housing sealed during air travel ?
No, no "need" to do that, but you can, you should do that if you don't use the housings for some days

2. once arriving destination, when do I seal the housing - if I have a dive in the morning, should/could I seal it the night before? or is that too long a time to have the housing closed? I suppose it's better to close/seal it in the hotel room, rather than doing it in the rush of getting on to the boat.
The night before or in the morning in the Hotelroom doesn't matter, but NOT on the boat

3. if the night before is too far ahead, and I have an afternoon dive, how much time in advance could/should I close the seal?
calculate enough time to do it relaxed and double check all steps before you leave the hotel room

4. I'll prepare a cooler bag with a wet towel wrapped around my camera on the boat, and ask the staff to hand it to me after I get into the water. between the dives, I'll rinse it in fresh water and keep it in the cooler. After the dive, I'll give it a good rinse and dry it with a towel. If I have multiple day dives, should I open the case and add silicone grease to the O-ring every night?

- No need to rinse it between the dives
- I use a dry towel because it can't get warm/hot if it get occasionally sunlight.
- To make it perfect; fill the cooler with seawater and store the camera in it, this will greatly reduce fogging.
- Yes, let it hand the camera to you when you are in the water and ready to dive. Never jump in with the camera!
- Back in the hotel i take the housing with me in the shower and rinse it together with me...
- Dry it afterwards with a soft towel, especially the lens to avoid watermarks on it
- the o-ring need to be greased after some 5-10 dives or more



Greasing the o-ring is often missinterpreted so i try to explain how i understand and do it:
O-Rings have to be lubricated to avoid
1. drying out and getting brittle
2. to slip better when twisted to not get pinched or kinked and no abrasion occurs

O-Rings need only a slight film of lubricant to archieve this!
The grease is NOT a sealant it's only a preservant and lubricant!
I squezze a pinhead sized quantity of the manufacturer specific grease on my index finger and rub it on my thumb to get a even distribution. Then i take the o-ring and glide it slowly between thumb and index finger to lubricate it evenly.
If the o-ring is big i may repeat this step for the ungreased part if the grease was not enough.

BEFORE you set the o-ring in the groove (if there is one) clean the groove troughly with a lint free towel or paper and double check the o-ring that he is perfectly clean and no hair/lint/grain is sticking on it and push it gently back in the groove.


Thats my personal way to do it and i never ever flooded any of my 3 housings.

Chris

 

[diveprof]

You missed the most important last step when dealing with water and electronics - "PRAY!"

"In memory of Nikonos V 1998....."

 

[HerraduraDivers]

Diveprof, you are right!
But to not offend someones religios feelings and to avoid a religious war about to whom we have to pray i suppresed that.
But it's always a good idea to pray to Neptune (the god of the sea) and Saint Shutter (the good of the photographers)...
:signofcross:

Chris

 

[Nemrod]

I remove the O ring for travel and storage.

I prefer to prep the camera and install a Moisture Muncher the night before.

I don't keep my camera in the camera bucket but if I can I do rinse it between and after dives.

I hold my camera in my hands or in my wife's hands unless I can secure an area in the boat I can set it down or if there is a camera gear table.

I do bring the equipment, O ring lube etc and micro fiber towel to dry the camera should I need to replace the battery etc, usually not needed.

N

 

[s.s.seafan]

- To make it perfect; fill the cooler with seawater and store the camera in it, this will greatly reduce fogging.
[/COLOR]

I got the impression from my reading that people would fill their cooler with FRESH water to rinse off the sea water (to prevent salt crystals forming). Besides the temperature difference, is there any reason that a saltwater bath would prevent fogging better than fresh water?

 

[HerraduraDivers]

The argument for sea water is that it has the "right" sea water temperature while fresh water from the tanks inside the boat/tap may have a different temperature and may provocate fogging.

I see no need to rinse the camera in fresh water between 2 dives when she is stored in my bucket full of (fresh/salt) water as under water no cristaly can grow. This may be a issue when the camera dries out the salt crystals may make the buttons "sticky" and may hypothetically damage the o-rings.
But as the camera reenters in water, the crystals will dissolve quick.
I only had salt crystals once and only because i was tired after a strenous dive and don't rinsed the housing well enough. A bath of 1 hour in fresh water disolved the crystals and no further issues so far...

But everybody has he's opinion and is free to do what he feels to be the right thing,
i express only MY personal opinion based on aquired knowledge, tests and tales other people told me.

Chris

 

[s.s.seafan]

BEFORE you set the o-ring in the groove (if there is one) clean the groove troughly with a lint free towel or paper and double check the o-ring that he is perfectly clean and no hair/lint/grain is sticking on it and push it gently back in the groove.

Chris

how do you clean the O-ring itself (before put on grease)?

could I use those little bottle of compressed air to clean the groove?

 

[HerraduraDivers]

I clean the o-ring with o-ring grease...
I just grease it and control it afterwards for dirt, if there is some, i wipe the grease (with the dirt sticking on it) off with a clean, lintfree towel/paper (microfiber towels, the ones you get for free with sun/reading glasses are perfect and washable/reusable) and grease again.

The groove is often sticky from the grease, so blowing dirt away may not work well or end up inside the housing. I usually fold a piece of kitchen paper to make som kind of a paper spatula and pass this inside th groove to eliminate grease build-ups and bigger dirt. Then a final wipe with the lint free towel/paper and the groove should be clean.
Important is that you check the groove troughly for hairs/lint before you put the o-ring (controll him as well troughly again) back.
Never use ANY thing harder than a wooden toothpick to pick o-rings as the may scratch the groove and then....
The o-ring picks made of brass are BS as well for anything, even tank valves!
O-Rings should be always removed squeezing them gently together so that they build a "loop" where you can grab them. If this is not possible like tank valves for example, use a toothpick or a tiny plastic spatula to gently "pry" them out.

Chris