Bowzer
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Making a few UW lights and decided to try a Otterbox 9000 (as per Dive Light - Diy underwater canister scuba torch. . BTW, the Geni works as advertized.) for one.
I put one of the boxes to the test in a pressure pot ( I was looking for the point of leakage, not destruction.) These are the results:
I brought up the pressure gradually at 70PSI ( 161 feet fresh water,156 FSW ,49 meters fresh water, 47.5 meters salt water) there was a small pop. The curved (opposite belt loop) sidewall was visible bowed in.
At about 85 PSI (198 feet fresh water, 192 FSW, 56 meters fresh water, 54.4 meters/fresh water/) there was another small pop.
Same at 100 PSI (230 feet fresh water, 223 FSW, 70 meters/fresh water, 67.8 meters salt water)
I stopped it at about 103 PSI () about 2 minutes later there was a louder pop and the water level in the pot dropped - Failure
I had assumed that the failure would be water leaking past the seal, rather it was catastrophic. about 1/4 of the internal "o" ring support in the top curved side was gone, about 1cm on each side bent inward and about 1.5 cm or gasket was torn out. The latch was also jammed, requiring a screwdriver to be used to lever it open.
From this I would infer that 150 feet. 45 meters is about the maximum one should consider taking this box and that normal recreational limits are probably a safer choice.
I put one of the boxes to the test in a pressure pot ( I was looking for the point of leakage, not destruction.) These are the results:
I brought up the pressure gradually at 70PSI ( 161 feet fresh water,156 FSW ,49 meters fresh water, 47.5 meters salt water) there was a small pop. The curved (opposite belt loop) sidewall was visible bowed in.
At about 85 PSI (198 feet fresh water, 192 FSW, 56 meters fresh water, 54.4 meters/fresh water/) there was another small pop.
Same at 100 PSI (230 feet fresh water, 223 FSW, 70 meters/fresh water, 67.8 meters salt water)
I stopped it at about 103 PSI () about 2 minutes later there was a louder pop and the water level in the pot dropped - Failure
I had assumed that the failure would be water leaking past the seal, rather it was catastrophic. about 1/4 of the internal "o" ring support in the top curved side was gone, about 1cm on each side bent inward and about 1.5 cm or gasket was torn out. The latch was also jammed, requiring a screwdriver to be used to lever it open.
From this I would infer that 150 feet. 45 meters is about the maximum one should consider taking this box and that normal recreational limits are probably a safer choice.