question for experts on leaking housing - canon s95

[Surger]

Sorry guys. Yeah: that's 55 minutes, not meters. I'm a recreational diver and would never go to 55 meters ;-)

It's definitely more water than just 'some humidity'. After both dives, the silicon bags were literally soaked and there were more drops inside. I'm used to diving in humid climates and have never had these problems with my previous camera (a fuiji). (By the way, looking at the Canon housing, I have to say that the Fuiji housing seemed better/smarter built.)

Anyhow, today I filled the housing with toilet paper an put it in the swimming pool at about 4 meters depth and left it there for about an hour. I 'worked' the buttons and left it again.

After taking it out and opening it, I only noticed a tiny bit of humidity in the bottom right corner, i.e. in the corner beneath the closing hatch. Not nearly as much as after my dives, but that could be a depth/pressure thing.

I re-examined the o-ring in the area and didn't see any problem. I did notice a small curly 'fracture' in the housing at that location. Actually, fracture is not the right word. It doesn't come to the surface of the housing wall, neither on the inside nor on the outside. It's just a visible structural issue in the 'middle' of the housing wall (is this making sense?) and I don't feel anything.

Usually, I'd say that couldn't cause any leak, but since it's at the exact location of where the leak seems to be, I'm thinking that's not a coincidence.... What do you think?

 

[Surger]

Oh, anyone any tips on shops in Denpasar Bali that might have a replacement housing (WP DC38) on stock?
(slight chance I guess, but trying to be optimistic... ;-)

 

[HerraduraDivers]

Hmm,
did you used it with the tray and strobe or only the housing?

Housings usually leak beween 0 and 20 meters as the pressure will not press them enough to get a 100% seal if you have a problem with it.
In your case it seems that this is not the problem as it's not leaking so shallow and it seems that it is not the o-ring/seal between the back and the front of housing.
So you may repeat the test on your next dive or hang it down on a rope to 15-20 Meters to see if it leak then and where.
You may repeat a important test as well to do in the Pool with the tray and strobe attached as some people had leaking issues because the tray/strobe was "bending" the housing, provocating a leak.
You always should start any test with the full system as you used it (without camera), and if it leaks then you may exclude first the strobe and then the tray to be sure that it's not the tray/arm/strobe causing the problem.
Also, remeber that the o-ring(s) has to be only slightly lubricated, put a small ammount of silicon grease on your finger, turn your fingers to distribute it and slide the o-ring between it.
The o-ring has to be glossy from a ultrathin layer of grease but without any visible traces of grease, nor the o-ring groove has to. Clean the groove well with a lint-free paper/towel before you put the o-ring back in the groove.
Silicon grease is not sealing, silicon grease is used to:
1. lubricate/reduce friction between the o-ring and some button or dial/knobs stems
2. protect the rubber from prematuer ageing

Chris

 

[Surger]

Thank you all for your replies. I've just talked to Jeff and he took a look at the housing. It seems the problem with the mold lines he described is present in my housing too, so hopefully his fix will work and I should be able to use the camera in Lembeh. Unbelievable that Canon keeps selling housings that basically aren't waterproof... I'll keep you updated.

 

[Surger]

so, an update on this... Jeff's fix has decreased leaking by 70%, but there's still some water in the housing after a 60 minute shallow dive (max. 10 m). Really pissed off at the poor quality of the Canon housing...

Of course, no replacement housing to be found on Bali anywhere and I'm on my way to Lembeh tomorrow.

My only options are: to try another O-ring (Olympus brand, apparently softer) and see if that stops the rest of the leaking. I could also check a camera shop in Manado or buy another camera+housing...

Thank you, Canon. :depressed:

 

[Nemrod]

JMO, I know many people have good luck with the Canon OEM housings including me (after I polished the mold lines and repaired the buttons) but I consider them nothing more than a wet case, not a true marine housing. N

 

[Surger]

Nemrod, I think you're being a bit too kind on Canon there.

They are selling these items as underwater housings: the primary function is to keep a camera dry and it simply does not do that out of the box. To me, that's unacceptable. If there is a consistent problem that has been causing leaks for an x number of years in an x percentage of housings, that is a serious problem and it should have been addressed a long time ago.

I've had a Fuiji housing for 5 years without a single drop of water inside. If Fuiji can make a watertight housing for 200 euro, Canon should be able to do the same. I don't expect a top-notch quality product for that price, but I do expect a dry camera. If not, it should have a warning on the box: "this product may not keep your camera dry". ;-)

It wasn't even a matter of money, it was a matter of reusing my INON equipments with my new camera.

 

[flareside]

Surger, the leakage may be more model related than overall product related. It seems from the threads I have read that specific models will have problems throughout the production run and other models will be perfectly fine. Most of these problems can be traced directly back to improperly built molds. I have used canon housings for the S410, SD800 and now the S90 all without a single drop of water. The DC38 may be another one of those with bad molds. As an early adopter, you were just one of the first to find out about it.

Granted, it doesn't help Canon's case when they consider their housings to be disposable. But then again, they are not a housing company, they are a camera company and housings probably represent well below 1 percent of their overall business.

 

[diver 85]

Nemrod, I think you're being a bit too kind on Canon there.

They are selling these items as underwater housings: the primary function is to keep a camera dry and it simply does not do that out of the box. To me, that's unacceptable. If there is a consistent problem that has been causing leaks for an x number of years in an x percentage of housings, that is a serious problem and it should have been addressed a long time ago.

I've had a Fuiji housing for 5 years without a single drop of water inside. If Fuiji can make a watertight housing for 200 euro, Canon should be able to do the same. I don't expect a top-notch quality product for that price, but I do expect a dry camera. If not, it should have a warning on the box: "this product may not keep your camera dry". ;-)

It wasn't even a matter of money, it was a matter of reusing my INON equipments with my new camera.

I've had my Canon 570 housing down for more than 250 dives(since April of '07) without a problem.....hmmm, maybe they not making them the way they used to....& I've put mine thru some RUFF times---scratches EVERYWHERE with lots of 2 to 3 ft hard drops & landings....

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Anything mroe on this issue with housings bought in the last while? Did your problem eventually get solved for you Surger?