So what happens when the housing floods?

[walkerl]

Ok, so I get back from three dives on the North Shore of Molokai (which were amazing) and I have the same question. The only thing is, my camera flooded in the camera bucket, so at least there is no salt water. But it did flood about 1/2 the housing (my camera was swimming). So my question is which of the 3 do I do.

1) Try and dry it out (obviously) and if that doesn't work, try to get it fixed (is this possible?).
2) Buy the same camera. Since I have the Canon A640, I think I'd have to buy a used camera. 3) Use this as an excuse to get that sexy new G9 plus the housing.

Thing is, I'd kind of be stoked about getting the G9 if I didn't like my camera, but the A640 worked plenty well for what I'm capable of now. So I can buy a used one for about $200, or spend approx $700 for the G9 and housing. That extra $500 could be used to buy that new Suunto D4 when it comes out or for a wreck course (which I'm going to take anyway), or for something else I don't need but really really want.

Any thoughts?

By the way, how does insurance work. Can I get it on stuff I buy off eBay?

 

[fisheyeview]

Ok, so I get back from three dives on the North Shore of Molokai (which were amazing) and I have the same question. The only thing is, my camera flooded in the camera bucket, so at least there is no salt water. But it did flood about 1/2 the housing (my camera was swimming). So my question is which of the 3 do I do.

1) Try and dry it out (obviously) and if that doesn't work, try to get it fixed (is this possible?).
2) Buy the same camera. Since I have the Canon A640, I think I'd have to buy a used camera. 3) Use this as an excuse to get that sexy new G9 plus the housing.

Thing is, I'd kind of be stoked about getting the G9 if I didn't like my camera, but the A640 worked plenty well for what I'm capable of now. So I can buy a used one for about $200, or spend approx $700 for the G9 and housing. That extra $500 could be used to buy that new Suunto D4 when it comes out or for a wreck course (which I'm going to take anyway), or for something else I don't need but really really want.

Any thoughts?

By the way, how does insurance work. Can I get it on stuff I buy off eBay?

You can insure pretty much anything. If you go with D.E.P.P. they will decide if the camera gets repaired or replaced. If the camera can not be repaired, and the same model is available then you would get the same camera. If your model is no longer available, then they replace it with the current market equivalent.

Quite a lot of floods happen in the rinse tank. They get bumped around by other cameras in there, and maybe a port gets loosend or a latch gets opened. Or, the boat person handling it loosens something by mistake.

Since the camera in the rinse tank is not under pressure, then there is more chance for a flood there if something is loose.

There is a chance that since it was fresh water that once the camera is completely dry that it might still work. There are ways to dry it to test this.

 

[Cacia]

My camera flooded off Molakai, I think that place could be cursed for cameras

Funny thing, my Nikon expert totaled the 900 lense but it is still working for now.

 

[fisheyeview]

Nikon was able to fix my 105mm lens, but my D200 came back stamped BEYOND REPAIR. I hate those two words.

 

[Trixxie]

Mine is in reverse ... sorta

My original camera went on the fritz about 3 weeks before my trip to Honduras. Got a replacement used camera (same type as the broken one) for the housing. That was in May.

In August my housing was dropped and the thing that snaps shut broke. The rest of the
housing is ok, no cracks or scratches. Well instead of buying another housing for my Power Shot S1 IS, I am going to buy the G9 and the housing and the filters and a case (the reason my housing broke in the first place was I carried it in a plastic bag and my friend dropped it on accident while handing it to me). I am sure I could use the $$ on something else but I can't get good 8x10's from my 3 megapix camera so I am going to upgrade to the G9. I would be buying the filters and other stuff anyways so I am getting for the 12 MPix camera instead of the 3. Why spend money on something I am wanting to upgrade anyways? "Merry Christmas to me from me"

 

[zahner]

you may be able work with the manufacturers; when my Canon SD500 flooded, Canon replaced the cam with a refurb and sent me a new case. Easy in my situation since both cam and housing were Canon products.

 

[ce4jesus]

1) Try and dry it out (obviously) and if that doesn't work, try to get it fixed (is this possible?).
2) Buy the same camera. Since I have the Canon A640, I think I'd have to buy a used camera. 3) Use this as an excuse to get that sexy new G9 plus the housing.

The A640 is a fine camera but upgrades are nice. If your camera was swimming, chances are its beyond repair however you can try a long bake in the oven at the lowest temperature setting.

 

[Trixxie]

you may be able work with the manufacturers; when my Canon SD500 flooded, Canon replaced the cam with a refurb and sent me a new case. Easy in my situation since both cam and housing were Canon products.

do you have a contact or address where you sent yours? I may be able to send them my case to get the latch replaced since that is all that is wrong w/it

Thanks

 

[JackConnick]

A thin sanitary pad usually can fit in most housings and provides a bit of "oops a few drops got in" insurance.

Always test your housing in the dunk tank on the boat. That's a plunge, swish-swish, watch for bubbles dunk...NOT a toss it in until I'm ready to dive dunk.

NEVER leave your camera in the rinse tank between dives, or for longer than a couple of minutes. MOST floods happen in the rinse tank. Cameras get dropped in on top of each other and latches get sprung, etc. Scratched ports are the least of your worries. Also when you been down the housing and controls get compressed. Coming up from the bottom and then putting the camera in a non-pressurized tank of water can allow some controls to weep a bit.

That all being said; Fantasea Line includes 1 year of D.E.P.P. flood insurance on their housings!

Jack

 

[drbill]

I dive with a video camera housed in a Top Dawg housing. It has dual o-rings (something I strongly advise in favor of). Over the last 7 years it has "flooded" twice... both times when I didn't carefully check the o-rings for hairs, etc., that crossed both rings. Each flood was minor though. I carry my camera so the internal electronics of the housing are at the lowest point in the water. Both times the "flooding" (no more than a tablespoon or so) knocked out the housing electronics which warned me that something was up and I surfaced. Neither time was the camcorder affected. Much cheaper to replace the $100 PCB inside the housing than the $800-1,200 camcorder.

I now have a HD camcorder in the housing (HC-7). Its small size allows me to mount it on a quick release attached to the camera tray. This raises it about 1/2" above the tray and gives me more security against small floods. It also allows me to easily remove the camcorder to change batteries or tapes when I need to.