Underwater Camera Housing:- How to prevent flooding?

[cudachaser]

I just flooded my Olympus c-8080 on a dive in West Palm...One of the latches that secure the dome port came unlatched...I don't know whether that happened on entry or I simply didn't check it...the camera is trashed, however I did get a new one on ebay...I won at at $81!!! Others were getting $350!

But now my words of wisdom...Check all your latched before entering the water and repeat this once underwater in case a latch jarred loose on entry...If you catch the malfunction fast, very little water will enter...probably not enough to hose the camera...

Joe

 

[Shark Gal]

I recommend not greasing the O rings. First time I did this my camera flooded. I would also check your camera out on a shallow dive first in case you need to get to the surface for a problem (such as a hair on the O ring).

 

[Larry C]

Always check the o-ring and opposite mating surface in bright light. Look for salt crystals, hairs, dust, etc. Carefully wipe them off with a clean fingertip. I keep a box of the kind of Q-tips that are used for applying make-up. You can get them for about a buck at Long's, etc. in the cosmetic dept. They aren't as fuzzy as regular ones and work great for swabbing out the o-ring groove, which can get really cruddy after a while. I've opened my housing on the boat, in the car, etc. with never a problem. My only near floods have been caused by hurrying. Late night checks and battery changes in darker rooms can be disastrous. Watch out for extraneous stuff like the little cord that holds your tether to the camera, or the edge of the little bag of dessicant getting between the housing when you close it, and as previously mentioned, make sure the housing is fully latched. If you store the housing for long periods of disuse, disassemble any accessories and clean them before storage to prevent salt crystal growth. Always soak the housing in clean water after diving. Have fun, quit worrying, save lots of money for all the toys you're going to add to your underwater photo hobby.

 

[WOODMAN]

I am going diving at Key Largo
in a few weeks and I have bought myself a Canon Ixus 75 and a Canon Housing so I can use the camera under water. I have pressure tested the case in five inches of water in the bath. I hope on Saturday to go swimming and carry out a further test by holding my breath diving down in the deep end, pressing all the buttons and checking for leaks.

If you have access to a deep pool, a good safety check is to take the camera out of the housing, substitute a small soft lead weight bag (or something like that) and seal it up, and then sink it in the deep end of the pool for several hours. This is a good test to make on a new housing, or if you have had it serviced and have new parts. I like to wrap the weight in a paper towel before loading, and then check the towel afterwards for any water spots. Woody

 

[mstevens]

I use the same camera (well, mine's marked as a Digital Elph SD750) and Canon housing and have never had a problem. Perhaps I should worry more, but I've never had a housing flood. I've had it at 130 feet numerous times.

For that matter, we also have a Bonica Snapper XP and a cheap $80 "Pixtreme" digital dive camera that have been on the same dives and none of them has flooded.

Yes, a flood can be disastrous. However, a dive camera that doesn't go underwater is useless. Be a little careful, then stop worrying and go get some great photos on your dive!

 

[diversteve]

I generally do the first dive without the camera in the housing. Put some tissue inside and it will be obvious if it leaked.

Of course that dive will be the only one where the Whale Sharks are spotted...

 

[Wayfarer2]

Lube or don’t lube your O rings per the manufactures recommendation, some housings don’t use lube on the O ring. Use the lube sparingly just a thin coating not gobs of it and use the correct brand of lube not generic silicone grease.

Don’t jump in with your camera, have the boat crew hand it off to you once you are in the water.

Keep it wet but the dunk tank is the worst place other cameras can bang in to yours as they are moved or with the motion of the boat and most housings work best under pressure, in the dunk tank there is almost none so the possibility of a leak is increased.

 

[mstevens]

Don’t jump in with your camera, have the boat crew hand it off to you once you are in the water.

Keep it wet but the dunk tank is the worst place other cameras can bang in to yours as they are moved or with the motion of the boat and most housings work best under pressure, in the dunk tank there is almost none so the possibility of a leak is increased.

I always "jump in" with my camera, since I dive in Cozumel a lot. The current is typically fast enough that one gets separated from the boat quickly. With this small housing, it's quite easy to hold securely in the same hand I use for my mask. With a back roll there really isn't a very abrupt pressure change on the housing when hitting the surface.

I also usually dive on boats way too small to have a dunk tank. In fact, I've only seen a dunk tank once since I started diving in 1980. The camera goes somewhere relatively safe during the SI, perhaps in a net overhead. Housings are tough.

I dive with a (relatively) cheap point-and-shoot camera in a (relatively) cheap housing precisely so I don't have to worry about seeing a month's pay go up in smoke if something goes wrong. If I am worrying about the camera, I'm not enjoying my dive.

 

[Dee]

I find that keeping my camera/housing wrapped in a wet towel and placed in a soft sided cooler or safe place on the boat works best for me. As has been stated, the rinse tank is the very worst place to leave your camera.

 

[Noboundaries]

We've had one instance where we had a hair in the closure of one of our digital cameras. The housing didn't flood, but we did get about 1/4 teaspoon water in the housing. Everything still worked later.

Doesn't sound like you're using an external strobe, just the camera and housing. My wife and I each have something similar (Casio Exilims). We attach the camera to our BCs with a retractor and don't have to worry about letting go, especially with gloves on. We tried the wrist strap, but prefer the retractor.