Stop Us Flooding our expensive toys
It would be quite easy for the manufacturers of housings to give us a system similar to the safety checks on jam jar lids.
All that is necessary is
A metal cap with the dimple similar to the top of a jam jar
A valve and small hand (bicycle) pump to create a vacuum to pop the dimple in or out
Then when we assemble the camera we use the pump to lower pressure in the housing until the dimple pops in.
Use all the controls and wait a few minutes to let the air in the camera equalize. If the housing is leaking then the dimple will pop out after a short while.
After the dive, open the valve to release the vacuum so we can open the housing.
An added bonus of having a small vacuum is it preloads pressure on the seals thus making leaks due to jarring in the rinse tank or entering the water more unlikely.
I don't know what the pressure difference these dimples need, but it should not make much difference at the depths we are diving to.
Development cost minimal, maintenance minimal, cost for replacement cap and valve minimal.
Maybe I should apply for a patent. :blinking:
It would be possible to reverse the dimple and pressurize the housing. However I don't know what effect this would have on the cameras operation. The dimple would reverse when you exceeded the internal pressure when diving so you could not use it as a check when underwater, added to that at some points in the dive you would have neutral pressure difference so you would be relying solely on the catches to maintain the pressure on the O rings. No I don't like this option lets stick to a vacuum. :shakehead
It would be quite easy for the manufacturers of housings to give us a system similar to the safety checks on jam jar lids.
All that is necessary is
A metal cap with the dimple similar to the top of a jam jar
A valve and small hand (bicycle) pump to create a vacuum to pop the dimple in or out
Then when we assemble the camera we use the pump to lower pressure in the housing until the dimple pops in.
Use all the controls and wait a few minutes to let the air in the camera equalize. If the housing is leaking then the dimple will pop out after a short while.
After the dive, open the valve to release the vacuum so we can open the housing.
An added bonus of having a small vacuum is it preloads pressure on the seals thus making leaks due to jarring in the rinse tank or entering the water more unlikely.
I don't know what the pressure difference these dimples need, but it should not make much difference at the depths we are diving to.
Development cost minimal, maintenance minimal, cost for replacement cap and valve minimal.
Maybe I should apply for a patent. :blinking:
It would be possible to reverse the dimple and pressurize the housing. However I don't know what effect this would have on the cameras operation. The dimple would reverse when you exceeded the internal pressure when diving so you could not use it as a check when underwater, added to that at some points in the dive you would have neutral pressure difference so you would be relying solely on the catches to maintain the pressure on the O rings. No I don't like this option lets stick to a vacuum. :shakehead