What to do after flooding a housing

kidspot · Mar 6, 2008

Last week on a dive the housing for my Canon SD630 flooded at the beginning of the dive. I got home and soaked it in fresh water for a day, then pulled it out and dried it well. I'm pretty sure the problem was user error as I had not rinsed it the last time I used the camera (a few days prior) and salt crystals formed. The housing only filled halfway even though we went to 120fsw.

I was able to replace the camera inexpensively (ain't eBay wonderful) and am going to lube all the o-rings (including on the buttons) and pressure test the housing before putting the camera in it. Anything else I should do or look for before putting it back into service?

btw -the replacement camera arrived today and has a much faster focus and shorter shutter lag ... I'm quite pleased with that

Aloha, Tim

Scotttyd · Mar 6, 2008

kidspot:
Last week on a dive the housing for my Canon SD630 flooded at the beginning of the dive. I got home and soaked it in fresh water for a day, then pulled it out and dried it well. I'm pretty sure the problem was user error as I had not rinsed it the last time I used the camera (a few days prior) and salt crystals formed. The housing only filled halfway even though we went to 120fsw.

I was able to replace the camera inexpensively (ain't eBay wonderful) and am going to lube all the o-rings (including on the buttons) and pressure test the housing before putting the camera in it. Anything else I should do or look for before putting it back into service?

btw -the replacement camera arrived today and has a much faster focus and shorter shutter lag ... I'm quite pleased with that

Aloha, Tim

scubadiving magazine just had an article on what to do when flooding, I am no expert to give advice, but it was a good article for a beginner such as myself

livewire · Mar 7, 2008

kidspot:
I was able to replace the camera inexpensively (ain't eBay wonderful) and am going to lube all the o-rings (including on the buttons) and pressure test the housing before putting the camera in it. Anything else I should do or look for before putting it back into service?

I think that about covers it. I didn't read the article in Rodale's, but there's pretty much nothing else. Just inspect those o-rings super closely, so that not a speck of dust is on 'em. Also, if there were any metal or electrical parts that were touched by the salt water, this could set off the beginnings of some corrosion, so you want to inspect these parts very closely. If a metal piece that touches an o-ring corrodes, you're in for another flood. Hopefully you were able to stop this in time. If you do find some corrosion internally then you may want to have the housing serviced, but otherwise you're probably a-okay!

NancyLynn · Mar 7, 2008

kidspot:
Anything else I should do or look for before putting it back into service?

Take it down without a camera in it on your next dive to make sure it is watertight at the depths you intend to dive. It would be a real bummer to find out with your new camera that it wasn't just salt crystals.

Age · Mar 7, 2008

Having fried a digital camera because the clasp hit something or other when I hit the water, I'm a bit fan of film cameras. Sure they make you work harder, but I'm told, this evening, that my Motor Marine 111 and a Sea and Sea YS 90 strobe will cost me $ 400 to repair a bit of stupidity on my part. No thought of replacing eveything. Digital cameras. Oh man, I can't wait until they make them tough. Until then...
BTW I'm a proud owner of a Canon 5D. Believe me, I love to take that UW, but who, but the professionals can stand a financial loss like that, in the case of a flooding.

danclem · Mar 7, 2008

Next to checking and cleaning O-rings prior to each dive, insurance is the next best protection.

The leak detector on my Subal went off on yesterday's dive, fortunately only a few drops caused by drips from a lens change at the car.

Good Luck!

Dan

kidspot · Mar 7, 2008

I did a pressure test today, and the housing came out dry ... still have to lube the o-rings as I didn't get around to that and figure it would grease the metal rods a wee bit and keep them from corroding.

Thanks for the help

Aloha, Tim

What to do after flooding a housing

Please register or login

kidspot

Contributor

Scotttyd

Contributor

livewire

Contributor

NancyLynn

Contributor

Age

Contributor

danclem

Contributor

kidspot

Contributor

Similar threads