I know that subalert.com sells a device that is $250 PLUS $150 for a repair contract. There has got to be a way to use air pressure or vaccuum to find a leak on the surface. I'm a mechanical engineer so I can pretty much make anything once I have the idea. I could use any info if someone's already done it.
How can I pressure test my Nikonos V?
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I use a quarter inch thick 12" pipe that is twenty inches long. I welded a 1/4" plate to the bottom. For the lid I used an port hole window from the local boat yard. Just cut an o-ring grove 1 inch from the bottom. Welded on two opposing handles and cut notches on both sides in a L shape.
Tap in a b/c hose fitting to the side and seal it up. Take a tank and your regulator, connect the b/c hose and turn it on. It will pressurize to about 135 PSI. If you fill the unit with water you should be able to watch where the water enters as it pressurizes.
To release the pressure turn off the tank and purge. or Install a screw valve in the tank and open it up.
For the camera why not use the same ideal only make a rectangle box with a lexan window that is sealed and locked by a compression lid. Pressurize and look for the leak.
Hallmac
Tap in a b/c hose fitting to the side and seal it up. Take a tank and your regulator, connect the b/c hose and turn it on. It will pressurize to about 135 PSI. If you fill the unit with water you should be able to watch where the water enters as it pressurizes.
To release the pressure turn off the tank and purge. or Install a screw valve in the tank and open it up.
For the camera why not use the same ideal only make a rectangle box with a lexan window that is sealed and locked by a compression lid. Pressurize and look for the leak.
Hallmac
Thanks for the idea. So happens I also have been stick welding for 20 years as a hobby. The chamber is no problem for me to build. I'm not sure that I will use water in the test. By the time I figure out that it leaks, it will be full. I think that if I get to a certain stable pressure, then keep track of any pressure drop with some degree of accuracy, I could assume no pressure drop => means no leak. Yes ????
folivier
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The air volume in your NikV is so little I don't think you would notice a pressure drop that small. I've done a fair amount of hydrostatic testing of pipe and temperature is a big factor also any air trapped in the tank. I was thinking of building a tank out of 8" PVC pipe but I'm gonna use it for a housing (without the camera) so I'll use water in the tank. What I plan to do is fill the tank with water and my housing then hook it up to an air compressor with the regulator set at 50 psi. This should equate to about 100 fsw.
Test the housing without the camera. That way if it leaks, you won't ruing the camera during testing. You may also try something along the lines of putting chalk or talc close to the sealing area, so that if it does leak, it will saturate the talc and give you an idea where exactly the leak is at.
The NikonosV is an underwater camera, it doesn't require a housing.
Thanks everybody for all the ideas. I have another direction that I want to see if anyone has tried. I see the point about "the relitively small volume of the camera versus the chamber" preventing any large change in pressure. Yes, you are also right about the fact that any air in the system will "cushion" the pressure readings and make it even more difficult to see a difference. So maybe if I were to pull a small vaccuum on the inside of the camera and put a gauge on that vaccuum level, would that be stable enough to see any change? I have found that the battery compartment has a vent into the inside of the camera. I could make a fitting that uses that battery compartment threads, seals into that cavity, and then connect to the vaccuum pump. Yes..No??
Vacuum is easier to monitor and would not require a chamber at all. The problem as I see it, is how to tell where the leak is.
Hallmac
Hallmac
Now you know why I normally stay out of the photography forum!
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