Housing for Canon IXUS 130 - Flooded a third time!

I am the owner of an Ikelite housing for a Canon IXUS 130. It was a Christmas gift from my husband in December 2010. This is the third time it has flooded.

I will take the blame for the first flooding as the O ring might not have been re-greased after its last use that time. The first flooding occurred in August 2011. It was sad as it flooded on the first dive of a two week trip to the Red Sea. I had two weeks of no photos except for what I took with my Blackberry on shore.

When I returned home, I bought a new Canon IXUS 130 camera. I dried out the housing, regreased the O ring and checked it at our local swimming pool during diving training (I am an instructor). The tissues I put in survived the trial and I put the new camera in. Since the first flooding I have been overly vigilant about greasing the O ring and keeping all grit, hair and other bits away from the seal. I was surprised when during a shore dive, the housing began flooding a second time. I managed to see it flooding as I was walking in. I was able to stop the dive and get the camera out before salt water touched it. I don’t know why that flood happened. But I took the housing home, cleaned all the old silicone grease out and reapplied fresh silicone grease. I tested the housing in the pool and all seemed to be fine.

I have just come back from a trip to Malta where the third flood occurred. Again it was a shore dive (no leaps from a boat). I know I did everything correctly. Nothing could have ever bumped the camera housing or contaminated the seal and O ring. I have only ever used silicone grease on camera housing O rings. Why is this happening and what can be done? Two cameras have been killed in this housing and I am quite reluctant to use it or any other Ikelite housing again.

Peggy

Hi Peggy,

That sounds awful. I really don't know what caused the leaks, however it is possible that there may have been too much grease on the o-rings. You should only put a thin sheen of silicon on the orings, if there are large blobs they can attract dirt and/or let water in. If you needed to clean the old silicon grease out of the housing then I would think that there was to much in the first place.

Peggy,

We are sorry to hear of your floods. Based on your description, I too believe there may have been debris in the o-ring sealing area which might have been attracted from excessive lubricant.

Considering you have lost two cameras in the same housing, I would highly recommend that you send the housing to Ikelite for evaluation before your next dive.

Please send the housing along with a brief letter of explanation or this thread, and full contact information to:

Ikelite Underwater Systems
Attn. Service Dept.
50 W. 33rd St.
Indpls., IN 46208

Please include your name, complete return address, email, phone number, and your stated problem or service request. Normal service completion time is 2-3 weeks.

Best Regards,

Brett Foster - Ikelite