Dessicant question

I've never once had fogging/condensation problem in my huge SLR housing, diving WW destinations; come to think of it, I've never had a problem w/my MMII in cold water either. How many of you started using a dessicant AFTER you had a problem, vs. being told you "HAD" to use one before you ever got in the water ? I'm asking beacause this is the first time I'm taking the SLR housing to a "Cooler water" site (California) and would like some input from Cali divers who have "done it both ways" (with and without) and did the dessicant actually make any difference ? Thanks !

onbelaydave:

I've never once had fogging/condensation problem in my huge SLR housing, diving WW destinations; come to think of it, I've never had a problem w/my MMII in cold water either. How many of you started using a dessicant AFTER you had a problem, vs. being told you "HAD" to use one before you ever got in the water ? I'm asking beacause this is the first time I'm taking the SLR housing to a "Cooler water" site (California) and would like some input from Cali divers who have "done it both ways" (with and without) and did the dessicant actually make any difference ? Thanks !

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I was doing a dive in the channel islands with some other boarders earlier in the summer. I had an older SG that I had used on a previous dive trip. By the third dive of this trip, it had run out of Umph... and I was fogged for about 2/3 of the dive.

I missed a zillion sea lion shots because of the fogging. I was completely bummed.

So I bought a whole tub of it and always have fresh, active SG with me on every dive.

K

Started using them as it was a good idea, but never really had the problem. Occasionally it would happen during an SI but once I got back in and the casing cooled down it seemed to go away... not sure where all that moisture went though
I still throw them in there though... better to be safe than sorry...

Which housing are you using - i guess an Aluminium one?

The rule of thumb is that polycarb housing heat up faster causing the condensation, whereas the aluminium ones absorb and disipate the heat better so they don't fog.

My water is a very, very close match to the Channel Islands in CA, and I've never needed them in my alu housing.

I've recently started using a desicant pack in a Canon polycarbonate housing. I dive So. Cal. all the time. For me it seems that I need it most when it's warmer out. I first tried loading the camera in an air conditioned room (the car's A/C on full for the 20 minute ride), but this didn't seem to work all the time. Now I do both and haven't had a problem.

I dived with my PC Ikelite Housings (both video and still) here in So Cal literally hundreds of times and never used desicant and never had a fogging problem. I just keep my camera on the camera table in the cabin and out of the sun between dives (or in the camera dunk tank).

In fact, in ALL the times I have dived with a housing, I have only had a condensation issue once - in Fiji on a small boat with very little shade where we checked a few spots on the reef before actually diving and my video housing (which had been sealed on shore prior to departure because of splashing issues on a rough day) fogged up when I hit a mild thermocline on descent.

I'm not saying NOT to use desicant. Only that I haven't found iot to be a neccessity or priority if the proper handling precautions are observed.

Never used the dessicant... on my last trip, the camera fogged so much that I spend more of the time underwater agonizing over it (before I took up underwater photography, I was quite happy to fin around and watch the activities around the reef... now, I just want to bring all those images home). So on my next trip, I will definitely be putting dessicant inside the housing, and I will be sure to bring lots of it.