PT-030 Flooded--What Now?

[Steve Lawson]

My PT-030 just flooded, taking out my SP-350 (display works, but an image will no longer appear via the lens). I made two dives to 100' and it flooded on the second.

It appears that the water leaked through the selector knob on the top right side of the camera. I'm going to replace the camera, but would like to repair the housing and get some assurance that it won't leak again.

Is there a repair kit with o-rings available for the housing? Or are the o-rings expected to last the life of the housing and I should lube them up real good and keep my fingers crossed?

Any suggestions?

Steve

 

[ce4jesus]

Olympus charges like $175 to refurbish them. I'm really unsure where else you could source any parts. Taking the housing apart yourself would be a monumental chore. If you don't know exactly where it leaks, it also might be an effort in vain. You might have a tougher time finding the camera unless you have one already.

 

[Steve Lawson]

Thanks. All of the the thru-ports have fittings held by small phillips head screws or c-clips. It appears to be fairly straight forward as long as the replacement o-rings were available. The $175 sound a little pricey.

Steve

 

[ce4jesus]

I had tech support slip up one time and give me the actual manufacturer...I lost the info. They won't give it out anymore. Yes its pricey but they do a thorough overhaul. There was a thread on one of the sites where guy had taken apart an Olympus Housing and replaced all the orings with over the counter orings. I don't have that link. He said it was tedius but doable. The orings, once he had the type could be purchased over the counter. I'm sorry I can't help you much further.

 

[wwunder]

Are you sure that it was one of the controls that leaked and not the body o-ring? I would find a shop that has a pressure pot (or build one) so that you can test the whole housing. Then try to service the control that you think is leaking and retest it. If everything seems to be working, then test dive the housing without a camera and operate all the controls to see if they leak when pressed.

I wouldn't risk another camera until you are relatively sure that the integrity of the housing is restored. Those cameras are getting hard to come by and the prices they fetch on ebay are ridiculous.

 

[Larry C]

Dry out your housing, clean and regrease the main o-ring and groove/mating surface and take it under empty. Most leaks occur do to owner error, such as a hair on the main o-ring. If you put a little talc or something on the inner surfaces near the various control o-rings, you should be able to tell where it's getting wet first. If it is the selector knob as you suspect, it may be possible to replace that o-ring. As I recall, a while back Gilligan did a post on o-ring replacement in Olympus housings. It may no longer be there since the previous server issues. You can get most o-rings commercially, but they usually come in bulk packages of 10 or 100. You need to know the measurement of the o-ring inside, outside and thickness and you need to know the material it's made of as well.