Nauticam NEX7 HOUSING FLOODED

[gelledge0001]

Just wanted to share an unfortunate experience with everyone. I purchased a brand new housing from Backscatter for my brand new sony NEX7 camera. It was a nauticam NA-NEX7 housing. I was on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor for the special 10 day charter and could not wait to capture some memories. Unfortunately on day three which was dive number 11 on my brand new housing and camera I heard the flood alarm go off while I was at 115 feet. I made an immediate ascent to the boat to try and save the camera. There was about a cup of seawater in the housing so the camera was complete toast. Upon looking at the housing to determine what caused the flood it was apparent that the factory installed O-ring on the inside of the housing around the lcd window had a failure and was actually severed. I will attach a pic or two to show what I am describing. I have been told that both backscatter and Nauticam are reputable businesses but I guess that will remain to be seen by how this is handled. I spoke with a service person from backscatter and he was implying that Nauticam would not do anything for me as far as repair or replacing the camera even if they determine it is in fact a manufacturer defect. I shipped my camera and housing to backscatter today so we will see what happens. Just wanted to relate my experience in case anyone is considering buying a nauticam housing for their nex-7. Anyone that has any comments or advice for me please respond.

 

[surf4life]

Just wanted to share an unfortunate experience with everyone. I purchased a brand new housing from Backscatter for my brand new sony NEX7 camera. It was a nauticam NA-NEX7 housing. I was on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor for the special 10 day charter and could not wait to capture some memories. Unfortunately on day three which was dive number 11 on my brand new housing and camera I heard the flood alarm go off while I was at 115 feet. I made an immediate ascent to the boat to try and save the camera. There was about a cup of seawater in the housing so the camera was complete toast. Upon looking at the housing to determine what caused the flood it was apparent that the factory installed O-ring on the inside of the housing around the lcd window had a failure and was actually severed. I will attach a pic or two to show what I am describing. I have been told that both backscatter and Nauticam are reputable businesses but I guess that will remain to be seen by how this is handled. I spoke with a service person from backscatter and he was implying that Nauticam would not do anything for me as far as repair or replacing the camera even if they determine it is in fact a manufacturer defect. I shipped my camera and housing to backscatter today so we will see what happens. Just wanted to relate my experience in case anyone is considering buying a nauticam housing for their nex-7. Anyone that has any comments or advice for me please respond.View attachment 129178View attachment 129179View attachment 129180

How do they recommend servicing this o ring? Is it something that would not need regular maintenance, unlike the housing door one?

Sorry to hear about it and hope you have some insurance to cover it.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

I have the same housing and the O-ring is on the inside of the housing and it holds the LCD window in place. The only time it should be removed is if you are replacing the LCD window. Seems very odd to me that it would work fine for ten dives and then just fail in such a way.

Having the proper type of insurance to cover this type of loss is highly recommend for all types of photography equipment. I hope that this does not turn you off to underwater photography and that you are able to get the problem resolved to your satisfaction.

Phil Rudin

 

[denniscloutier]

I'm seriously considering buying a Nauticam housing in the near future, so please do let us know how this turns out.

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[Wookie]

I will make sure the USA rep for Nauticam sees this thread. However. I've bought new housings and cameras and some of those have been big money systems. That displaced o-ring is obvious to the most casual observer. How could you possibly have not noticed that the o-ring would be completely ineffective while assembling the system? Every time I assemble a new to me rig I check every gland and port o-ring and go over the housing with a fine tooth comb. Then, I dive the housing to what will be the max depth (and I take my Gates and Nauticams to 300 feet without thinking twice) without a $4,000 camera in it just to test it. Do you think you don't have some wee amount of responsibility to make sure everything is right before you use it?

Welcome to ScubaBoard. I know you joined in February of 2011, but it is considered bad form to have your first post be a "seagull post". It seems you've lurked here long enough to see that introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about yourself is a great way to be part of the community. Thanks for joining us anyway.

 

[Cp111]

Hello gelledge0001,

Very sorry to hear about your experience.

We'll try to recreate the issue here once we receive your housing, so that we can see what might have happened, and fix the housing under warranty if indicated.

As Phil mentioned, that particular o-ring is not a sealing o-ring; it is a retaining o-ring, so it seems unlikely that was the cause if the leak actually did happen at 115 feet. Not to worry though, we should be able to figure out what happened.

In regard to the camera, we, like virtually every other housing manufacturer, do not cover damage to camera/lens or other gear. We do always recommend insuring the camera and lens appropriately.

Backscatter customer service is excellent, and I will be in contact with them about your case to make sure that they have what they need from me. Also, please feel free to contact me at our service email address, innovation@nauticamusa.com if you have any questions for me.

Regards,
Chris

 

[nelsonrl]

Sorry to see this happen. I have a Nauticam housing for the '5n. I only have about 15 dives on it, but did not experience any issues with it. I will check it out when i get home tonight, but I do have confidence in the housing. I would not hesitate to recommend it..

 

[gelledge0001]

Nope unfortunately did not know about flood insurance. The o ring was intact until after the flood.

---------- Post Merged at 10:39 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:30 PM ----------

I have the same housing and the O-ring is on the inside of the housing and it holds the LCD window in place. The only time it should be removed is if you are replacing the LCD window. Seems very odd to me that it would work fine for ten dives and then just fail in such a way.

Having the proper type of insurance to cover this type of loss is highly recommend for all types of photography equipment. I hope that this does not turn you off to underwater photography and that you are able to get the problem resolved to your satisfaction.

Phil Rudin

Thanks Phil. I think it is odd as well. I dove the housing empty for the first dive and it made 9 other dives without any issues. I was very careful with the housing and inspected it very well before each dive. I did not try to remove the o- ring or anything it failed at depth somehow. Unfortunately I did not know that you could get flood insurance.

---------- Post Merged at 10:40 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:30 PM ----------

I will let you know Dennis. Thanks

---------- Post Merged at 10:50 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:30 PM ----------

I will make sure the USA rep for Nauticam sees this thread. However. I've bought new housings and cameras and some of those have been big money systems. That displaced o-ring is obvious to the most casual observer. How could you possibly have not noticed that the o-ring would be completely ineffective while assembling the system? Every time I assemble a new to me rig I check every gland and port o-ring and go over the housing with a fine tooth comb. Then, I dive the housing to what will be the max depth (and I take my Gates and Nauticams to 300 feet without thinking twice) without a $4,000 camera in it just to test it. Do you think you don't have some wee amount of responsibility to make sure everything is right before y

Welcome to ScubaBoard. I know you joined in February of 2011, but it is considered bad form to have your first post be a "seagull post". It seems you've lurked here long enough to see that introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about yourself is a great way to be part of the community. Thanks for joining us anyway.

Wookie, thanks for your kind assessment of my intelligence. I inspected the housing before each and every dive. I did dive the housing empty on the first dive and had no issues. After my camera was flooded is when the o ring was found to be severed. I have multiple witnesses to this on the aggressor boat because there were 2 other divers on the boat that had a nex 7 but did not have a housing for it yet. Also I hope that when you suffer a flood or some other issue in life someone does not post a response to your misfortune in such a demeaning way.

---------- Post Merged at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:30 PM ----------

Hello gelledge0001,

Very sorry to hear about your experience.

We'll try to recreate the issue here once we receive your housing, so that we can see what might have happened, and fix the housing under warranty if indicated.

As Phil mentioned, that particular o-ring is not a sealing o-ring; it is a retaining o-ring, so it seems unlikely that was the cause if the leak actually did happen at 115 feet. Not to worry though, we should be able to figure out what happened.

In regard to the camera, we, like virtually every other housing manufacturer, do not cover damage to camera/lens or other gear. We do always recommend insuring the camera and lens appropriately.

Backscatter customer service is excellent, and I will be in contact with them about your case to make sure that they have what they need from me. Also, please feel free to contact me at our service email address, innovation@nauticamusa.com if you have any questions for me.

Regards,
Chris

Thanks for your reply Chris. I was never informed about insurance being recommended in fact I did not know that you could even purchase flood insurance. If I knew that was available I would have gotten it for sure. Thanks for the contact information and for replying to my post. -Greg

---------- Post Merged at 11:01 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:30 PM ----------

Nelson, I am glad you have not had any issues with your housing. I too was very pleased with my housing for the first 10 dives. This post is not intended to bad mouth nauticam housings I am just sharing my experience. Thanks

 

[Wookie]

I certainly did not mean to insult your intelligence. You did not state that you did any of the common sense things I mentioned in your thread when you initially posted. You asked for comments and advice. I provided both. I am happy to see that you are an experienced housing user and already knew how to inspect your rig to prevent floods. I'm sorry that your previous experience and knowledge was not sufficient to prevent your flood. My post was not meant to be demeaning, but then, I'm still a social media retard. Sorry you were offended.

 

[alien]

Remember this is not the sealing o ring this is an o ring around the LCD.

---------- Post Merged at 02:31 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:29 PM ----------

Really sorry to hear about this happening. I have dived mine about 50 times now and not had any issues. I will more carefully check this o ring in future.
I have flooded other cameras in the past but never something this expensive. Good luck I hope Nauticam cover this as such a new housing. Let us know how it turns out