Any genius way of swapping out camera battery on the boat?

[Karen Dancheck]

I NEVER open my housing while I am out diving. Most of my diving has been in Bonaire where I am shore diving and have the ability, if needed, to go back to my nice dry/low humidity room to swap out my camera battery. Going on a trip where some days we are doing 3 boat dives. Not sure if my camera battery will last for 3 dives. In the past, I've done everything I could to conserve battery power... I've got the digital screen time adjusted so it only stays up for a few seconds after I take a pic... Each night I offload my pics, put a new silica gel pack in my housing, clean and grease the o ring and put in a fully charged battery. Anyone got an ideas about swapping out my battery on the boat?

 

[doctormike]

Not really such a big deal if you are careful, I do it all the time. Sometimes, I even will change lenses and ports between dives.

Just make sure that you rinse the housing thoroughly in fresh water (dried salt crystals can actually cause o-rings to fail if they get inside the track), then dry it well with a towel before you open it. Make sure that you are careful when you close it up again, operator error is the most common cause of leakage (e.g. not making sure that the o-ring is seated correctly).

Hope this helps!

Mike

 

[hellhole]

I place it on a clean dry towel in a place where I know is safe from water. Also when u change it is important. And how many times. I make sure if I need to. I do it only once in that boat trip. And when the sea is calmer. But the calmness of the sea is something we canno predict.. So still have to find a good spot

 

[KeithG]

As long as both you and the housing are reasonably dry, there should be no issues. I open mine after every dive to swap battery.

I concur with doctormike that operator error is your enemy. If you have properly rinsed the housing (and not dragged it through the sand) there is no need to touch the oring each time you open it. I clean and lube mine only once a trip.

I would also toss the silica gel pacs. They can get caught in the door and do not really provide any tangible benefit.

 

[cammurphy]

I take a clear midsize garbage bag with me, and place the camera /strobe inside it once its rinsed and dried. I change out the batteries/cards, and then close things up. Once completed, back into the freshwater tank on the boat. I only do fine things like O-rings at night back in the room.