Last night a sachet saved my life!

[Fota]

Hi,

Last friday, it was my turn to suddenly realise that my brand new uw-housing (2nd dive with it!) holding my new camera (Nikon D7000) suddenly at the end of a dive was starting to leak!!!

It was a control (for AE-L/AF-L) that was leaking, so it had nothing to do with me not being careful with the o-rings etc.

Yes, I had tested the housing before I went diving with it and, I had already done a 30m dive with it the week before.

Salty water was slowly pooring into the uw-housing and I did NOT panic! NOT?
Yep, I was actually pretty calm, annoyed but calm. Am I very rich or especially stupid? Nope, on the contrary; I was insured: Leak insured!

What? "What company is that, that will restore your images, give you a new camera and underwater housing in a snap" you may ask yourself.
Well, I don't know of any company that does that for you, but what I did have was three sachets from leak insure. They were installed at the bottom my my uw-housing and nicely sucked up all the water that was coming in.
The camera is weather sealed so it can handle a little water, but only a little and during that dive I had shot some macro video footage that I was very happy with.
I had been down to around 30m for quite some time so I could not just surface.
I realised that if I did not touch the control, water stopped coming in, but already pretty much water had leaked into the housing as I had been using the control alot (for focusing).

At that moment I swam to my buddie who was taking pictures a few meters away and realised that I didn't know the sign for "****, my uw-housing is leaking!" (do you?). I was pointing and doing all sorts of signs but he only understood the thumb UP sign and we slowly aborted the dive, did our safety stop and when we finally surfaced he asked me what the problem was. I told him that my camera flooded and he said "how could you stay so calm". I told him about my "insurance" and he got very curious.

Well to cut a long story short I just wanted to share with you how a terrible incident ended quite happily. The cost of the leak insure sachets is very little and I am so happy I remembered to install (3 of) them prior to the dive. As it was a new housing I must admit that I almost forgot to.

So did a sachet save my life last night?
Well, for sure 3 sachets saved the life of my camera and it was last friday to tell you the truth... But, as it also saved my video footage (that turned out to be great!) and it prevented me from getting a "heart attack". I even made a second dive with the camera that day. I reprogrammed the button on the camera so that I could use another control for the same function, did not use the leaking control, installed new sachets and got even more great video footage to bring home.

I, of course, had to send my uw-housing for repair, which really sucks, but the camera and the video on the memory cards are still alive and kicking. Hopefully the uw-housing company will be nice enough and asap send me a new housing. It was more or less a DOA.

No, I don't work for leak insure in any way, I am just a happy customer and I just wanted to help you get a little extra marginal in case the worst thing happens to you too.

Here's their link btw:
Leak Insure Sachets protect your underwater camera from minor leaks and condensation

 

[Gilligan]

Glad you saved your camera.

For those that don't have the Leak Insure Sachets a feminine "panty liner" cut to fit your housing is capable of absorbing quite a bit of water. I use them in the bottom of my Canon G10 and G12 housings along with silica packets for absorbing condensation.

 

[DevonDiver]

Yeah... the panty liner/tampon solution has been around for years. It can be a real 'camera-saver'.

A leaking housing at depth can also be a strong argument for carrying a DSMB and reel. I've shot cameras to the surface (clipped to DSMB) on more than one occasion... and saved the cameras.

 

[John Gulliver]

"Leak Insure sachets contain highly absorbent granules that can hold 400 times their own weight in freshwater." With respect, I very much doubt if any tampon or panty liner can match that.

 

[DevonDiver]

Try finding Leak Insure scahets on a tropical island in Asia..... or for the same money as a travel pack of tampons....

They sound like a great product and I am sure they are the best performance solution, but maybe not the most available.accessable one for many divers.

I like using tampons, because they expand when soaking water. Not only does that trap the water, it also fills the air-space and prevents liquid or condensation sloshing around inside the housing to penetrate electronics.

Also, a housing leak is typically either minor, or catastrophic. There's no remedy for a catastrophic leak. For a minor leak, a tampon is sufficient. A super-plus /ultra tampon will absorb between 15-18g. This is especially effective when combined with using a buoy to immediately ascend the camera to the surface (often prevents further leakage)... a well briefed boat crew can further assist, by removing the camera from the water once they investigate the DSMB and see the camera attached.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I guess this is where the Ikelite's humongous UW housing becomes an advantage over the OEM's housing. With all that extra space inside, you can really pack in those liner pads, maybe even stuff in those overnight ones.

 

[emoreira]

Just a silly idea.
An empty 1 litre sachet, those used for milk, opened in one end.
If you realize that your camera housing is leaking, put the camera inside the sachet and fill it with air from your regulator, just like a SMB. Keep it up so no water comes in. The Housing will stop leaking (not in fact, it will start to fill with air up to the ambient pressure).
Abort the dive and come out to surface with the camera housing full of air. Care should be taken when opennig the housing as it could be pressurized inside.
A good flotability control is required to control the ascend owing to the extra flotability added with the sachet full of air.

 

[emoreira]

I guess this is where the Ikelite's humongous UW housing becomes an advantage over the OEM's housing. With all that extra space inside, you can really pack in those liner pads, maybe even stuff in those overnight ones.

I think that no sachet of any kind can be inserted into my OEM Canon UW housing. The camera fits so tight inside.

 

[John Gulliver]

Try finding Leak Insure scahets on a tropical island in Asia..... or for the same money as a travel pack of tampons....

They sound like a great product and I am sure they are the best performance solution, but maybe not the most available.accessable one for many divers.

I like using tampons, because they expand when soaking water. Not only does that trap the water, it also fills the air-space and prevents liquid or condensation sloshing around inside the housing to penetrate electronics.

Also, a housing leak is typically either minor, or catastrophic. There's no remedy for a catastrophic leak. For a minor leak, a tampon is sufficient. A super-plus /ultra tampon will absorb between 15-18g. This is especially effective when combined with using a buoy to immediately ascend the camera to the surface (often prevents further leakage)... a well briefed boat crew can further assist, by removing the camera from the water once they investigate the DSMB and see the camera attached.

An airtight plasic container with 10 sachets of Leak Insure costs only £9.99. Buy one and take it with you on trips! Why would you want to buy it on a tropical island? Two sachets absorb 80 ml of water. That's a pretty significant leak. The sachets swell in the same way as tampons do, by the way. I really see no reason to use tampons or panty liners when there's a far superior product at such a reasonable price.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

panty liners could be cut to shape so that your whole camera is covered with it. Then you can stuff them into the housing so there is no free airspace. If you got the ikelite housing, you can stuff in a diaper.