Camera getting moisture inside housing

[BigAirHarper]

I just received my Fantasea housing for my nikon point and shoot. I took it diving w/o the camera, no leaks. I've been diving with it twice more since then, with the camera and there seems to be moisture accumulating inside the case. I think it may be from the heat the camera is producing while on. I have the Moisture Munchers however the camera still fogs. Any ideas on what I could be doing wrong or what I should do? Thanks.

 

[TheWetRookie]

When you put you camera and housing together, be in a cool dry place and keep it out of the sun. Have new (not old) moisture munchers also.

I had this happen to me a couple of dives ago also. The weather was humid and hot and I had set it up at the site. Got down to depth and it was totally fogged up .

The next dive I changed the moisture munchers and set up the camera at home where it was a lot cooler. I also made sure to keep it in the shade at the site. No problems on this dive .

Have a read on this link http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/underwater-housing-maintenance

 

[RPdiver]

There has to be water and heat to make that fog. The heat source is a given, when camera is on. Source of water is a real leak or water that is sticking to the interwalls of the housing or the camera itself when you close the door. Try warming up the inside of the housing with a hair dryer and leave the camera on (to warm up) before closing the door, to drive out the water. If it still fogs you have a real leak coming from the outside. Good luck

 

[RPdiver]

When you put you camera and housing together, be in a cool dry place and keep it out of the sun. Have new (not old) moisture munchers also.

I had this happen to me a couple of dives ago also. The weather was humid and hot and I had set it up at the site. Got down to depth and it was totally fogged up .

The next dive I changed the moisture munchers and set up the camera at home where it was a lot cooler. I also made sure to keep it in the shade at the site. No problems on this dive .

Have a read on this link Underwater Housing Maintenance tips, Camera fogging,O-ring care, Dome port scratches|Underwater Photography Guide

Hi
Were both dives on the same day? Could it possible that the first dive, camera on, burned off the water inside the camera, causing the fog. Then setting it up for a dry camera on the second dive, and no fog?

 

[PatW]

The thing is that warm air holds lots of water. If you let warm moist air into your housing and then stick the housing into colder water, the air in the housing will cool off. Cool air can not hold all that moisture. The excess moisture will condense on the housing.

I only open my housing in a nice cool and dry room. Generally the room is cooler than the water I dive in. I have not had any trouble with the housing fogging. Now if you dive in cold water like at Scapa Flow, you would probably have to use really drastic measures. But I dive in warm water, so it is not a problem.

 

[TheWetRookie]

Hi
Were both dives on the same day? Could it possible that the first dive, camera on, burned off the water inside the camera, causing the fog. Then setting it up for a dry camera on the second dive, and no fog?

The dives were a few days apart. Sorry I should have clarified that.

 

[herman]

Chunk the moisture munchers, they don't work that well and must be dry before starting, which is often times not the case. Instead, install the camera into the case in an A/Ced room, before closing the case, crank up the A/C to make sure the compressor is on, allow to run for a minute then hold the camera and housing in front of the airstream for 60 seconds, this will dry the interior of the housing and blow out any mostiure laden air that is inside. After a minute or so, close the housing while in the airstream. The housing, camera and air in your housing are dry and therefore can not fog. Don't open the housing until you are back in the room unless you absolutely have to. I have had no fogging problems at all since I started using this method.

 

[RPdiver]

Chunk the moisture munchers, they don't work that well and must be dry before starting, which is often times not the case. Instead, install the camera into the case in an A/Ced room, before closing the case, crank up the A/C to make sure the compressor is on, allow to run for a minute then hold the camera and housing in front of the airstream for 60 seconds, this will dry the interior of the housing and blow out any mostiure laden air that is inside. After a minute or so, close the housing while in the airstream. The housing, camera and air in your housing are dry and therefore can not fog. Don't open the housing until you are back in the room unless you absolutely have to. I have had no fogging problems at all since I started using this method.

Hi
Regards to using the A/C to “dry” the camera and housing…would the A/C work better in blow drying ones wet hair after a shower, instead of using in hot hair dryer? Would this not defy the thermal states of matter? Meaning that heat will turn a liquid into a gas or vapor state and the cold turns the liquid into a solid state. It seems like the water will blow off a surface when heated by a hair dryer and the A/C will just cool the water in place, only to turn into a vapor or fog when the camera heats up. Please explain.

State of matter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Regards

 

[pjhansman]

A side effect of of air conditioning is that it typically reduces the relative humidity to a tolerable level. The A/C coil is cold compared to the air it is processing and condenses water vapor from the air as it cools it.

 

[herman]

Hot air from a hair dryer is just that , hot air. You are confusing drying an object with dehumidifying the air around it. If your camera or housing is wet then sure, a hair dryer would do better (why is your camera wet??) but to remove the humidity in the air around the camera you need to not only remove moisture from the surfaces but also remove humidity from the air surrounding it. The air from a hair dryer still has the same moisture content it started with, all you end up doing is heating the housing, which would dry it but not remove the moisture in the air remaining in the housing when you close it. AC on the other hand dehumidifies the air as it passes over the coils (remember the water coming out of your car AC?) so not only are you drying out any moisture in the housing all be it at a lesser rate (again, why is it wet??), more importantly you are filling the space around it with dry air....no moisture in the air (dry air) means no fog. As a side benefit, the camera and housing are cooled which means the internal pressure of the housing will actually be a little above ambient as it warms back up which is a plus as opposed to the negative pressure what would result if you heated the camera and housing before closing it. If its wet, a hair dryer is some help but for dehumidifying the housing internals, cool dry (AC) air is what you want.