O-ring prep...

[sharky60]

I usually use a hand towel from the hotel, they have been washed so many times that there is very little if any lint left in them. Haven't had a failure yet (knocking wood).

What do y'all use to clean your o-rings before lubing them for use?

 

[robint]

How often are you cleaning and lubing them? I usually only do it once before a dive trip. On the dive trip I make sure to soak the housing well to remove salt. I might take the o-ring out once on a trip and rinse it off under a faucet, then shake it dry and apply lube. I stay as far away from towels as possible.


robin
72 days til the Nekton in Bahamas!

 

[ronscuba]

I don't clean O-rings regularly, but to clean dirt, salt and other debris I use women's make up applicators. They look like Q-tips, but don't fall apart or leave lint. To pick dirt out of the gooves, I use the plastic end of disposable dental floss picks.

 

[sharky60]

I was instructed by the people I bought my camera from to clean the o-rings and the housings' o-ring seat and lube the ring before every dive outing.

What I mean by cleaning is using a towel to wipe down the o-rings & seats of old lube and checking them to make sure there is no debris of any kind on them. I was told ANY piece of lint, dirt, sand, whatever could cause a leak, even excess lube. Just in case there is any confusion.

Once I'm set up, I don't open the housing until I'm done diving for the day. The next morning when I get ready to go diving, I do the routine.

I'm using a point-n-shoot not a DSLR so I don't have to change lenses between dives, I use at least a 1/2 to 1G memory card & 2500mA rechargable batteries, so opening it up during the day hasn't been an issue.

Sometimes I get a newer towel and I run into a lint nightmere and I was just wondering what other people use to wipe down thier rings.

 

[mntdiver]

I don't clean O-rings regularly, but to clean dirt, salt and other debris I use women's make up applicators. They look like Q-tips, but don't fall apart or leave lint. To pick dirt out of the gooves, I use the plastic end of disposable dental floss picks.

My wife turned me on to these. They are quite possibly the greatest invention for o-ring grooves ever devised.

 

[Empty V]

I have only taken my video setup out on 6 dives but I would go through the same procedure with my previous still setups. If I'm in a humid environment I do this the night before, if on a boat out here in Cali with the low humidity I usually do it on the long ride out to the islands. I clean my o-rings with a paper towel because they're cheap and have worked extremely well for me. My prep seems to take me a ridiculously long time, at least an hour because I have to cut a new filter and apply it, clean the camera lens and wide angle adapter, adjust the focus belt and I lube the o-rings and control knobs which makes a huge difference on how smoothly they rotate and slide.

So yeah, that's the long version of how I maintain my o-rings.

Billy

 

[Allison Finch]

I Clean and relube it every time I open the housing. I use the foam type travel towel cut into small pieces for the o-rings and larger ones for drying the rig. I never use anything else around the rig to keep lint away. As long as there is nap on a towel, there will be lint.

 

[jcclink]

Kim Wipes are a lint-free towelette that works great. Check your local photo store. Don't remove o-rings unless necessary to properly clean off debris. The more you play with o-rings the bigger the chance for a leak. I generally only remove the main o-ring on my Nexus housing at the end of a trip. Made 135 dives on the last one. If it isn't broke don't fix it.

 

[fppf]

When setting up my rig...
I lay a large towel on the work surface, hey I don't scratch my table at home, why do it at a hotel. Then I lay out all parts. Setup my camera, make sure all batteries are charged installed and everything is set. Then I take my orings out of there bag and wipe each one with a damp towel and inspect for any nicks, cuts, tears, exc. Then I wipe out all oring grooves and sealing surfaces in a radial direction. Never wipe across a sealing surface because it can make micro scratchs that will form leak paths. Then inspect all sealing surfaces for an issues. After cleaning and inspecting any radial sealing orings get a very very lite coat of lube. Face seal orings do not need lube. Then I put together my housing making sure each oring is seated and not pinched or rolled.

I nomally assy the night before and takes about 15 minutes. I have never had a leak.

After a dive, if in salt water I soak for an hour then push all buttons and move all levers. Then let the housing sit for an hour to drip off. Then the housing is broken down and given a quick wipe and the orings go back in the bag.

Yep, I'm anal but I don't want the hassle of a flood.