Possessed housing!

[Jean-Louis]

I'm on the brink of a nervous breakdown.
I have a Canon WP-DC16 housing that is apparently posessed...
The Func/set and four surrounding buttons all of a sudden stop working. I mean; i can depress them but they don't do anything. All others work well. It is not depht related.
They are clean.
So i can't access the speed, iso or timer or white balance. I always shoot on manual mode.
I thought my o-ring had swollen; i changed it; it worked fine for two dives then the problem came back!
I use Trident silicon grease.
The seating pads for the camera are ok.

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!! HELP!!!!
Thanks!

 

[bperrybap]

I had a similar problem with a WP-DC15 housing. Turned out that the shutter button
was sticking and not coming all the way back up. It was staying down just enough to
half press the shutter button. Things were really funky.
It would still take pictures fine and turn on/off just fine but the other buttons wouldn't work.
Just a thought.
--- bill

 

[String]

Same with my A620 - buttons sticking so half pressure meaning some randomly didnt work or it did silly things.

Case soaked in warm water than buttons treated with light machine oil and its fine now.

 

[Jean-Louis]

BPERRYBAP: May the gods send you and your descendants for fifteen generations whale sharks and eagle rays on every dive.
My shutter button is half-sticky too, exacly like what you described.
After reading your answer; i took the camera, half depressed the shutter button and tried to operate the function button: that's it! Nothing works.

I CANNOT thank you enough.

Now: how did you solve the sticky issue? Soaking in warm water, i have done. Should i soak it inside too?
Then: i'm not sure about oil....would'nt it damage the little o-rings? Silicone spray maybe?
Do you return your housing to Canon every once in a while for cleaning and re-greasing?

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rjsimp]

BPERRYBAP: May the gods send you and your descendants for fifteen generations whale sharks and eagle rays on every dive.
My shutter button is half-sticky too, exacly like what you described.
After reading your answer; i took the camera, half depressed the shutter button and tried to operate the function button: that's it! Nothing works.

I CANNOT thank you enough.

Now: how did you solve the sticky issue? Soaking in warm water, i have done. Should i soak it inside too?
Then: i'm not sure about oil....would'nt it damage the little o-rings? Silicone spray maybe?
Do you return your housing to Canon every once in a while for cleaning and re-greasing?

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT USE The machine oil. That would most definitely reduce the life of the o-rings and is not compatible with the silicone grease.

If you are resonably careful, you can easily take the shutter release button appart and clean and regrease the shaft/oring. I wouldn't try and remove the orings from the case, just carefully slide the shutter release shaft out, make sure it is clean, and then put o-ring grease on the shaft and some down the hole.

I have done this on several P&S housings where factory service isn't really an option. Whatever you do, make sure and pressure test the housing empty afterwards.

As a matter of practice that will help prevent this, after your dive trips, you should soak the camera housing fully submerged for a day or two working the buttons off and on under water. I use only cold water, I think the warm water isn't really necessary and could swell the o-rings and melt the grease if it was too warm.

 

[fugu42]

1. Soak your housing in warm water with white vinegar added for 30 minutes, then manipulate all the controls. Warm means baby bath temperature and use a very small quantity of white vinegar, i.e. 1 part vinegar to 99 parts water to help dissolve salts. ( NaCl, CaCl, MgCl, & KCl) Flush with fresh water. CAUTION: hot water, too much vinegar, or too long a soak can damage metal parts.
2. Repeat soaking with fresh warm water, manipulate all the controls. Repeat this step as needed till everything moves smoothly.
3. Get a tube of O-ring grease compatible with your housing's O-rings.
4. Use the tip of a toothpick to apply grease from the INSIDE of the housing.
Fully depress each button/control and put one tiny dab of grease on the metal shaft.
Then work the control so the grease gets up into the O-ring seal surrounding the control shaft.
5. It's difficult and not advised to put silicone grease on the exterior portion of the shaft and work down into the O-ring as it may attract grit which damages the O-ring seals. CAVEAT: Petroleum based oils are not a good choice for rubber O-rings & plastic housings.

"Pro" housings are designed to be overhauled and the controls cleaned and re-greased, much like a regulator. Most consumer plastic housings were not designed to be overhauled. Some can be overhauled if you have the tool for pulling & re-installing the tiny circlips (C-shaped spring clips) that retain the spring loaded control shafts inside the housing.

Good Luck.
If it works, pat yourself on the back. If it doesn't work, don't complain to me.

 

[rjsimp]

1. Soak your housing in warm water with white vinegar added for 30 minutes, then manipulate all the controls. Warm means baby bath temperature and use a very small quantity of white vinegar, i.e. 1 part vinegar to 99 parts water to help dissolve salts. ( NaCl, CaCl, MgCl, & KCl) Flush with fresh water. CAUTION: hot water, too much vinegar, or too long a soak can damage metal parts.
2. Repeat soaking with fresh warm water, manipulate all the controls. Repeat this step as needed till everything moves smoothly.
3. Get a tube of O-ring grease compatible with your housing's O-rings.
4. Use the tip of a toothpick to apply grease from the INSIDE of the housing.
Fully depress each button/control and put one tiny dab of grease on the metal shaft.
Then work the control so the grease gets up into the O-ring seal surrounding the control shaft.
5. It's difficult and not advised to put silicone grease on the exterior portion of the shaft and work down into the O-ring as it may attract grit which damages the O-ring seals. CAVEAT: Petroleum based oils are not a good choice for rubber O-rings & plastic housings.

"Pro" housings are designed to be overhauled and the controls cleaned and re-greased, much like a regulator. Most consumer plastic housings were not designed to be overhauled. Some can be overhauled if you have the tool for pulling & re-installing the tiny circlips (C-shaped spring clips) that retain the spring loaded control shafts inside the housing.

Good Luck.
If it works, pat yourself on the back. If it doesn't work, don't complain to me.

I'm sorry.. I disagree about using the warm water and vinegar. I would never soak my housings with that. You can soak for a longer period of time in clean cold water and the salts will disolve over time without corrosion or fear of damage.

The grease on the shaft after depressing the button, has worked and is a good place to start.

As for the c-shaped clips. No special tools needed. A small flat screw driver (the kind for watches, but one of the larger watch ones works depending on the size of the clip) and a pair of small needle nose pliers. I have taken these completely appart before and there is nothing complicated about it.. You do have to be good with small things and very detail oriented and clean in your work environment.. so if you aren't, DO NOT DO IT.

 

[bperrybap]

Now: how did you solve the sticky issue? Soaking in warm water, i have done. Should i soak it inside too?
Then: i'm not sure about oil....would'nt it damage the little o-rings? Silicone spray maybe?
Do you return your housing to Canon every once in a while for cleaning and re-greasing?

While I think the ideal solution is to remove the e-ring retainer clip and the button
itself for cleaning and lubing,
here is an alternate tip I got from the guys at SeaLife when one of my buttons
was sticking on a DC-500 housing.

I have used this method successfully on both a SeaLife DC-500 housing and a Canon DC-15
housing.

If you are fairly confident that the button doesn't have any salt built up
(which it shouldn't if you soaked it in warm water).

Then lube the o-ring.
I did this by using a toothpick and a standard o-ring silicon lube:
O-ring Lube

Use a very very small amount on the tip of the toothpick and rub it on the
button shaft. You don't want too much as it can attract dirt.
If you can see even a tiny blob on the end of the toothpick, it is too much.

Not sure about the DC16 housing but on the DC15 housing you have to lube
the shaft from the top/outside of the housing. You can lube the shaft on the
inside but the o-ring is too far away and it won't reach the o-ring.

On the DC15 housing you have to stick the toothpick into a slot in the plastic
and in between the spring on the shutter button.
Rub the wood gently to the metal shaft and push the button and rotate the shaft slightly
by turning the button as well.
It takes a few times and you may have to coat the toothpick in the silicon grease a few times but
you will immediately notice the difference on the sticky button.

--- bill