Wet O Ring in my Cannon Housing

[mjgoodman]

Hi All,

I'm testing my UW camera set up prior to my trip next week. I have a G10, WP DC 38 and Sea and Sea Y01. Everything is working well EXCEPT one thing: The o ring in the housing was wet after the camera was submerged for 10 min. The housing's inside was completely dry as was the camera. Is this something I need to worry about? If so, how do I fix it?

Should I leave the o ring inside the housing when I travel or put it in a plastic baggie and lock it inside the housing? Thanks.

Matt

 

[cardog]

Hi All,

I'm testing my UW camera set up prior to my trip next week. I have a G10, WP DC 38 and Sea and Sea Y01. Everything is working well EXCEPT one thing: The o ring in the housing was wet after the camera was submerged for 10 min. The housing's inside was completely dry as was the camera. Is this something I need to worry about? If so, how do I fix it?

Should I leave the o ring inside the housing when I travel or put it in a plastic baggie and lock it inside the housing? Thanks.



Matt

The o ring will get water on it since the plastic case is not watertight. The o ring is the barrier between the inside and outside of the housing.

 

[DiveMaven]

I never leave the o-ring in the housing for travel or storage. I clean it, recoat it with silicone grease, and store naturally coiled in a ziplock baggy. I do the same thing for the strobe and lens port o-rings as well.

Honestly though, I can't remember the o-ring EVER being wet after a dive, that would concern me. If it were me, I'd carefully clean the channel and o-ring, regrease, then reinstall on the housing and do another test.

 

[cardog]

I never leave the o-ring in the housing for travel or storage. I clean it, recoat it with silicone grease, and store naturally coiled in a ziplock baggy. I do the same thing for the strobe and lens port o-rings as well.

Honestly though, I can't remember the o-ring EVER being wet after a dive, that would concern me. If it were me, I'd carefully clean the channel and o-ring, regrease, then reinstall on the housing and do another test.

If the o ring was dry that would mean that your plastic (or aluminum) housing was keeping out all moisture without benefit of the o ring.

 

[bvanant]

think about the physics of the o-ring. You have a ring in a groove that is squished by a flat plate compressing the o-ring. Good compression is about 7% or a bit more so there needs to be a gap between the flat plate and the plate that holds the o-ring. It has to get wet, but you most likely don't notice since if it is greased correctly it will be very hydrophobic and water won't stick.
Bill

 

[mjgoodman]

thanks all, question answered.

 

[Gilligan]

Something else for you to check on your Canon housing are the so called "mold release" marks. They are supposedly a result of the housing manufacturing process. There are four of them in the O-ring groove on the housing door. I point them out on this page of MY WEBSITE.

There has been a lot of discussions on those mold release marks causing some Canon housings to leak. I cannot confirm or deny that.

My G10 housing had very faint mold release marks. However my G12 housing had more pronounced ones so I gently sanded them down with 800 wet/dry sandpaper being careful not to widen the groove while doing so.

You may want to check your housing for the size of those release marks?