Any special preliminary checks on new housing?

[OcciferNick]

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a brand new Nauticam NA-D7000V housing and wondered if there were any special preliminary checks that people conduct on a brand new housing prior to the first dive? My first dive will obviously be just the housing.

I previously owned a Sea & Sea housing for a Nikon D70 so am fully aware of all the normal pre dive checks, o-rings, camera function, lens cap left on etc but having never owned a brand new housing and was curious to see what people did specially if anything.

Kindest regards,
Nick

 

[James R]

I have a D7000 for underwater as well.

1) I bought the Backscatter AirLock for my Nauticam housing, so I will pump it down to -5 before breakfast and make sure it's still -5 before we get in the water.

2) I added the housing, camera, & lens to my USAA VPP. An accidental flood only ruins one trip this way.

3) I bought a spare body so we can still take land photos if something bad happens to the other on a dive.

I don't think a whole dive with the housing is really necessary, but I know people that do. I would make sure to properly clean and lubricate the main o-ring and port o-rings. Make sure the port is properly attached and locked in place, too.

 

[bvanant]

I think that it is useful to take the housing down with some weight in it and make sure that you work ALL the buttons at some reasonable depth (40-60 feet). Very occasionally you will find a bit of a drop of water at the end of one of the buttons. If you have the vacuum check then I would use it, but at least twice I have seen a brand new housing have a small issue that was discovered with no camera inside.

Bill

 

[James R]

That does seem reasonable, and a good idea, Bill.

I think maybe I've been a bit too care-free.

 

[OcciferNick]

Thanks guys,

I don't have the vacuum system but definitely considering it.
I'll just keep an eye on leak detector

Cheers

 

[plok]

Check the buoyancy of your complete setup. It might be a little too negative. Operating a heavy rig underwater could be quite stressful task let alone it may affect your own buoyancy balance. You may need to add some floats. Also the first dive in the swimming pool would be the safest.

 

[jcclink]

Weight the empty housing for a test dive but do not put weight inside the housing. It could shift position & damage a control (or 2). Attach weight to one of the handles or let it hang off the housing on a short line. I usually do a quick 50-60 ft dive & work ALL the controls several times, looking inside for possible leaks as I do.

 

[KeithG]

Any new to me housing gets a bath tub check. I work all of the controls and put a brick & towel on top to keep it submerged for a day.

While not comprehensive since there is very little pressure, it is very easy and can be done well ahead of dive time.

 

[tc]

I always stuff mine full of wadded up paper towels or tissues for the test dive so the source of a leak is a bit more obvious.

 

[OcciferNick]

Prior to entering the water the leak detector was going off. I had put it together in the morning at home and had it covered under a towel the whole time. I was at the dive site within a couple of hours. I made an educated guess that it was faulty and removed the battery. Tested all the buttons and knobs throughout the dive and everything was fine. Just need to find out what's wrong with the leak detector. Can humidity set it off and in such a short time?