Canon Housing Leaks - Easy DIY Fix

[prandyulo]

After doing the DIY repair on the mold release lines suggested in this thread, I once again saw water droplets inside my housing after exposing the unit in a soak tub exposed to the hot sun. I was able to abort the dive however since the condensation was a bit thick already. After opening the housing, I towel dried it, air dried, and on the next dive tried it without the camera inside to be sure. Then on the 3rd dive with the camera. Good to go once again. Lesson learned: don't expose to the hot sun prior to the dive, even soaking because the water is also warm affecting the plastic material's characteristics.

 

[prandyulo]

And by the way, I failed to mention, reefwalker's leak detector worked, but because the sun was a bit bright at the time, the white LED flashing wasn't noticeable. maybe a red would be better.

 

[gummybun]

Well, since it's already ruined, you might try a bit of fiberglass epoxy to fill it. Then sand it down manually!

Yes I agree it is well worth a try, but I would suggest the resin, matrix, or bonding agent that is softer than the surrounding plastic. Otherwise when you are sanding it back you will be sanding off more of the surrounding plastic than the filler material. Epoxy can become very hard - much harder than many casting resins.

Possible alternates - ski base filler? As it will be supported all sides, it is only acting as a 'seat' for the 'o' ring and that material would expand and contract nicely - I hope.

 

[Jax]

And by the way, I failed to mention, reefwalker's leak detector worked, but because the sun was a bit bright at the time, the white LED flashing wasn't noticeable. maybe a red would be better.

I'm curious . . . if the leak detector goes up, do you thumb the dive? Do you go up carefully?, throw the camera on the boat, and then resubmerge? What if you are drift diving?

I never thought of this before . . . How many feet down do you need to take the empty case before you decide it's 'okay'?

 

[prandyulo]

I took the case down to about 90 feet, as close as its maximum depth rating. When the leak detector lights up, it means the sensor detected moisture inside. You immediately bring up slowly the camera and don't wait for the moisture to turn to water. Better safe than sorry and I say this with having experienced 2 floodings already.

 

[ScubaMarc]

I took the case down to about 90 feet, as close as its maximum depth rating.

90 feet far away from the max of 130 feet. i know this case has passed the 130 mark many times and knew somepeople who took it to 170. at 170 the button stick.

I a not sure if this is true; but the case should not leak if it goes deep, just the buttons stop working. When there is more pressure, the seals are force inwards so it should not leak but the functionality will stop working. I am not talking about very deep just to 150 or so.

 

[emoreira]

I wouldn't recommend using any 'machine' (like a Dremal Tool) to remove the Mould Release Lines.
As I have successfully fixed lots of these housings, I would suggest following my instructions.
To clarify what you are doing with this sanding, here is a sketch with details.
Please ask if your not sure!

I've thoroughly inspected my housing (Canon WP-DC-12) for Canon A570IS and the mold lines were there. I've followed the instructions in this post and removed them.
I've used a 1000 grit water-sand paper. I sanded the housing with a 2 mm thick ruler with the sand paper soaked with water and white soap.
After successfully removing the mold lines, I polished the groove with "Autopolish". The whole action took me less that 1 hour.
I have already used my housing for more than 25 dives prior to this, but never went deeper than 22 meters (72 feet).
Next month I will probably dive deeper 30 mts (100 feet), so I thought I should prepare the housing for the additional pressure.

 

[emoreira]

These instructions should also go to the sticky part.

 

[sharcfinz]

wow. . . a little intimidating just reading it all!!

Question - is it a smart move to purchase this housing and try the fix? Or go for another brand? .. . there's quite a bit of markup difference though, and in past dives (before the cameras were flooded , I also bought the strobe and red filter . .. . would I need/is it recommended to get this for this housing as well?

 

[Reefwalker]

wow. . . a little intimidating just reading it all!!

Question - is it a smart move to purchase this housing and try the fix? Or go for another brand? .. . there's quite a bit of markup difference though, and in past dives (before the cameras were flooded , I also bought the strobe and red filter . .. . would I need/is it recommended to get this for this housing as well?

I'm not really sure what you are asking?