Divevolk housing leak or flood

[mtnpool]

Hi All,

Thanks to the comments here on scubaboard, I recently bought a Divevolk Seatouch 4 Max and used it with my older iphone 11 pro max underwater. It performed well, and I am now considering using my newer iphone 14 pro max in it for even better quality. I know the saying that eventually all housings flood, and I have backed up my phone and plan on using the iphone 11 as my backup phone in case the housing leaks and damages the iphone 14.
Just wondering if anyone here has actually had that happen to their phone in any underwater housing? I know there have been random stories of phones being dropped in lakes and surviving after 1 year underwater, but just wondering if anyone has had that happen or have heard firsthand of that happening.
With the iphone being "water resistant", I'm thinking it should be able to handle a leak inside the housing, and then be able to be rinsed off after surfacing and survive unscathed, but still not quite sure, so wonder what everyone's experience is.

Thanks!

 

[rmorgan]

I’ve been using mine for a couple of years, I’m sure several dozen dives, and have neither had nor heard of a leak. Taking it to video mandarin fish off Butan in an hour. But I wouldn’t count on the phone to survive a full-on flood If one occurred . . .

 

[mtnpool]

Thanks @rmorgan - I'm usually pretty careful also with my gear and certainly hope nothing happens, was just curious if anyone had a leak and if the phone was damaged or fine. I love mandarin fish - saw some last on a Mabul island house reef when I went diving in Sipidan. Hope you got some good videos - please share a link if you post online!

What do you use for lighting? Is it mounted to the camera or a tray, or do you use a handheld flashlight?
@David Haas also shared some great photos - and I remember reading him saying he preferred holding a small flashlight off to the side instead of a larger one connected to the housing. I had it mounted on a tray with an arm and a video light the first time, but did have some backscatter. I also liked what @DirtFish used - with a light mounted using the cold shoe mount, and may try that next.

 

[DirtFish]

Years of use on over 500 dives and no leaks. I would ALWAYS get phone insurance just in case. I live on a lake and have had more than my share of phone christenings. Just a couple of months ago my neighbor paid me to find his phone in the lake. After 45 minutes searching I found it at 65 feet, still on and working a day later.

 

[mtnpool]

Sorry meant to reply to your post earlier but forgot to hit the post reply button! Thanks @DirtFish , stories like that make me feel a lot better about putting my phone in the case! And awesome to hear you’ve used it on over 500 dives with no leaks so far. I used it for the second time last weekend with my newer phone and it worked great!
I got a cold shoe ball mount and will try using the video light that way this weekend on a dive trip.

 

[Rick Brant]

I had hundreds of dives on mine with no leaks, all with the original o-ring. Unfortunately I made a very bad decision and did a dive without the slide insert that holds the phone. I was kind of in a pinch and had forgotten the slide. Anyway -- don't do that! The vinyl front screens tore and the jelly inside coated my phone, plus it leaked. My phone survived though, it just needed a good rinse. The manual explicitly says not to do what I did so this was 100% my fault. I bought another DiveVolk immediately.

 

[mtnpool]

Thanks @Rick Brant , glad to hear the phone survived, how deep were you? Did you safely abandon the dive at that point, or did you continue the dive before resurfacing? I'll make sure to definitely bring the slide insert - i just keep it in there all the time now.

Separate question - have any of you @rmorgan @DirtFish @David Haas @Rick Brant ever had issues with condensation on the inside? I generally try not to take the phone out between dives, but thinking in case I have a 4 or 5 dive day, will need to charge at some point (I do plan on using low power mode and airplane mode). Just wondering if taking it out while on a dive boat and putting it back in might cause some condensation. Thanks!

 

[Darnold9999]

Have three dives on mine and it flooded. Caught it right away so no damage done but not happy. Not sure why it flooded, but the gel pack had an air bubble in it before the dive so I was concerned before going in the water. Can’t visually find the leak or source of the air.

 

[Oldmanmatt]

Have three dives on mine and it flooded. Caught it right away so no damage done but not happy. Not sure why it flooded, but the gel pack had an air bubble in it before the dive so I was concerned before going in the water. Can’t visually find the leak or source of the air.

I think, and it happened to me, that those bubbles appear when the gel gets hot, then disappear once in the water. I left the housing on the boat the first time (48C air temps) because I thought I must have pierced the outer skin or something. When I took the housing out to inspect, back in my AC’d apartment, the bubble had disappeared. I have used it since, despite the appearance of the bubble and no flood. N=1 of course, so not a great sample size…

 

[mtnpool]

wow, only 3 dives, I've had 4 dives on mine so far, glad to hear you didn't have any damage at least, but I'm guessing you're not diving with that case again - did you contact divevolk about a possible replacement?