Housing maintance pre/post dives

[TLangston]

With the help of scubaboard, I have recently bought my first camera - A-95 and housing. I am going diving for a week in Cozumel. As often as I can every day. I have tested it out in a pool.
I have read many posts and need some advice.
How do you prepare your house for a dive? Do you grease the o-ring before every dive?

What about after? Do you let the house soak in fresh water to remove any salt deposits? How long?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Teri

 

[alijtaylor]

Teri
Here is what I do. When I am at home I dive at most once a week and grease the o-ring before each outing but if I am on a 2 dive boat trip I don't open the case or grease between dives. After my weekly dive I will soak the housing for between 30mins and 1 hour in fresh water.
On a multi dive multi day boat trip I will inspect the o-ring every time I have opened the case but grease it every day or every couple of days. I will soak the case at the end of every day.
I have owned the camera S-50 in a WP DC300for just over a year and have not (yet) had problems but I always carry a spare O-ring on multi day trips in case it appears damaged. I leave my o ring in the case from week to week to but the case is not locked shut, it is in a low dust environment.
Good luck in Cozumel
Alison

 

[alcina]

I soak mine for at least 15 minutes in warm water - usually I leave it for a bit longer. I then rinse it with more warm water for a couple of minutes - the shower works perfectly for this. I use a soft, as lint free as possible towel to dry it all off; I gently blow perpendicular to the buttons to get most of the water out.

As for my oring, I almost never grease it nor remove it from the groove. The more you handle it, the shorter its life span. But I diligently inspect it before closing the housing every time - the clear housings are great. If I do see some debris, I carefully without stretching it more than necessary, remove the oring and use my fingers to gently wipe it clean. I also take a sponge tipped applicator (like for makeup) and clean the groove. Then inspect both the groove and the oring carefully, put the oring back, inspect again and close the housing. I may run a bit of wet finger around the oring. All the grease does is keep the oring moist, so you don't want to overdo it - you shouldn't see the grease (oring should be a bit shiny is all).

When I store a housing for more than a few weeks, I remove the oring, stick it in a ziplock baggie and put the whole thing in the housing along with a dessicant pack. I close and lock the housing and store it in a padded bag and/or my handy dandy tupperware container.

A spare oring shouldn't be an extra - it should be a standard part of your kit.

Have a great time in Cozumel and I look forward to the photos!!

 

[kent_1848]

OK, I have a followup question, since I am in the same boat Brand new camera and housing with the help of Scubaboard, trip at the end of the month. Do you ever rinse out the inside of the housing, or do you always keep the housing closed when rinsing it? I have read the books twice, and it says nothing about greasing other than it comes with a tube of silicone grease...very odd I thought. Also, since you mentioned that an o-ring is a standard part of my kit, what else should I have ready? P.S. anything wrong with those batteries made for canons that are made in China? Cost $15.99 compared to $45.99!!!!!

I soak mine for at least 15 minutes in warm water - usually I leave it for a bit longer. I then rinse it with more warm water for a couple of minutes - the shower works perfectly for this. I use a soft, as lint free as possible towel to dry it all off; I gently blow perpendicular to the buttons to get most of the water out.

As for my oring, I almost never grease it nor remove it from the groove. The more you handle it, the shorter its life span. But I diligently inspect it before closing the housing every time - the clear housings are great. If I do see some debris, I carefully without stretching it more than necessary, remove the oring and use my fingers to gently wipe it clean. I also take a sponge tipped applicator (like for makeup) and clean the groove. Then inspect both the groove and the oring carefully, put the oring back, inspect again and close the housing. I may run a bit of wet finger around the oring. All the grease does is keep the oring moist, so you don't want to overdo it - you shouldn't see the grease (oring should be a bit shiny is all).

When I store a housing for more than a few weeks, I remove the oring, stick it in a ziplock baggie and put the whole thing in the housing along with a dessicant pack. I close and lock the housing and store it in a padded bag and/or my handy dandy tupperware container.

A spare oring shouldn't be an extra - it should be a standard part of your kit.

Have a great time in Cozumel and I look forward to the photos!!

 

[alcina]

I never rinse the inside of the housing. Orings are checked thoroughly before I close it up for rinsing.

Not sure why the manuals skip the oring greasing stuff. But the above should be a good start for you.

My kit always contains: sponge tipped applicators, tiny tube of grease, spare batteries (I have Sony and Sanyo rechargeables 2100 & 2300's - both seem to last at least 3 70+ minute dives with the lcd on and shooting away), spare oring, oring remover tool and a backup memory card - you never know when the dive is going to fill the largest card built!

I also take my leatherman, electrical tape, zip ties - but this is rarely used on my own camera gear (though I've used these bits three times in the last four dives on other people's stuff!) If I know I will be doing three or more dives, I'll also take my Archos Gmini - I can quickly download a card to its memory to free the card for the next dive.

HTH

 

[LegoPacific]

I have the A70 and grease the O-ring every 2-3 dives. Just be sure you are cleaning it and not adding lint to the ring.

After the dive, it immediately goes in a bucket of fresh water--do not let it dry out until it has soaked in fresh water