Minor leak - or a near flood??

[Warren_L]

Did a couple dives yesterday with my rig. Oly C5050 and PT-015 with the requisite tray/arms/strobe, etc....

First dive to 75 feet, about 30 min, no problems. Got some great shots. Had about an hour surface interval, then next dive to 70 feet, 20 minutes or so. Got some shots, not great. Noticed at the safety stop the inside of my housing was all fogged up. The water temperature at depth was about 48F and at the surface about 63F. When I opened up the housing, the dessicant pack was completely soaked (boy was I glad I had one in there) and the interior housing was fogged with droplets of water. I'm guessing I had a minor leak on the first dive as moisture would only form that way possibly on the surface interval when it was sitting in 75F air temperatures and then condensing when the housing went suddenly down to 48F?

Not sure what the problem was - I'm usually meticulous about cleaning, greasing and making sure I have a good seal on my housing. Considering it only has about 60 dives on it, I wouldn't think that the housing or the small o-rings on the buttons for the PT-015 would be failing? Anyone experience any leaks on the PT-015 only after this many dives?

The camera seems to be fine, but I may have to pressure test the housing again before I use my camera......

 

[Dee]

Sounds like just excessive condensation to me. Your dessicant pack doesn't absorb water, just the moisture in the air of the housing. I would suggest cutting a mini-pad into strips and placing them around your camera in the housing, they are thin. It will absorb the water formed from the condensation. If there is enough space, I'd add an extra dessicant pack, too.

 

[Warren_L]

Yeah, I wasn't sure what it could have been. There was a fair bit of condensation. It wasn't just like the fog you get on your bathroom mirror after a hot shower ... it was to the point where droplets had gotten so big that raindrop size drops were rolling down the inside of the housing and the dessicant pack was completely soaked (I could have wrung some water out of it).

Anyway, I will give the mini pad thing a try - it would provide some added protection should this happen again.

Thanks

 

[Allison Finch]

Mini pad??? Whassat??

 

[Warren_L]

It's a feminine hygene product. Not that I would know much about them.

 

[Dee]

I use Always™ Panty Liners or mini-pads. The thinner the better. I cut them into strips about 1" wide and 2" long and slip them in around the camera AFTER I've put the dessicant packs in.

WARNING: Do NOT force anything into these spaces! It can messup the way the camera sits in the housing, causing the housing buttons not to connect properly with the camera buttons and it can torque the mode dial shaft. Also be careful whenever adding anything to the housing, that you don't have any part of it in the way of the o-ring seal!