Newbie question about the "waterproof seal/o-ring"

[huskychemist]

Alright...as most of you know, I got the A620 with Canon housing...and am hoping to get into the water tonight.

So the directions say the waterproof seal (aka the o-ring) should be removed and lightly greased before using.

So I'm following the directions to remove the o-ring, and it's not coming out. The directions strongly caution against using fingernails, etc. to remove the seal... So what works for you folks? Did you grease your o-ring?

And once you get it out, what are the tricks for putting it back in without getting a crease/fold/tear?

Thanks a lot! I appreciate having a forum to ask questions. (Hopefully, some day, I can be on the answering side of some of them.)

Lowell

 

[all4scuba05]

unfortunately the directions make it sound easier than it really is. If the o-ring is dry then that's going make it easier. If you still can't get it out that way, then do what some of us have been doing. At your own risk ofcourse. My ring is always greased so when I want to take it out, its a pain trying to do it by the directions. I use a dull wooden toothpick. Even that is tricky. Guess I've been lucky so far because not one nick on my o-ring yet. Others have other methods. You'll read about them soon enough. Ofcourse the directions have the safest method. I'm just not good enough at it especially when its greased up already. Wait for a couple of responses and ideas first. In the meantime keep trying the way the directions say and maybe you'll get good at it and therefore won't need to do something risky like some of us do.

 

[herman]

I use the corner of a credit card. O-rings are really pretty tough, unless you use something sharp or really get rough with it you are not going to hurt it. Remember the grease is to lubricate the o-ring and is not really part of the seal. You want just enough to make it slick. I put a small amount on me index finger and slide the o-ring between my index finger and thumb. You can tell when you have gotten all the way around as it starts to slip a lot better.
If this is a new housing, I would recommend taking it on it's maiden voyage without the camera. That way if it leaks, nothing is damaged. Even better if your LDS has a pressure test pot have them test it to depth.
I would also recommend you VERY closely inspect the o-ring everytime you are going to use the housing. I inspect mine with a magnifying glass and I have found a couple grains of sand and hairs that I would have missed otherwise.

 

[Monkey Knife-fight]

On my first trip with my camera i took the oring out after every dive and greased it up. Since then i've found that (to some degree) benign neglect is better for your oring. Constantly pulling the oring out and lubing it will stretch the oring even if you are careful...and the fact of the matter is you don't need it to be very lubed. Now when i'm diving at home (most weekends usually) i almost never take the oring out. Before and after dive trips where i do lots of diving i'll pull the oring out and lube it. I also tend to replace the oring completely about every year. Otherwise i just run a finger along the oring and make sure nothing is on it. I've never used a magnifying glass or anything like that but obviously different strokes for different folks.

Chris

 

[huskychemist]

Thanks for the tip! The credit card worked great. I tried the "textbook" method again, and had no luck. I can imagine it only gets harder after greasing up...so thanks.

From what I'm gathering here, I don't need to lube it every dive...but checking its integrity each dive makes sense. Looking for hair/dirt/sand/etc.

I also plan on ordering some extra o-rings in case I have any problems. Replacing them each year is recommended in the textbook.

Any of you here cold water divers with big gloves? I'm thinking it'll take me some time to get proficient at pushing the right buttons... For now, I figured I'd do almost all "automatic" shots...then work towards manual settings.


Thanks again for the suggestions. I'm hoping to post pictures tonight or tomorrow.

Lowell

 

[CompuDude]

On other tip I saw here that seemed like a great idea is to use a very lightweight guitar pick. Super thin plastic, plenty strong, but smooth, and just the thing to slip under and pop out the o-ring without scratching anything.

 

[all4scuba05]

On other tip I saw here that seemed like a great idea is to use a very lightweight guitar pick. Super thin plastic, plenty strong, but smooth, and just the thing to slip under and pop out the o-ring without scratching anything.

perfect idea...forgot about that one....gotta get a bunch, put dive stickers on them and off to ebay...

 

[huskychemist]

My camera survived the maiden voyage! I dove this evening at Redondo, here in Puget Sound with my regular dive buddy. I took something like 80 pictures...just snapping away. A few of them turned out. They are in my photo gallery.

http://scuba.huskychemist.org/Galleries/Redondo-LT-5-11-06/Index.htm

Sorry to put a link instead of actual pictures here...but it was the easiest way for me to share with everybody.

There are some I put in the gallery simply because of the subject, not the qaulity of the picture. But I think I need to keep my hand steadier when taking the picture...got some that were blurry. Also, I'm wondering if I was too close on some...

Anyway...feel free to send tips/pointers/comments my way about the pictures. I'm ready to learn more.

And I want to say again: Thanks to all of you for your advice and willingness to help a newbie out. Searching this board helped me choose the camera to buy...and has helped me already with the picture taking.

I'll try to post more after this weekend's diving.

Thanks.

Lowell

 

[bnelson]

trick is to pinch the o-ring gently, but not too hard
also, gently stretch it along everywhere and look for nicks that you wouldn't normally see otherwise

 

[CompuDude]

My camera survived the maiden voyage! I dove this evening at Redondo, here in Puget Sound with my regular dive buddy. I took something like 80 pictures...just snapping away. A few of them turned out. They are in my photo gallery.

http://scuba.huskychemist.org/Galleries/Redondo-LT-5-11-06/Index.htm

Sorry to put a link instead of actual pictures here...but it was the easiest way for me to share with everybody.

There are some I put in the gallery simply because of the subject, not the qaulity of the picture. But I think I need to keep my hand steadier when taking the picture...got some that were blurry. Also, I'm wondering if I was too close on some...

Anyway...feel free to send tips/pointers/comments my way about the pictures. I'm ready to learn more.

And I want to say again: Thanks to all of you for your advice and willingness to help a newbie out. Searching this board helped me choose the camera to buy...and has helped me already with the picture taking.

I'll try to post more after this weekend's diving.

Not a bad start, especially considering nighttime photos are even trickier than daytime. You'll have better luck next time, and the time after that, too. A couple tricks:

1) Until you have a killer strobe, don't bother using the flash on anything more than a couple feet away, or backscatter will kill your shot.

2) If you need to take a shot of something father than a couple feet away, and available light isn't enough, go ahead and take the shot: digital is free. You won't like the outcome much, however.

3) Macro mode is your friend. Get close.

4) If you think you are close enough, get closer. Note: Most fish don't cooperate much. Treasure the ones that do.

5) Pay close attention to the screen, and where the focus is locking. Often the camera will choose to focus on anything but the thing you're trying to shoot. Readjust the camera position slightly, and try again.

6) Start saving for your strobe now.

Welcome to the addiction of uw photos.