PT-023 Housing

[tltracy]

I have the PT-023 housing for my Olympus 8080 camera, and this weekend the little clips that hold the wide angle port onto the main body housing broke off.

Can I glue the port to the housing and make it permanent? What kind of glue would I use that would work on the plastic and be good for salt water?

 

[gert7to3]

I don't think you can glue this housing together. The "O" ring seals by compression. With the grease and such applied to the housing getting any glue to stick properly might be difficult.

The part that broke, was it the plastic under the little red latches on the side of the lens port? Reference the picture at this web site:

http://www.camerasunderwater.info/equipment/olympus/c8080/ppo05.jpg

A possible temporary solution might be to use the kind of window sealant that is strippable. By which I mean that it can be pulled off a window frame after it has been applied. If you were to clip the port onto the housing, then apply a continuous bead of sealant over the whole circumference of the joint, with a generous overlap, this might provide a flexible double seal, that would not further damage your housing, but would hold the port in place for the "O" ring to work. The clips I am thinking about are those metal spring clamps for paper. Just cover each whole clip with sealant. Otherwise they would corrode.

Getting some metal "U" shaped clips made might be another solution. Make them so they lightly pinch the port lip against the housing lip. This is to precompress the "O" ring. Then apply a band clamp around the circumference of the port/housing joint over those "U" shaped clips. No glue and it's removable.

 

[Rick Murchison]

The frequency of these things breaking (at least one on every PT-023 housing I know of) qualifies it as a "manufacturing defect" in my opinion...
Oh, yeah... to your question...
I have many leak-free dives on my hot-glued PT-023... 'course I may have just been lucky
- I am getting a little peeling at the edges of the hot glue job after a couple of years and will probably peel it all off and re-do it in the near future. I'll try to attach a picture when I get to the house tonight.
Rick

I have the PT-023 housing for my Olympus 8080 camera, and this weekend the little clips that hold the wide angle port onto the main body housing broke off.

Can I glue the port to the housing and make it permanent? What kind of glue would I use that would work on the plastic and be good for salt water?

 

[tltracy]

The part that broke, was it the plastic under the little red latches on the side of the lens port?

Yes.. both of those little do-hickies... snapped right off. One had broken before and I just superglued it and it worked, but now both popped off - and are lost.

Getting some metal "U" shaped clips made might be another solution. Make them so they lightly pinch the port lip against the housing lip. This is to precompress the "O" ring. Then apply a band clamp around the circumference of the port/housing joint over those "U" shaped clips. No glue and it's removable.

Can I get you to make me some of those???

Someone mentioned a marine glue... Marine 5100/5200??? What about a silicone glue of some sort. I was planning on putting a bead of silicone or glue of some sort on the outside of the housing in the ridge to hold the thing together. Think that would work? And I could still peel it off if need be... like a window caulking.

 

[gert7to3]

Yes, what I had in mind was the peelable window caulking (which is a silicone sealant). You should still use the "O" ring, because that's the engineered seal.

I don't have this housing, so I don't know how much of a lip there is at the edge of the lens port and housing. Nor do I know the dimensions of the lip.

According to the other poster, he used hot melt glue and it has worked so far, apparently with just glue on the joint.

Here's a quick drawing of what I had in mind:

 

[Rick Murchison]

The frequency of these things breaking (at least one on every PT-023 housing I know of) qualifies it as a "manufacturing defect" in my opinion...
Oh, yeah... to your question...
I have many leak-free dives on my hot-glued PT-023... 'course I may have just been lucky
- I am getting a little peeling at the edges of the hot glue job after a couple of years and will probably peel it all off and re-do it in the near future. I'll try to attach a picture when I get to the house tonight.
Rick

Here ye go... it ain't pretty, but it's got at least a hundred dives on it so far with no leaks
Rick

 

[Hammerhead]

That exact same breakage cost me a completely new camera a few years back. Olympus denied any type of design defect and told me to get stuffed.

So I bought Canon thereafter.

Still miffed, though.

 

[tltracy]

Yes, what I had in mind was the peelable window caulking (which is a silicone sealant). You should still use the "O" ring, because that's the engineered seal.

That's a great idea... as far as the hinge thing... I don't know how to make one of those, where can I find one of those?

Here ye go... it ain't pretty, but it's got at least a hundred dives on it so far with no leaks
Rick

This is what I was thinking with the window caulking/marine glue... just glue the outside and be able to peel it off later to relube the o-ring and such.

That exact same breakage cost me a completely new camera a few years back. Olympus denied any type of design defect and told me to get stuffed.

Luckily I noticed it before I jumped in the water... the thing laying in two pieces on my lap. I've already flooded one camera out in this and I really would have been peeved if I'd flooded another one.

Thanks for all the input... What are your thoughts about seeing if a camera shop (underwater camera shop, of course) could drill little screws in the place where the do-hickies were?? Although that might crack the housing? Then slide the little red hinges over it and glue it around the ridge. That might work and still have the o-ring do it's work.

 

[LVX]

You know, those housings really suck. I 'had' one as well which did leak and cost me a camera. I then lost the diffuser and when I called Olympus to get a replacement part, they told me it qualified as a repair not a replacement so I would have to send it in and have them replace the diffuser. Cost - $130 plus shippping for a $5 piece of plastic.

I have since switched to Ikelite....

 

[tltracy]

Alrighty then... does this Ikelite housing work with the Sea and Sea Strobe with the Nikonos plug? That's my set-up now (which I had to get a special adapter for to make the YS-60 work) as my flash. How does that Ikelite work with the Nikonos plug? Or doesn't it?