28 replies to this topic

[Kimmeineche]

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I am not 100% sure how it works with marine-grade aluminum though)& I do not think it is going to protect the housing from the problem I had as it happen all in total of 5 dive/2-3 hours.

Sam

Hi sam!

Galvanic Corrosion can be very aggressive, special if electricity is involved........!

I have not seen how the zinc is mounted on the seacam-housing with my own eyes, but if it suposed to have any effect I think the zincplate MUST have physical contact to the housing!

Kim! :-)

[EspenRekdal]

Hi sam!

Galvanic Corrosion can be very aggressive, special if electricity is involved........!

I have not seen how the zinc is mounted on the seacam-housing with my own eyes, but if it suposed to have any effect I think the zincplate MUST have physical contact to the housing!

Kim! :-)

Though a sink plate will help corrosion on a typical aluminum housing the problem with the sea&sea needs an entirely different solution. It's obvious to me that Sea&sea are not the smartest kid on the block simply put it would be easy for them to fix the problem (remove current from battery compartment door/outside), but instead they choose to limit their guaranties to use with sea&sea housings. That sort of customer care is the reason I'll stay clear of them in the future.

The fix for users of Nexus housings and others is easy enough. Exchange the tray inside the housing with a plastic one. I hope Nexus will offer this on their housings as it is clearly not a good idea (ever) to ground the camera to the housing. Adding a delrin screw to fasten the camera to the tray would work with some cameras, but some trays have a pin for stability that also is grounded - thus the need for a plastic tray.

Espen

[Paul Kay]

FYI Seacam use a zinc plate connected betwee the handles (resin) and housing body. They are in physical contact with the two stainless bolts which pass through the handles, zinc and finally into the housing body where the bolts secure via two 'helicoiled' threaded holes ('helicoils' are stainless steel threaded inserts used to prevent aluminium threaded holes wearing). As such they are effectively in direct contact with the housing itself. However additionally Seacam housing are Eloxil coated - a very hard surface treatment which helps prevent corrosion too - and should be oiled regularly to maintain their surface and deal with any surface damage or abrasions. Seacam take a belt and braces approach which I can vouch for as my own housings have been well used and they still look almost as new!

Electrolytic corrosion can be a real problem though especially if electric power passes through incompatible metals. The only answer is to change materials or to isolate components. I also always use and suggest using a locking compound (loctite or similar) on any bolts fitted to housings (of any type) and recommend that all cables are removed from both housing and flash when not in use or after diving. Whilst the problems discussed here show very aggressive electrolytic action, I have seen it before on many different housings and often as a result of flash connections being left connected (the record so far is 8 months - which required a lot of removing!).

[malodiver]

In a few weeks I will be putting the Seacam D2X ( with zinc Anode ) / Sea & Sea II converter N / Inon Z 240 dual strobes, to the test. We will be doing 50 to 60 dives each, over 15 days in Indonesia with 2 of these rigs. I plan on greasing threads, as well as spraying connections with Salt Away and rinsing with fresh water after each dive. Will watch everything like a hawk and switch back to manual @ the first sign of trouble. Look for a report on this thread during the week of March 19 on how well this combination worked and troubles noted.
Any other suggestions???

Guinea Pig

[shchae]

In a few weeks I will be putting the Seacam D2X ( with zinc Anode ) / Sea & Sea II converter N / Inon Z 240 dual strobes, to the test. We will be doing 50 to 60 dives each, over 15 days in Indonesia with 2 of these rigs. I plan on greasing threads, as well as spraying connections with Salt Away and rinsing with fresh water after each dive. Will watch everything like a hawk and switch back to manual @ the first sign of trouble. Look for a report on this thread during the week of March 19 on how well this combination worked and troubles noted.
Any other suggestions???

Guinea Pig

Hi,
Latest I found that I am going to have my converter back (new or re-built, I don'y know yet) & am going to do a test myself & post here. As you see previous post, issue is the base plate of housing & you may want to check your base plate & find a way to proeprly insulate from housing. I also, saw first post from 'industry'
(backscatter) that they are doing a test.(they were testing 'other' strobes vs. camera. not covering housings)

I think we will all know what to do in 2-3 weeks time.

Sam

[Rattus]

Sam, if you have a multimeter it would be interesting to see if there are any potential differences (voltages) between the various parts of your rig when it's all set up and powered up. e.g. between the housing metal and the nikonos plug body, and between the plug and the TTL battery compartment.

Cheers,

Martyn

[bruceterrill]

Hi Guys,
This thread seems to have come to an abrupt end???
Has anyone had any new results from experiments or ideas.
I am particularly interested in getting the S&S convertor to work with my Nexus housed D70S.
I have had the Nexus hotshoe connector/adaptor NCC-V2 rewired so that the polarity has been reversed.
This now makes the hotshoe connector basically the same as the S&S unit. In an attempt to protect myself from "Murphy's Law", I am now going to have a look at insulating the camera from the housing's base plate;
any suggestions would be appreciated. Obviously, it would have to be a simple fix, so as not to move the camera around too much and lose the use of some of the controls??

Bruce

[shchae]

Hi,
I just got my i-ttl converter(repaired) + Nexus D200 housing back & will test it underwater in two weeks. Before I use it underwater, I am going to check my hotshoe wiring + measure the potential differences as suggested. I made a plastic screw for my camera base & put rubber tape on it too.

Sam

[Andy H]

Hi Sam,
any update on this?
I'm about to go to a D200 and converter and would appreciate any advice where this is concerned.

Thanks & regards,
Andy

Hi,
I just got my i-ttl converter(repaired) + Nexus D200 housing back & will test it underwater in two weeks. Before I use it underwater, I am going to check my hotshoe wiring + measure the potential differences as suggested. I made a plastic screw for my camera base & put rubber tape on it too.

Sam