14 replies to this topic

[John Bantin]

As an alternative to the Hugycheck vacuum pump, I got a Vacuvin manual pump. It's intended for removing the air from wine bottles but works well on the Hugyfot housing. It's a manual pump so no battery or wiring to fail during a long trip and it weighs and costs almost nothing!

Edited by John Bantin, 02 November 2012 - 11:26 PM.

[Alex_Mustard]

Or you could drink the wine and then not worry anymore about the housing!

Alex

[ChrigelKarrer]

Nice Tip John Bantin!
I was already thinking about a emergency solution but even if i produce wine i did not thought about that solution.
Chris

[tdpriest]

Or you could drink the wine and then not worry anymore about the housing!

Hmmmnn...

... except that when my Nexus housing flooded it wasn't unrelated to the wedding party's free Margharitas spread around the guests at the Cortez Club in La Paz...

[andy_deitsch]

John,

Does the Vacuvin pump fit over the Hugycheck valve? I happen to have a Vacuvin at home and the opening of the pump is much wider than the valve for my Housing Sentry valve. Are you doing something specific to make it fit on the Hugycheck valve?

[Udo van Dongen]

John,

Does the Vacuvin pump fit over the Hugycheck valve? I happen to have a Vacuvin at home and the opening of the pump is much wider than the valve for my Housing Sentry valve. Are you doing something specific to make it fit on the Hugycheck valve?

My vacuvin pump does not fit directly to the hugycheck valve, but the rubber 'cork' fits directly over the Hugycheck valve and once it's vacuum you simply remove it. BTW, it's also way faster then the electrical pump!

Udo

[John Bantin]

Udo is correct...and you need a quick pump with the enormous space inside the D800 housing!

By the way, Alex mentioned elsewhere that the valve can fail and let water in. That does not happen if you replace the blanking plug (similar to the ones on the other bulkhead connectors).

[John Bantin]

Woah! I was in a swimming pool with water at 33ºC and both my cameras loaded into Hugyfot housings the previous night, with Hugycheck shining green (no air leaked in overnight). It was very cold next morning with air temperatures around 4ºC. After 30 minutes in the warm water, a RED light came on on my D800 housing indicating an increase in air pressure or a leak! Arrrghhh! Luckily, it was the pressure inside the housing increasing as the water warmed the housing and thereby expanding the air within it.
Normally I'd be assembling a rig in air temperatures higher than the water I dive in.

Edited by John Bantin, 07 November 2012 - 04:05 AM.

[ChrigelKarrer]

I had the same problem with the leak detector turning red because of the increasing air pressure because of heat in the car
or warm water in Eilat last year.
I use the vacum pump for about 3-5 seconds more after the led turn green, his avoided further wrong alarms.
Chris

[roberto.formiga]

Nice tip, John. Thanks! My experience with the vacuum pump is not good. It's very slow... I am able to do it much faster with my mouth, sucking air directly from the one-way valve. I tried it as an emergency solution and it become the way I normally do it.

[davelew]

I don't use a Hugyfot housing, I use an experimental housing with a check valve and the ability to pump a vacuum to test seals and avoid fogging. On my housing, I use a Mityvac hand vacuum pump, available at auto parts stores for bleeding brake valves, or from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co...c brake bleeder

I wonder if that would work for the Hugy housings? It takes about 40 squeezes for me to get to a 50% vacuum (15" of mercury on the pump's pressure dial) which is a little tedious, but not too bad.

[andy_deitsch]

I don't use a Hugyfot housing, I use an experimental housing with a check valve and the ability to pump a vacuum to test seals and avoid fogging. On my housing, I use a Mityvac hand vacuum pump, available at auto parts stores for bleeding brake valves, or from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co...c brake bleeder

I wonder if that would work for the Hugy housings? It takes about 40 squeezes for me to get to a 50% vacuum (15" of mercury on the pump's pressure dial) which is a little tedious, but not too bad.

I also used the Mityvac. If you can get hold of a Minivac which is made in the UK, it's much lighter than the Mityvac and easier to squeeze

[Steen Nissen]

One night I was preparing my camera for diving the next day, and the battery died on my hugypump. I had no choice but to use my mouth to suck out the air inside the housing. It worked well, was really fast, and I have never used the pump since then.

[John Bantin]

It's OK for you young suckers. I need a pump whether it be manual or electric!

[Ryan]

I just timed Vacuvin v. the Hugyfot electrical pump. Vacuvin 20 sec, Hugy 30 sec on a D700 housing.