How often do you disassemble the entire housing on a multi day trip?

[humberto ramirez 0]

Hi everyone,

 

I use a Sea & Sea NX-100 housing, wich I never disassemble in a one week trip, unless I notice a piece o dirt in any o-rings.

The Sea & Sea blue o-rings seem to be undistructable, I have more than six years using the original o-rings, and they don't seem to get any flatter at all.

 

Humberto.

[jcclink 8]

Once you connect sync cords leave them connected unless there is an electrolysis issue like with stainless connectors in aluminum bulkhead. A small zinc washer attached to the housing will help minimize this, but you still have to inspect often. Isn't fiber optics just the greatest??

Edited July 23, 2009 by jcclink

[rtrski 20]

I open only when I have to (battery or memory card swaps) and reseal without 'cleaning' o-rings or re-greasing. But I do a visual inspection to make sure I don't see salt crystals or sand. And I only open in an air-conditioned room if at all possible, to keep humidity / salt atmosphere to a minimum inside the housing.

 

Otherwise my 'maintenance' consists of a dip in a rinse tank, pushing all pushbuttons to 'squirt out' the saltwater, and then taking it out and letting it dry, preferrably in a shady place if available. I tend also to not disconnect sync cables, but I will give them a twist and make sure they're still moving freely, and then retighten. (When doing initial assembly I do use the tactic David Haas frequently repeats -- a little o-ring grease on the metal threads -- to help keep the galvanic corrosion down.)

 

As to the comments about removing main seal rings not making sense while we leave in all the control penetration rings - I don't think it's nearly the same thing. Main seal rings which have an o-ring compressed between two flat faces have to be under much higher compression due to the much larger edge length being sealed. So I do still 'store' my housing with the main seal o-rings removed and stored in a baggy inside the housing itself. (Not necessarily the o-ring between the port extension and the housing though - with Ikelite's two-clip system, on the surface that oring isn't really in much compression at all....and for that matter the o-ring between the dome and port extension, that fits into a groove and is completely captivated where the two parts get screwed together - they're under more of a lateral compression vs. a pure squeeze.)

[Alex_Mustard 0]

I tend to clean and open my housing regularly. I have never had a housing flood (film or digital SLR), so I stick with the same approach. I don't necessarily recommend doing the same as me, this is just what works for me.

 

What is most important is to have your own philosophy and stick with it. You don't want to have a flood when you have deviated from what you normally do. You'd always blame yourself. "Why did I/didn't I clean it?"

 

The main reason for my approach is that I generally change lenses very regularly. It is highly unusually for me to do two dives in a row with the same optic. I find I am much more productive with the motivation that comes from a new perspective. I also download my pictures after each dive, unless it is a two tank dive on a small RIB etc.

 

In somewhere like Lembeh (black sand issue) I open my housing after each dive and remove and clean the main housing o-ring and port o-rings after each dive. Usually this is get rid of sand with tissue and then and grease. I tend to only re-grease every couple of days. Embarrassed as I am to admit it, I tend to just run the o-ring through my mouth to make sure it is clean before going back on. Synch sockets every couple of days. Strobe o-rings (inon) every time I change batteries.

 

In blue water diving (e.g. Red Sea), I open the camera as much, but don't tend to remove the o-rings from their slots. Just inspect them between dives and clean off debris with a licked finger.

 

Although many do much less, I tend to do the above very quickly, and despite doing more maintenance then most, I am usually also the first to be finished. I guess because I am using my camera so regularly.

 

I never really soak my housing. Dip, press buttons, and out. Plus maybe a hose down. But never been one to leave it water. I have still seen far more cameras flood in rinse tanks then in the ocean.

 

On any trip, I tend to take care where I keep and open my camera - and keep that consistent to avoid fogging problems. In many locations it is in an AC room, but in the Red Sea, for example, I tend to do it all outside. Often the same in temperate diving - in Canada, for example, on a small liveaboard I tended to work on my camera outside because it was closer to the sea temp, than inside the warm boat. In Lembeh, I use the non-AC camera room. I have never had a condensation issue.

 

Alex

[RedSeaDiver 0]

My usual way is to only do a big disassemble when I choose to sit out a dive or have dry day. For me this works well as I'm not rushing then and with everyone else in the water I'm not trying to do it and hold a conversation at the same time so I can concentrate on the task better, and with everyone else in the water there is usually plenty of space on the camera table to spread everything out.

[Deep6 7]

My usual way is to only do a big disassemble when I choose to sit out a dive or have dry day. For me this works well as I'm not rushing then and with everyone else in the water I'm not trying to do it and hold a conversation at the same time so I can concentrate on the task better, and with everyone else in the water there is usually plenty of space on the camera table to spread everything out.

 

When I dive with an UPS group I belong to, we have an unwritten but enforced rule; no talking to or distracting someone doing set up maintenance.

 

Bob

[Paul Kay 62]

I have a simple rule - if I disturb on 'O' ring then it is removed cleaned and re-greased. If it isn't disturbed then I tend to leave it well alone until the diving (trip) is over.

 

And I always soak the housing (without camera) for 24 hours after a long stint in order to remove any salt residue.

 

But it depends on what gear you have and what works for you. Some connectors/housings don't like each other, others seem not to give any trouble at all.

 

All this said, you really can't create problems by removing, cleaning and re-greasing an 'O' ring providing, of course, that its done correctly.

[Nicool 26]

Hi all,

 

I've just returned from a 1-week liveaboard in the Red Sea, and this time I've opened my housing only when the battery needed a replacement, which is roughly every 8 dives (2 days without touching main o-rings!). This is because:

-I've kept the same WA lens.

-I took the risk to work with a single CF card (16 GB), which had always enough space.

In addition, every 3-4 dives I took the housing back to my room to replace strobes batteries, and then I systematically did maintenance for the strobes o-rings.

 

I've never touched the TTL sync cord during the whole week, but...

At the end of the trip (last dive fortunately), my TTL sync cord + housing circuitry got flooded (it's dead corroded now), and I've just realized it because the strobes started firing erratically.

The screw of the cord got loose, which I didn't think could happen, but reading some of the guys above comments, I now know that I'll double-check the cord before each dive.

Between dives and at night, my housing remained in the freshwater tub, because there was no camera table, and my cabin was quite far.

Well, next time I'll make the effort to take the housing back to my cabin after each dive.

 

I hope my experience will help others to avoid the same.

 

Cheers,

 

Nicolas

[Viz'art 24]

Keep an eye on sync cords, some sync cord on the market have mixed metal part on them that makes them prone to electrolysis, I recommended loosening and retightening the cord plug and lock ring on a daily basis, otherwise, in my case I keep it clean in the back, regrease if i swap ports and then go diving!

 

When i'm back, I remove grips and give it a full dunk in freshwater for a few hours working the controls every so often. And for goodness sake stick to the manufaturer recommendation for O-ring lubricant DO NOT MIX OR SWITCH ALLEGIANCE, use brand X lubricant on brand X products O-ring and brand Y on brand Y products, period, fooling around with these little details is asking for trouble.

 

Oh and pity the poor soul that disturbs me when I'm setting up my kit I go into Budhist Monk mode when I setup.

[eyu 27]

I put ChristoLube on the metal threads of my sync cords to prevent freezing secondary to electrolysis. Thus allowing me to leave my sync cords locked in place until its time to disassemble the entire rig to fly home. I inspect, clean and lubricate the o-rings when I open the back to change battery or change ports. But, unlike Jean, I use only one lube to grease my black, blue, yellow or red o-rings. The lube I use is Tribolube 71, it is not absorbed by the o-ring. I have now used it for the last 2 years (200+ dives) without problems (knock on wood).

 

Regarding lubes, look at: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...mp;hl=tribolube

 

Elmer

Edited July 7, 2010 by eyu

[DiverPam 13]

After reading this thread - I realize that I DO have a certain way that I setup my rig and what I do during a dive trip. And it matters to me that I do - makes me more comfortable with my gear. I agree with the notion of find what works for you and stick with that when you can. Familiarity helps.

 

I like the idea of adding "leave the folks with the camera alone when they are setting up" to the etiquette list.

 

On a liveaboard, I do find my self waiting until others are not around to work on my rig. I prefer the quiet and the space.

 

Thanks for starting this thread - good things to think about - Diverpam

Edited July 14, 2010 by DiverPam

[Searcaigh 0]

I tend to do basic cleaning when on trips as I am only changing batteries / CF cards, so visual inspection to remove any crap that may have accumulated after rinsing well preferably in a shower post soaking.

 

I do re-grease when changing lenses / ports and grease the threads on the strobe connectors at the beginning of a trip only taking them off at the end for full disassembly for my return home. I left a strobe connected for week once and had some problems removing it due to corrosion, you quickly remember your physics lessons from school days.