malley1717 0 Posted February 14, 2011 Hello everybody, My Aquatica AD90 housing is arriving tomorrow! yay! My question is what does everybody use to protect against floods? Ive had some tell me not to bother with a moisture alarm because if its going off its already too late, but i could see how this may not be true in the case of a gradual leak. Ive noticed the Aquatica D7000 housings are now being shipped with the leak detector included (Wanna throw me one too, Jean? ) Max Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kilili 0 Posted February 14, 2011 There are slow leaks and quick floods. I've had one complete flood years ago, when the housing o-ring split. I've had a couple of slow leaks in other housings, and the alarm saved me from any damage. So, alarms aren't foolproof, but damn handy to have. Also put a couple of desiccant packages in the housing. They protect against moisture & fogging, and can help contain any water that might occur from a leak. If you do everything right, you should never have any kind of leak at all. It it does leak, you probably did something wrong. I've had a total of 4 in a thousand dives, and it's me, not the housing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Williams 0 Posted February 14, 2011 Hi Max, Congrats on the new rig! Twice in 4 years I've had the moisture alarm go off. Both times were during pool testing where I'm taking the housing/ports apart multiple times in a day. Both times it was a golden retriever hair across an o-ring. In each case no damage was done because I caught it in time. If you have a catastrophic flood, port falls off, no o-ring, etc. nothing is going to help much. But with any kind of leak, a moisture alarm is worth it's weight in gold to me. As long as you remember to change the battery. Have fun, Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deep6 7 Posted February 14, 2011 I have desiccant packages in case there is a flood, but I only use one small pack in the housing as anti anti-fogging agent. I might help will a slow leak. I do not think it would help with a flood. Bob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tomc 2 Posted February 14, 2011 My housing has a BIG RED light associated with the leak detector. On a trip this summer I was checking the integrity of my housing, at night, after setup / change over for the next day's diving by immersing the rig in a big igloo cooler used for the rinse tank. I noticed a red glow flashing in the cooler - it didn't immediately register what it meant but I quickly pulled my housing out of the water to investigate. I had neglected to completely close one of the housing latches. The leak detector saved my a$$. I learned two things that night - don't do critical things when you are tired from diving all day and move quicker when that RED LIGHT starts blinking. Nothing was damaged, no harm was done, I was lucky, thank goodness for the leak detector. TomC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
derway 2 Posted February 14, 2011 never worried about it. Always use ikelite housings, and seeing the orings seating is the greatest insurance/assurance, of all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
john70490 3 Posted February 14, 2011 never worried about it. Always use ikelite housings, and seeing the orings seating is the greatest insurance/assurance, of all. I second this but, just in case, I tape two sachets od Leak Insure to the bottom of my housing. They contain granules of a super absorbent polymer that is capable of taking up 400 times its own weight of water http://www.leakinsure.co.uk/ so two sachets should be able to handle a fairly bad leak. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alexcacciafotosub 0 Posted February 14, 2011 Hi, congratulations on your purchase. Aquatica is a great brand. Your concerns are justified by the considerable investment made. Somewhere I saw that is just a kit for Aquatica, able to detect leaks. It consists of a vacuum pump that creates a vacuum inside the case has been closed. Using LEDs occurs within minutes that there is a leak. My case has this system, but is of another brand. Greetings Alessandro Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Bantin 101 Posted February 16, 2011 Hi, congratulations on your purchase. Aquatica is a great brand. Your concerns are justified by the considerable investment made. Somewhere I saw that is just a kit for Aquatica, able to detect leaks. It consists of a vacuum pump that creates a vacuum inside the case has been closed. Using LEDs occurs within minutes that there is a leak. My case has this system, but is of another brand. Greetings Alessandro http://www.hugyfot.com/Products/HugyCheck.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eyu 27 Posted February 16, 2011 I have had two floods, one minor and one major. For the minor, the light went off and I was able to save my rig. I was using a used port that I had just purchased and the manual/auto switch o-ring was dried out and leaked. On the major flood I noticed the flashing light and passed the rig back to the boatman. I lost the camera body, but was able to save the lens and compact flash card. The major leak was user error, I assembled the rig with only a few hours of sleep after flying from Palau to Yap. A moisture alarm helped me in both floods. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MIKE POWELL 1 Posted February 16, 2011 I have an moisture alarm that either by pure luck or careful maintenance has never gone off...I've always used Q-tips, do not check with magnifier, probably over grease, and frequently jump in the water with my camera...no floods! Knocking on wood right now! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Kay 62 Posted February 17, 2011 My question is what does everybody use to protect against floods? Ive had some tell me not to bother with a moisture alarm because if its going off its already too late, but i could see how this may not be true in the case of a gradual leak. Nothing beats careful maintenance - this is what actually protects against floods, nothing else can - its that simple. However there are two types of flood. First is the catastrophic failure of a main or port 'O' ring and nothing will prevent damage or save a camera if you've got a really big breach in one of these - and this sort of problem is generally human error (I have personal experience of this!) and the likelihood of a leak detector warning you in time is low but did help me and for this reason alone I would recommend having one fitted. Secondly there's the 'weep' - a slow trickle due to a worn/failing 'O' ring or other physical problem such as corrosion - and again this is where a leak detector can save the day. One warning about using dessicant - don't put bags of in loose because I've seen them cause floods as they've got caught in an 'O' ring themselves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meister 1 Posted February 17, 2011 I second this but, just in case, I tape two sachets od Leak Insure to the bottom of my housing. They contain granules of a super absorbent polymer that is capable of taking up 400 times its own weight of water http://www.leakinsure.co.uk/ so two sachets should be able to handle a fairly bad leak. I just ordered. Might make difference some day between whether damage occurs from a leak or not. Thanks for the link. Good reminder regarding a packet possibly causing a leak from interfering with oring seal... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spencer! 0 Posted February 17, 2011 i have ikelite housings, and I just use care when assembling and a tampon tucked into a corner of the housing incase there is a small leak. spencer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MIKE POWELL 1 Posted February 17, 2011 i have ikelite housings, and I just use care when assembling and a tampon tucked into a corner of the housing incase there is a small leak. spencer TAMPON....The Original Moisture Muncher! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
malley1717 0 Posted February 18, 2011 TAMPON....The Original Moisture Muncher! TAMPAX! The official tampon of NASCAR! Anybody??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ornate_wrasse 0 Posted February 18, 2011 My question is what does everybody use to protect against floods? Hi Max, In my humble opinion, the best way to protect against floods is to focus 100% on what you are doing when you assemble your gear for the dive. Do not talk to anyone while doing this or otherwise let yourself be distracted by anything. It just takes a brief second of inattention when you may do something that inadvertently leads to a flood. I've had one flood and it was 100% caused by human error as I was not paying attention when I assembled my gear for the dive. Regarding the leak detector, I do have one in my housing. On one trip to Cozumel, I found the light mysteriously flashing in my hotel room one morning, it had not even been in the water. I could not get the *$%@ thing to stop no matter what I did so I eventually took the battery out. If this happens to you, don't be alarmed (no pun intended) because these things happen even when there is no actual leak from water getting into the housing while diving. Enjoy your new housing! Ellen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tdpriest 115 Posted February 18, 2011 ... a tampon tucked into a corner of the housing... Thank heavens! I thought that I was going to have to admit to the low-tech, low machismo solution to the slow leak if no-one else would speak the unspeakable! Tim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
