UW Housing Advise Please !

Hi there,

I have a Sony DCR TRV50 and I'm thinking about buying a UW house (trip to
Cozumel coming up). The one I've checked out is Ikelite's 6035.19 which is a
mechanical house. Price $680, which is one the main reason I've looked at
this one.

I read in this NG that there are "those who have had a flooding and those
who will get one". Is it possible for someone with more experience than me
to estimate the probability of this happening ? I don't want to spend the
money and with 75% probability have the Camcorder ruined by flooding.

In addition, if someone has any experience using the specific house (or
similar from Ikelite) I'm planning on buying I would really appreciate some
feedback.

Thanks !!

Nitespark <nitespark@cox.net> wrote:

>
>
>Lindsten wrote:
>
>> Hi there,
>>
>> I have a Sony DCR TRV50 and I'm thinking about buying a UW house (trip to
>> Cozumel coming up). The one I've checked out is Ikelite's 6035.19 which is a
>> mechanical house. Price $680, which is one the main reason I've looked at
>> this one.
>>
>> I read in this NG that there are "those who have had a flooding and those
>> who will get one". Is it possible for someone with more experience than me
>> to estimate the probability of this happening ? I don't want to spend the
>> money and with 75% probability have the Camcorder ruined by flooding.
>>
>> In addition, if someone has any experience using the specific house (or
>> similar from Ikelite) I'm planning on buying I would really appreciate some
>> feedback.
>>
>
>I have an Ikelite housing for a digital camera and experienced a partial
>flood a few years ago. I can only attribute it to "operator error".
>Just prior to the dive, I had taken the camera out of the housing and
>can only guess, when I put it back in, there was a piece of foreign
>matter on the O-ring or I pinched the O-Ring. I got to about 60fsw and
>notice about 1/4" of water sloshing around in the bottom. I brought the
>camera to the surface but it was too late. I took the camera housing on
>several dives after that (empty) and it stayed perfectly dry. I also
>took the housing and a replacement camera on quite a few dives after
>that and it performed flawlessly. Ike Brigham, of Ikelite, apparently
>heard about it from my newsgroup account and contacted me offering
>assistance and advice. I never sent it back to Ikelite since all of the
>subsequent dives, the camera stayed dry.
>
>FWIW, I have that camera and housing on Ebay now.
>

The ones that got flooded?...

Jim Manson wrote:
> Nitespark <nitespark@cox.net> wrote:
>
>
>>
>>Lindsten wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Hi there,
>>>
>>>I have a Sony DCR TRV50 and I'm thinking about buying a UW house (trip to
>>>Cozumel coming up). The one I've checked out is Ikelite's 6035.19 which is a
>>>mechanical house. Price $680, which is one the main reason I've looked at
>>>this one.
>>>
>>>I read in this NG that there are "those who have had a flooding and those
>>>who will get one". Is it possible for someone with more experience than me
>>>to estimate the probability of this happening ? I don't want to spend the
>>>money and with 75% probability have the Camcorder ruined by flooding.
>>>
>>>In addition, if someone has any experience using the specific house (or
>>>similar from Ikelite) I'm planning on buying I would really appreciate some
>>>feedback.
>>>
>>
>>I have an Ikelite housing for a digital camera and experienced a partial
>>flood a few years ago. I can only attribute it to "operator error".
>>Just prior to the dive, I had taken the camera out of the housing and
>>can only guess, when I put it back in, there was a piece of foreign
>>matter on the O-ring or I pinched the O-Ring. I got to about 60fsw and
>>notice about 1/4" of water sloshing around in the bottom. I brought the
>>camera to the surface but it was too late. I took the camera housing on
>>several dives after that (empty) and it stayed perfectly dry. I also
>>took the housing and a replacement camera on quite a few dives after
>>that and it performed flawlessly. Ike Brigham, of Ikelite, apparently
>>heard about it from my newsgroup account and contacted me offering
>>assistance and advice. I never sent it back to Ikelite since all of the
>>subsequent dives, the camera stayed dry.
>>
>>FWIW, I have that camera and housing on Ebay now.
>>
>
>
> The ones that got flooded?...

Actually, just the housing. I got a replacement camera which is kind of
an interesting story by itself.


>
>

--


"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only
because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

George Orwell

Almost all housing floods are either operator error, or lack of
preventative maintenance.

Housings must be closed CAREFULLY and inspected before entering the water.
This is where the clear Ikelite plastic housings are superior to other
metal housings.
The main seal on the "door" can be visually inspected after closing.

Secondly, a flood DOES NOT have to cause damage to the camera. All
housings have
an airspace in them. If you get the housing out of the water before the
camera gets wet,
no damage.

1. NEVER do a step off entry, drop or throw the camera into the water.
ALWAYS have the camera lowered by hand to you in the water.

2. Drop to 10' holding the housing with the door end down AND STOP.
Almost all dive boats have a hang bar at 10"

3. Inspect the housing's interior as you hang at 10'. If there is even
ONE DROP
of water inside the housing, abort the dive and get the camera
topside immediately.

If a housing is going to leak, it will start leaking before you
get to 10'.
If the housing's seals are tight at 10' then additional depth
(pressure) will only
make the seals tighter. At 10' the leak should be slow enough you
can get
topside before the camera itself gets wet.

4. Do not exceed the housing's maximum depth rating.

5. DO send the housing back to manufacturer for rebuild on the seals
every year.

6. Follow manufacture's directions on greasing seals. Some control
shafts NEED
to be greased after every dive trip. Some seals need to be DRY
(grease free)
in order to function. All seals need to be CLEAN

7. Always have spare o-rings/seals on hand and replace them at the first
sign of wear.

8. Keep the O-rings on the door surgically clean. One speck of lint,
thread, hair
or dirt can cause leaks. But if you observe #3 above, an accidental
leak does
not have to destroy your camera or end your dive trip.

9. The camera housing goes into a rinse tank within 10 SECONDS of leaving
the water. If your boat (salt water diving) does not have a camera
rinse tank,
DON"T take your camera diving. Salt drying on the seals will destroy
them
in less than a day. Rinsing will not remove salt that has dried on
the seals,
you must prevent the salt from drying in the first place.

I am the proud owner of three Ikelite housings, and the only camera I
ever lost
to flooding was a Nikonos (no way to inspect seals, or check for leaks until
water level in camera rose to the lens).

Lindsten wrote:

>Hi there,
>
>I have a Sony DCR TRV50 and I'm thinking about buying a UW house (trip to
>Cozumel coming up). The one I've checked out is Ikelite's 6035.19 which is a
>mechanical house. Price $680, which is one the main reason I've looked at
>this one.
>
>I read in this NG that there are "those who have had a flooding and those
>who will get one". Is it possible for someone with more experience than me
>to estimate the probability of this happening ? I don't want to spend the
>money and with 75% probability have the Camcorder ruined by flooding.
>
>In addition, if someone has any experience using the specific house (or
>similar from Ikelite) I'm planning on buying I would really appreciate some
>feedback.
>
>Thanks !!
>
>
>
>

Thanks Buff, very nice advice...

Buff5200 wrote:

> 2. Drop to 10' holding the housing with the door end down AND STOP.
> Almost all dive boats have a hang bar at 10"

I have limited experience, but found this not to be true in at least
these places: Alanya (Turkey), Curacao (Dutch Antilles), Sharm el-Sheikh
(Egypt). Then again, should be no problem to perform the check without
a bar...

> 9. The camera housing goes into a rinse tank within 10 SECONDS of leaving
> the water. If your boat (salt water diving) does not have a camera
> rinse tank,
> DON"T take your camera diving. Salt drying on the seals will destroy
> them
> in less than a day. Rinsing will not remove salt that has dried on
> the seals,
> you must prevent the salt from drying in the first place.

Again, I have only seen the rinse tanks in Curacao. On our trip to
Sharm, I was quite a bit concerned about the salt buildup due to the
fact that the Red Sea is the second most salty sea in the world. The
best alternative I could come up with was to carry enough fresh water
with me (1.5liters) and give the main camera controls and dive computer,
a rinse after the dive. Then, back in the hotel, I would let it soak
for a couple of hours in warm water. It seems the gear survived for
now, but I have no way of checking of any damange has been done (that
will show up in the long time).

AFAIK, if there is no way to rinse the gear, the next best thing is
to keep it in salt water until you can rinse it. The idea is not to let
it dry up and the salt crystals to build up.

/Marcin

Hi Buff,

Thanks for great advice. Have a question on no. 5. Not sure what "rebuild on
the seals" mean and I'm moving back to Sweden this summer. To send the house
back to Ikelite in the US once a year seems like expensive and time
consuming. Any recommendations for alternative procedure ?

Thanks


"Buff5200" <BUFF5200@aol.com> wrote in message
news:401DF74A.3010507@aol.com...
> Almost all housing floods are either operator error, or lack of
> preventative maintenance.
>
> Housings must be closed CAREFULLY and inspected before entering the water.
> This is where the clear Ikelite plastic housings are superior to other
> metal housings.
> The main seal on the "door" can be visually inspected after closing.
>
> Secondly, a flood DOES NOT have to cause damage to the camera. All
> housings have
> an airspace in them. If you get the housing out of the water before the
> camera gets wet,
> no damage.
>
> 1. NEVER do a step off entry, drop or throw the camera into the water.
> ALWAYS have the camera lowered by hand to you in the water.
>
> 2. Drop to 10' holding the housing with the door end down AND STOP.
> Almost all dive boats have a hang bar at 10"
>
> 3. Inspect the housing's interior as you hang at 10'. If there is even
> ONE DROP
> of water inside the housing, abort the dive and get the camera
> topside immediately.
>
> If a housing is going to leak, it will start leaking before you
> get to 10'.
> If the housing's seals are tight at 10' then additional depth
> (pressure) will only
> make the seals tighter. At 10' the leak should be slow enough you
> can get
> topside before the camera itself gets wet.
>
> 4. Do not exceed the housing's maximum depth rating.
>
> 5. DO send the housing back to manufacturer for rebuild on the seals
> every year.
>
> 6. Follow manufacture's directions on greasing seals. Some control
> shafts NEED
> to be greased after every dive trip. Some seals need to be DRY
> (grease free)
> in order to function. All seals need to be CLEAN
>
> 7. Always have spare o-rings/seals on hand and replace them at the first
> sign of wear.
>
> 8. Keep the O-rings on the door surgically clean. One speck of lint,
> thread, hair
> or dirt can cause leaks. But if you observe #3 above, an accidental
> leak does
> not have to destroy your camera or end your dive trip.
>
> 9. The camera housing goes into a rinse tank within 10 SECONDS of leaving
> the water. If your boat (salt water diving) does not have a camera
> rinse tank,
> DON"T take your camera diving. Salt drying on the seals will destroy
> them
> in less than a day. Rinsing will not remove salt that has dried on
> the seals,
> you must prevent the salt from drying in the first place.
>
> I am the proud owner of three Ikelite housings, and the only camera I
> ever lost
> to flooding was a Nikonos (no way to inspect seals, or check for leaks
until
> water level in camera rose to the lens).
>
> Lindsten wrote:
>
> >Hi there,
> >
> >I have a Sony DCR TRV50 and I'm thinking about buying a UW house (trip to
> >Cozumel coming up). The one I've checked out is Ikelite's 6035.19 which
is a
> >mechanical house. Price $680, which is one the main reason I've looked at
> >this one.
> >
> >I read in this NG that there are "those who have had a flooding and those
> >who will get one". Is it possible for someone with more experience than
me
> >to estimate the probability of this happening ? I don't want to spend the
> >money and with 75% probability have the Camcorder ruined by flooding.
> >
> >In addition, if someone has any experience using the specific house (or
> >similar from Ikelite) I'm planning on buying I would really appreciate
some
> >feedback.
> >
> >Thanks !!
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

"Lindsten" <lindsten@houston.rr.com> wrote in message
news:eeWTb.8043$QU1.1246@fe2.texas.rr.com...
> Hi Buff,
>
> Thanks for great advice. Have a question on no. 5. Not sure what "rebuild
on
> the seals" mean and I'm moving back to Sweden this summer. To send the
house
> back to Ikelite in the US once a year seems like expensive and time
> consuming. Any recommendations for alternative procedure ?
>
> Thanks

Ikelite seems to have an office in Germany

http://www.ikelite.de/1280/nav_1280-ikelite.html

With my limited german skills, it seems that you can get housing serviced
there.

Sami

Lindsten wrote:

>Hi Buff,
>
>Thanks for great advice. Have a question on no. 5. Not sure what "rebuild on
>the seals" mean and I'm moving back to Sweden this summer. To send the house
>back to Ikelite in the US once a year seems like expensive and time
>consuming. Any recommendations for alternative procedure ?
>
>Thanks
>
>
>
>
>>
>>5. DO send the housing back to manufacturer for rebuild on the seals
>>every year.
>>
>>
>>

Sorry, the HOUSING gets "rebuilt" by having the seals on all the control
shafts replaced. This should be done by Ikelite, not the user. It is
very important to have all the seals replaced regularly. It's the
cheapest insurance you can buy to protect your camera.

Ikelite only charges $85 (US) to rebuild my digital camera housing. I
don't know if the price is different for other housings.
As far as "time consuming", my housing always comes back within 10 days.
Including shipping time.

But the bottom line is that Ikelite is NOT owned by some mega
corporation. It's still owned and operated by Ike, the founder.
Send an e-mail to Ike if you want to know about having the housing
rebuilt without returning it to the USA.



>>
>>

> You can read a rather extensive recent thread on insurance in this
> discussion group:
> http://www.yahoogroups.com/uwvideo

corrected link, sorry.
http://yahoogroups.com/group/uwvideo/

Mark