Hey everyone i own a nauticam lens i cant seem to unscrew from my flip holder i assume theres been some aluminium oxydation.. would anyone have any tip to help me ?

 

Thank you 

 

the usual suggestion is to apply a strap wrench for additional leverage.  Once you get it loose a little silicone grease on threads should help keep them workable.

soak in some slight warm water.. another pair of hands.. and strap wrench...

 

 

Thx guys i have tried with no luck my leather wrench is to big… i ll try another one merci 🙏

Another approach is to soak it in vinegar/water for a day or two to soften and dissolve the hard water deposits of calcium-magnesium-aluminium gunk. Then use penetrating oll, allow it to soak in overnight to lubricate the screw threads, followed by trying to unscrew it with one or two strap wrenches.

Edited April 26, 20241 yr by Kraken de Mabini

In case you're still stuck, try some heat or cold treatment.

 

I had a similar issue with a Inon snoot some time back.  Two step up rings with fine threads were hopelessly locked together.  Tried a strap wrench alone and with penetrating oil, but no luck.  Finally put both pieces in the freezer for a bit and then put the strap wrench on it again.  They finally came unstuck.  I guess cold shrunk the pieces enough to permit movement.

 

Mild heat would do the reverse.  Maybe a few cycles of cold/heat might generate enough expansion/contraction to break free any oxidation.

 

Hope it helps.

Edited May 9, 20241 yr by mcgowman

On 4/25/2024 at 9:25 PM, christophe chellapermal said:

Hey everyone i own a nauticam lens i cant seem to unscrew from my flip holder i assume theres been some aluminium oxydation.. would anyone have any tip to help me ?

 

Thank you 

 

 

Agree with all the above suggestions. I typically unscrew the lenses after diving and rinsing just to prevent that.

hey guys well tried everything nothing works if anyone has any ideas im open for suggestions..

 

 

1 hour ago, christophe chellapermal said:

hey guys well tried everything nothing works if anyone has any ideas im open for suggestions..

 

 

 

Semtex?

 

Man, what a pain. I've not come across anything that hasn't been suggested already. The only extra thought I did have was whether the construction of the flip holder would allow you take the holder end apart from the lens holder end and, push comes to shove, actually destroy the flip holder. I'd guess (dangerous) that the flip holder can be replaced.

 

It might be worth taking it to a garage where they usual have a good range of gear to get two awkward things apart. But that can be pretty destructive too.

2 more things to try: 

- Apply some WD40 and around the lens/flip threads and wait a bit. 

- soak the flip and lens into an ultrasonic cleaner. 

That's very frustrating and I feel your pain. I once had a lens get stuck on a flip holder after a dive, and I tried many of the suggestions above. I gave up and decided to make the lens/flip a dedicated unit. Then on the first dive back, I continued trying to loosen the lens - and voila! - it did. Maybe all those attempts with penetrating oil, strap wrenches, etc did the trick.

thx guys will keep trying 🙂

 

 

46 minutes ago, christophe chellapermal said:

thx guys will keep trying 🙂

 

 

Best of luck! Do keep us posted. 

Do keep us posted!!

 

I have had great success with Kroil; https://www.kroil.com/

Being in the UAE I don't know if that is available to you, so an alternative is a 50/50, by volume, mix of automatic transmission fluid and acetone.  DO NOT get this near any plastic housing parts, domes, ports etc., ask me how I know!!! 

 

Also if you can apply heat and cold to the threads with the Kroil that may persuade it as well.  If you have access to dry ice or liquid nitrogen that would provide a cold shock to the thermal cycles.  Again be mindful of any plastics.

Following - I had the same thing - never left attached to the flip adapter and on one dive it would not come off. Been stuck since - might try the  freezer trick! Have left it attached to the flip adapter! Cheers

@Cromagnon I am also a fan of Kroil, it is good stuff.  I haven't tried it on anything optical yet, though.

I had good success with hot and then cold water in rapid succession. Had to do it a couple of times but then I could get the wetlens off.

I can tell you that I unsuccessfully attempted the hot/cold water trick after trying everything else under the sun. What I can tell you is what not to do. DO NOT ever turn on an induction stove and put your lens in the pot. It instantly shattered. Now I try to remember to take my lens off the adapter/holder after each dive day; and if I forget I am content with knowing it's there forever now.

5 hours ago, insomniac said:

DO NOT ever turn on an induction stove and put your lens in the pot. It instantly shattered.

This is an extremely funny idea that I could have come up with myself.

 

I had a stuck flip filter holder. Overnight soak in highly concentrated Salt Away, combined with a bucket of ice water and hot water still wasn't seemingly helping. Finally found this Irwin clamp in a drawer and that did the trick (I am guessing it was a combo of all three), but got it removed safely!

Good one! I believe strap wrenches work well too.

A strap wrench would have been virtually impossible to use on this filter holder, they can work on the actual lenses themselves though...

Edited May 11, 2025May 11 by insomniac

I had a related experience a few years ago from buying a secondhand housing with a threaded lens port that refused to come off. I bought a special strap wrench to try at first and used penetrating oil a few times as well. Then I tried the thermal trick by placing the housing in a chest freezer. Trouble with that was that it got covered in condensation when I removed it as I live in a rainy area (northern limit of rain forest that extends southward through BC to Washington state. Months later, during winter, we had a very cold spell, dry and cold, so the temperature was well below freezing outside. Finally that worked, after a few hours in the dry cold. Humidity was also low indoors so very little condensation.

Edited May 11, 2025May 11 by Tom Kline

Been there, done that

Too funny, I have the same exact strap wrench. In this case, I wasn't able to get it to grip well with the small surface area. The Irwin clamp happened to work easily and didn't damage the surface. Just wanted to give people a heads up of another potential tool to use. After breaking my last lens with the combination use of a vice clamp and induction stovetop; I figured I'de share something that worked this time around. But I agree, those strap wrenches are great!

Edited May 11, 2025May 11 by insomniac