Ball Mount o-ring

[Matan]

Hi eveyone.

 

one of the o-rings on my Nauticam housing broke - can anyone share which size o-ring is required?

Also - I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong here - any tips on how not to damage the o-rings of any ball mounts?

 

Matan.

Edited April 28 by Davide DB
Appropriate title

[Chris Ross]

To clarify is this the main o-ring or the o-ring on one of the balls mounts?   I've found the o-rings on the balls very durable my previous housing they lasted 6 years so far.

[Davide DB]

Ball mount oring code is 2-209

 

https://www.sealsonline.com/index.php?id_product=81454&controller=product&id_lang=1

 

[Matan]

1 hour ago, Chris Ross said:

To clarify is this the main o-ring or the o-ring on one of the balls mounts?   I've found the o-rings on the balls very durable my previous housing they lasted 6 years so far.

main o-ring break would flood the housing 🙂 

 

it's the ball mounts - once of them just broke - this is a used housing so nothing new here, just wanted to make sure I'm not doing anything that damages them. I occasionally put some silicon grease on them as well.

 

Matan.

[Chris Ross]

Yes I'm aware of flooding it could also break being installed. 

 

You need to be a little careful with o-rings and lubricant.  The Nauticam o-rings are silicone I believe and if you apply actual silicone grease to them it can soften them.  The Nauticam lube is a universal lube for o-rings, a generic silicone grease will damage the Nauticam o-rings.

 

As I mentioned the Nauticam ones are very long lasting and I never did anything other than soak the whole housing after a dive, never added any type of lube.   I don't believe the o-rings need lube as their function to grip.  I recall someone mentioned the spec for the o-rings on here a while back but I don't remember the exact dimensions.  Nauticam of course sell theirs but they are expensive.

[Matan]

Thanks, I'll just source new Nauticam ones and stop the lubing thingy.

(yeah they are expensive but a one time payment for them every few years is still cheap - my CCR costs more annually 😄 ).

 

Matan.

[Kamaros]

3 hours ago, Matan said:

Thanks, I'll just source new Nauticam ones and stop the lubing thingy.

(yeah they are expensive but a one time payment for them every few years is still cheap - my CCR costs more annually 😄 ).

 

Matan.

Are you looking at the right o-rings? $16 USD for a pack of 10 (Backscatter, Bluewater Photo, etc) sounds like the cheapest purchase related to this hobby you might ever make 😛  

[Davide DB]

6 hours ago, Kamaros said:

Are you looking at the right o-rings? $16 USD for a pack of 10 (Backscatter, Bluewater Photo, etc) sounds like the cheapest purchase related to this hobby you might ever make 😛  

 

Still very expensive thought 

10 orings of that type in an hardware store don't add up to one dollar.

I have never understood why manufacturers of various types of diving equipment continue to want to make money on o-rings.

A set of o-rings from my previous rebreather from the manufacturer: 100 €. At the hardware store 10 €.

 

 

[OneYellowTang]

10 hours ago, Matan said:

Thanks, I'll just source new Nauticam ones and stop the lubing thingy.

(yeah they are expensive but a one time payment for them every few years is still cheap - my CCR costs more annually 😄 ).

 

Matan.

I just checked a few of my Nauticam arms (with balls) and my ULCS arms (with balls). I did find one Nauticam O-ring (on a ball) with a signifiant gouge in it - that one will likely eventually break. The ULCS O-rings feel a little more "robust" (defintiely less soft). 

 

A gouge could easily turn into a snapped )-ring given enough friction and movement.

[Lewis88]

8 hours ago, Davide DB said:

 

Still very expensive thought 

10 orings of that type in an hardware store don't add up to one dollar.

I have never understood why manufacturers of various types of diving equipment continue to want to make money on o-rings.

A set of o-rings from my previous rebreather from the manufacturer: 100 €. At the hardware store 10 €.

 

 

 

But they're fancy blue o-rings! 

[TimG]

32 minutes ago, Lewis88 said:

But they're fancy blue o-rings! 

 

... and as we all know, colour counts in your choice of scuba gear - whatever PADI quizzes might say.

[Davide DB]

In my fifties I went from total black to black with some other color. I put it down to my midlife crisis 😉

[bvanant]

2-209 o-rings in buna are like 10 cents and in silicone are like 25 cents. I like softer o-rings for positional stability and change them once a year (when I remember). The only exception to the size is the XIT 404 versions, they use a different size (and different sizes for different XIT balls

 

bill