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Is it possible for ports to get fungus like lens? How to keep at home?

stillviking
stillviking
in Photography Gear and Technique

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Posted

Hello people,

My waterhousing has a few acrylic glass ports (dome port, flat ports, etc.) and I would like to know if I need any special conservation care (humidity, temperature, sun exposure, etc.) so they have not fungus or other problems like that (that happens in normal camera lenses)?

Thanks!

Ive never seen fungus on a port - I’ve sure had it on lenses - but I have had those weird drying marks on glass ports.
 

Washing with fresh water and then drying with a soft cloth helps but, at least for me, hasn’t solved it completely. I’ve had to use Mothers Glass Cleaner which worked pretty well. 

  • Author
6 minutes ago, TimG said:

Ive never seen fungus on a port - I’ve sure had it on lenses - but I have had those weird drying marks on glass ports.
 

Washing with fresh water and then drying with a soft cloth helps but, at least for me, hasn’t solved it completely. I’ve had to use Mothers Glass Cleaner which worked pretty well. 

My experience is that for "drying marks" toothpaste + water works perfect.

I've used Novus #2 and a microfiber cloth to clean off water marks from a glass flat port. It's got some very fine grit that works just fine without marring the glass.

  • Author
14 hours ago, TimG said:

Any particular type of toothpaste? 

I think whitening toothpastes are the best.

    • Like 1

    Prevention is better than cure. 

    On the boat keep the port wet with a neoprene cover till you can rinse it.

    When you get the housing back home or somewhere you can soak it give it a good soak then blow all the water off and dry off and polish with a micro fibre cloth .  Basially avoid water evaorating from the surface.

    The water marks are not usually a deposit but tend to be bonded to or etched into the surface which i why they respond to polishing.

    • 2 weeks later...

    My understanding is that fungus occurs between the lens elements in the balsam cement, which is an organic compound. It requires an inoculation and warm, moist storage, usually in the tropics. It can etch the glass as it is very acidic, but I don’t think it would occur on glass alone. Once a lens is “infected” it is usually toast.

    58 minutes ago, ianmarsh said:

    My understanding is that fungus occurs between the lens elements in the balsam cement, which is an organic compound. It requires an inoculation and warm, moist storage, usually in the tropics. It can etch the glass as it is very acidic, but I don’t think it would occur on glass alone. Once a lens is “infected” it is usually toast.

    It can also grow on the surface of elements, possibly feeding on residual organic matter, enough humidity for long enough can bring it on.

    3 hours ago, TimG said:

     

    I love the.... "take the lens apart and clean it" bit... yeah, I know, it's not quite that, but.....

     

    That article terrified me. 
    Moisture aside, I keep the lenses to grow mushrooms perfectly 😄


    Do any of you use silica gel bags in your lens drawers?

    21 minutes ago, Davide DB said:

     

    That article terrified me. 
    Moisture aside, I keep the lenses to grow mushrooms perfectly 😄


    Do any of you use silica gel bags in your lens drawers?

    Silica gel is only useful inside a sealed container, it has limited capacity and moisture will constantly diffuse in from outside unless there is a seal of some type.  The fungicide pouches in the link will work for a period until the chemical diffuses away.

    • Like 1
    59 minutes ago, TimG said:

    I now keep all my lenses in a Pelican case with a bunch of desiccant packs inside. I dry out the packs about every 3 months.

     

     

    A pelican is good as it is airtight and the gel can bring humidity down to low levels when closed something like 10-20% relative humidity.  The humidity will go back to ambient levels of whatever is in the room very quickly after opening the case though.

    • Thanks 1
    12 hours ago, Davide DB said:

    A smart solution 😄

     

     

    image.png

    Beef is really expensive in Canada right now. Would a pork chop work?

    • Haha 1
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