Sea & Sea housing - advice please!

I'm after advice/feedback from you guys!

I have been using my Sea & Sea DX-100 housing for over 2 years now & it's taken a fair amount of usage during that time.

I have replaced the main o-ring annually (as I do on my two S&S Strobes) and was wondering about all the other o-rings in the case.

Are there any guide lines as to how long the o-rings should be used before being replaced; by time or number of dives, say? And is there any reason why i shouldn't replace them myself - apart from the amount of time it would take!

Thanks in advance for advice/opinions............

Ralph

PS Apologies, this was meant to be posted in the Digital SLR/Housings forum

HI Ralph,

What does the user manual say on specialist maintainance??

You may have to send back to the manufacturer for a major

service, Sorry this may not be alot of help.

Andy

HI Ralph,

What does the user manual say on specialist maintainance??

You may have to send back to the manufacturer for a major

service, Sorry this may not be alot of help.

Andy

Hi Andy

Don't have the user manual , as far as I recall though there was no reference in it on maintenance other than the usual ' take care of it/don't pinch the o-ring/wash in fresh water' things...........

As far as I'm concerned all that is needed for a major service would be replacement of the o-rings - but if I'm missing something here hopefully someone will be along to correct me!

HI Ralph,

What does the user manual say on specialist maintainance??

You may have to send back to the manufacturer for a major

service, Sorry this may not be alot of help.

Andy

Hi again Andy,

I've downloaded the manual; there is no reference to specialist maintenance - nor anything about replacing the control o-rings - but it does say that the life of the main o-ring is one year!

Has anybody here come across any guidance from any housing manufacturer on this subject?

R

As with your Sea and Sea Strobes, your black orings inside the controls etc have a recommended life of about 5 years, that is the quoted figure based on the material.

The housing controls are normally pretty easy to take apart to check for build up.

From your other posts i think you may have been diving on Red Sea live-aboards, which means they've been exposed to quite high salinity and not the best rinse water, so it might be worth having a play one weekend and stripping down and rebuilding the housing.

If not send it to cameras underwater or the specialist on their links page. I havent had any work done by him but i have spoke to him and he seems to know his stuff about all aspects of repairing a housing.

Alan James is the main man for Sea and Sea in england, check him out here

http://marine-cameras.com/

I've had a go at changing the smaller O-rings on an old rig, getting them out is easy but putting them back in can be difficult. The O-rings can get pinched and the only way to check that they are OK is to take them back out again. Also the O-rings are specific sizes and thickneses and probably more trouble than its worth trying to find. Talk to Alan, a nicer guy you couldn't wish to meet.

Alan James is the main man for Sea and Sea in england, check him out here

http://marine-cameras.com/

I've had a go at changing the smaller O-rings on an old rig, getting them out is easy but putting them back in can be difficult. The O-rings can get pinched and the only way to check that they are OK is to take them back out again. Also the O-rings are specific sizes and thickneses and probably more trouble than its worth trying to find. Talk to Alan, a nicer guy you couldn't wish to meet.

Hi Stefin

It was Alan James who supplied the housing - and yes, he is a really nice guy!

However, Heather (his partner) advised me that they would not be able to obtain a set of replacement o-rings (as S&S would not supply them to AJ) and suggested I contacy S&S direct.

Which I did on Friday. And here is the response I received back:

Hi Ralph ,

Thank you for your mail. I am surprised that you have been referred to us as these o rings would be usually changed by a technician. However , I will be happy to supply these to you but they will have to be ordered from Japan as they are rarely requested. Delivery to us would be month end when I will be in a position to advise you costs.

Which I found a bit strange.......... and here is the email I sent in return:

Thank you for your email.

 

I think I too am surprised - but for a different reason!

 

Firstly, I had a telephone call from a David Rose from your company prior to your email. David was most helpful and, whilst I cannot recall the exact details of our conversation, I did not form the opinion that my request was in any way 'unusual'.

 

You mention that they are rarely requested, which raises a concern in my mind. It seems to me to be prudent to change the o rings on all the housing controls periodically; I certainly change the main o ring annually - as I do on my Sea & Sea strobes. Is there a recommended change criteria; time wise or number of dives, please? Also, is there anything about changing these o rings that should cause me to re-consider doing them myself? You mention having them done by a technician, do you mean someone within your company, or a dealer?

 

I would be grateful if you would answer the above and thus clarify the situation & I look forward to hearing back from you.

PS. In response to Scuba_SI's post; yes, I have been using the housing a lot (300+ dives) on liveaboards in the Red Sea and am quite sure this will have 'accelerated' deterioration to the o-rings.

Now, I do not want to undertake unnecessary service work on the housing; equally though I do not want to have a ruined camera due to poor maintenance - hence my request for advice.

Have you tried:

http://www.sea-sea.com/

This guy here was really knowledgeable and had the orings for a complete overhaul of a ys120....

http://www.aquaphot.net/