How to maintain a SLR Ikelite housing

I'm getting my ikelite housing for my SLR this week and I have a few questions.

Should I do any sort of pressure test?

Will "Aquanaut" silicon grease be expectable to grease O rings rather then Ikelite grease?

Is washing it in fresh water after each dive sufficient?

Any other cleaning and maintenance tips I should know about?

Thanks

Should I do any sort of pressure test?

Ideally dive it without a camera in.

Will "Aquanaut" silicon grease be expectable to grease O rings rather then Ikelite grease?

You need very little grease and Ike supply some with new housings - Not familiar with Aquanaut - answer is 'probably yes' but given the cost of camera and housing do you figure it is worth a chance?

Are you feeling lucky?

There are loads of threads on this site ref this subject.

Is washing it in fresh water after each dive sufficient?

Pretty much yes - while it is in the fresh water exercise the buttons to drive salt water out. The killer is letting salt water dry inside the recesses, this leaves salt crystals which abrade the o-rings and cause eventual failure.

Any other cleaning and maintenance tips I should know about?

Not really - don't grease the rear main o-ring, and in general be really tight on the amount of grease you use - more is not 'better'.

Really look and see that the port O-Ring is properly seated before entering the water - when you are first in the water look inside - the first 15 seconds will show a catastrophic problem.

Paul C

I'm getting my ikelite housing for my SLR this week and I have a few questions.

 

Should I do any sort of pressure test?

Will "Aquanaut" silicon grease be expectable to grease O rings rather then Ikelite grease?

Is washing it in fresh water after each dive sufficient?

Any other cleaning and maintenance tips I should know about?

 

Thanks

I read somewhere that is good to leave the housing all the night in fresh water after a trip, it's not necessary to do it every day.

Ideally you should rinse the system after every dive. At the end of the day I let it soak a little longer & work all the controls. If the o-rings are black (buna-n) use a good quality silicone grease. Any supplied grease I get usually goes in the refrig as a backup supply. Colored o-rings use the "special grease", but last I heard Ike o-rings are buna, so they should be supplying silicone grease with their name on it.

I'm getting my ikelite housing for my SLR this week and I have a few questions.

 

Should I do any sort of pressure test?

Will "Aquanaut" silicon grease be expectable to grease O rings rather then Ikelite grease?

Is washing it in fresh water after each dive sufficient?

Any other cleaning and maintenance tips I should know about?

 

Thanks

I'm getting my ikelite housing for my SLR this week and I have a few questions.

 

Should I do any sort of pressure test?

Will "Aquanaut" silicon grease be expectable to grease O rings rather then Ikelite grease?

Is washing it in fresh water after each dive sufficient?

Any other cleaning and maintenance tips I should know about?

 

Thanks

Matt, I have been using Ikelite products for 30 + years and all answers to your question are valid. Ikelite recommends using their own silicon. It works well and after spending the money for your setup a few dollars for the silicon is cheap insurance. Always rinse your housing in fresh water,always ,always. A dip tank is ok at a resort but once you remove your camera put the housing in a dee psink, a tub or in a shower and wash the salt off. Work the buttons while rinsing or after. Lightly silicon your O rings, watch out for lint, hairs.pet fur etc. When putting your outfit together pay attention to detail. Don't be talking to your friends, dive buddies etc. a few minutes alone will assure you do it right. Check each step twice. Are the controls making the right contacts ,are batteries charges is there room on my memory card.Shooting manual or? Lens on autofocus or manual. Do not jump in the water with housing in hand. Have someone hand it to you or hang off the side of the boat with 3/8 nylon line. Clean your ports well and polish for 4 or 5 minutes, the xtra work is worth it on the surface and water should slide off the port. I bring a neoprene cover in the water with me to protect the port if I absolutely must put the camera on the sand to adjust my BC etc. Remove your o rings. and store in a ziplock bag till using the camera again. do not use spray silicon never,never. Best of luck and good shooting

Hank

Don't be an o-ring mangler. The less you handle or strech them the better. I usually don't grease the rear o-ring at all, and just wipe it gently with a lint free cloth once in a while. You should LIGHTLY grease the port o-ring, but you don't need to do it very often. The tiny tube of ikelite silicone grease should last you many dozens of diving days as you just need a tiny amount. If you squirt out more than 1/8 of an inch it's probably too much.

Do rinse your camera after a dive if possible, and certainly at the end of the day. Push the buttons while soaking in fresh water for best results. That is really about all you need to do. Let it soak a little longer if you have your OWN tub, but never leave a camera unattended in a community rinse bucket. Dip and remove, someone will mangle or flood your rig if you turn your back.

And read the Ikelite manual. It's full of good tips and proper care guidelines.

Enjoy and take great photos!

One thing no one else mentions - be sure to pop the handle adaptors (the ball heads) to your strobe heads out of the tops of the handles in the tray, and DUMP THE WATER out of the handles. They do tend to hold water, which means saltwater in the ocean of course. I keep meaning to drill a small drainage hole near the bottom of my handles but haven't done it yet.

Other than all the above advice, which I agree with (the biggest key being WORK THE CONTROLS in freshwater else the salt stays trapped), my only other 'care and feeding' tip would be that I like to release the rear main seal buckles slowly, so that they stay 'hooked' with pressure released until all three are open, then I swing the catch out of the bail. When sealing, I hook all three passively before snapping down the first one - otherwise the rear plate wants to 'pull' a bit to one side and I think this could either result in displacing an o-ring or just misaligning the camera slightly to the controls. Also, depending on your camera, if any of the controls have the sliding shafts, make sure they're slid and/or rotated 'out of the way' of the camera when inserting it...you'll save yourself a lot of hassles later on. Especially true of the lens release control - if that's pressing in on your lens release button, then in some cases the camera won't "see" the lens as connected and show you aperture data even if the lens bayonet mount is turned (this happens on my Olympus).

Last tip, is PRACTICE assembly and disassembly with any and all lenses and ports you intend to use. Not all ports are the same. Some super wide lenses (like my Oly 7-14) must actually be put on the camera AFTER the camera is in the housing and the rear main seal in place, and the lens port then cautiously slide over the lens from the front. Learn where each of your lenses likes to have the zoom gear and coupling located on them, as minor differences in sliding these front to back can make or break a contact to the zoom controls. This will save you a lot of frustration later on, trying to do it the first time on a potentially rocking liveaboard in tight quarters.

I could add:

don't assemble your rig after a long air flight - even if you miss the first dive, do it when your are rested.

Put a large 'O' ring in yur mouth in case you're tempted to engage in a conversation while you are working!

rtrski,

Th first thing I did was take the Ike handles off the tray and replace it with ULCS release handles. I like the design so much better. When you release the arm, you have a handle at the end of the arm. So much better to handle for backlit shots.

Iks handles release bass ackwards, IMHO.