MDX-40D - housing flooded

Ok, so I was looking forward to some diving this weekend but after I got in the water and at 25 feet, the leak sensor came on and saw a bit of water in the housing. I immediately ascended, since this happened in the first 2-3 mins of the dive. I held the housing upright, above the water surface, and swam (kind of back stroke) back to the beach(it was a shore dive). When I opened the housing, I realized the water had not gotten to the camera, so I proceeded drying the housing on the inside with a towel.

I was not able to determine what caused the leak, except that the On Off rubber part that sits on the camera's switch came loose. Before that, my buddy unloaded the set up and placed it on the street, to be carried closer to the beach(dive location). I'm not sure if it was bumped by the rest of his bags/diving equipment, so I can only speculate. Main o-ring looked ok but when I unscrewed the macro port/base, one of the two made a crunching sound. I'm not sure if that contributed to the leak/flood, or if it was the On Off flange( since then I wiped the port threads and now are clean, or at least they look clean; you can never be sure).

My question now is the following.

I am planning to buy an o-ring set since they were 9 months old with 12-14 dives on them. Should I have the housing pressure tested before my next dive?

I understand I was lucky despite keeping o-rings in zip lock bags, loosely coiled.

Thanks,

Blueline

Ok, so I was looking forward to some diving this weekend but after I got in the water and at 25 feet, the leak sensor came on and saw a bit of water in the housing. I immediately ascended, since this happened in the first 2-3 mins of the dive. I held the housing upright, above the water surface, and swam (kind of back stroke) back to the beach(it was a shore dive). When I opened the housing, I realized the water had not gotten to the camera, so I proceeded drying the housing on the inside with a towel.

 

 

I was not able to determine what caused the leak, except that the On Off rubber part that sits on the camera's switch came loose. Before that, my buddy unloaded the set up and placed it on the street, to be carried closer to the beach(dive location). I'm not sure if it was bumped by the rest of his bags/diving equipment, so I can only speculate. Main o-ring looked ok but when I unscrewed the macro port/base, one of the two made a crunching sound. I'm not sure if that contributed to the leak/flood, or if it was the On Off flange( since then I wiped the port threads and now are clean, or at least they look clean; you can never be sure).

 

My question now is the following.

 

I am planning to buy an o-ring set since they were 9 months old with 12-14 dives on them. Should I have the housing pressure tested before my next dive?

 

I understand I was lucky despite keeping o-rings in zip lock bags, loosely coiled.

 

Thanks,

Blueline

Bill

Not sure if I would pressure test it except to take it on a dive with no camera inside. That should be a good test of the housing integrity.

Bill

May be a while before I take it for a dive again(don't get to dive as much as I want to), but good idea.

I think replacing the o-rings should be the first thing to do(plus port o-rings). I did discover some dirt on the port threads, so my best guess is that it may have contibuted. Also, if the On Off flange/rubber part moved and was not sitting the right way, it may have caused the housing not to close properly, who knows. Leak sensor is invaluable though. I would've never known it's leaking unless I looked directly into the port (amount of water was no more than 3-4 mm, accumulated on the port, when tilted down). I'm lucky I caught it in time.

Do you wash the o-rings if they get dirty, or before you store them? I know they are impregnated with S&S special silicon. It seems that no matter how hard I try to keep 'em clean, there's always something that sticks to them. I try not to over grease.

Thanks.

yes, wash them in a tepid soapy water. use a mild soap. do you not clean them before each day of diving? I use microfiber towels to clean each oring & groove, for the seals i've broken. Inspect the oring for dirt/hairs, grease with clean fingers etc. I avoid any particles on the orings this way 90% of the time. i mention this because i know a couple guys that never clean orings, just slap more grease on. They've had full floods. I haven't yet.... knock on wood.

Test the housing in your rinse bin, no camera, put a wad of paper towel inside and dunk it, working all the buttons. Most floods happen near the surface as that's where the seal is weakest, so its a good test. Cheers,

Chris

yes, wash them in a tepid soapy water. use a mild soap. do you not clean them before each day of diving? I use microfiber towels to clean each oring & groove, for the seals i've broken. Inspect the oring for dirt/hairs, grease with clean fingers etc. I avoid any particles on the orings this way 90% of the time. i mention this because i know a couple guys that never clean orings, just slap more grease on. They've had full floods. I haven't yet.... knock on wood.

 

Test the housing in your rinse bin, no camera, put a wad of paper towel inside and dunk it, working all the buttons. Most floods happen near the surface as that's where the seal is weakest, so its a good test. Cheers,

 

Chris

I think you're right. I usually don't wash o-rings with dish soap or anything like that (was just cleaning with microfiber too). I was under the impression that since these o-rings are impregnated with special silicon, that doing so would interfere with lubrication. I ordered new o-rings but also washed with soap detergent the old ones(will keep as backup).

I will test either in a pool or next time i dive; I will take the housing down to the same depth (without the camera). It should be ok. Hopefully it was because of dirt/lint on the o-rings(as I said it was a minor leak, camera was not affected, but surely serves as a wake up call for taking care of the o-rings better.

Thanks,

Blueline.

but surely serves as a wake up call for taking care of the o-rings better.

Words of wisdom!

Just a thought. Did you remove the rubber that sits over the view finder on the camera. This is advised on my housing. Without doing this the back does not close properly.

Stew

Just a thought. Did you remove the rubber that sits over the view finder on the camera. This is advised on my housing. Without doing this the back does not close properly.

 

Stew

Yeah I did. I remember reading it here (even before I bought the housing), that it needs to be removed, otherwise, it won't close properly.

I have the whole setup insured, but still...hopefully it won't happen again... taking all these precautions mentioned here.