My dome fell off

I worry about the bayonette on my 8 inch Ikelite dome. I have the low extension so the port locks are not used the same as with my 6 inch dome. If the dome rotates, it can dislodge the dome as the "bayonette" release lines up. I've never had a problem, but it does worry me.

AllisonFinch and anyone else who is concerned with the ikelite port rotating and falling off please take a look at my web site as I have a couple reasonable solutions for the Super wide angle port body 5510.10. I haven't posted pictures of the latest 7A and 7B locks and I am currently working on a solution for the new 5510.11 Super Wide Angle port body. Let me know what you think.

http://www.uwcamerastuff.com/info.htm

Thanks

Bill Libecap

This problem has been more widespread than manufacturers have acknowledged, always pointing to user-error. Large dome ports that revolve while sitting on your lap during a small boat ride or while being handled by a non-aware crew member have spoiled more than one trip for me and I lost my nerve, abandoning all makes of housing (it hasn't been the exclusive problem of one manufacturer) for the Sea & Sea which had a port lock. I'm glad to hear that more housings now have this feature. I again saw a port fall off a housing just as the owner was passing it over the swim platform to the inflatable only a few weeks ago. He saved his camera but the port went for a deep swim. It's another vote for the depressurizing system from Hugy. The port is immovable once you get the green LED.

... another vote for the depressurizing system from Hugy...

Maybe...

... I'm still concerned about the failure modes of the vacuum system, if only on the KISS principle!

I like the Anthis/Nexus solution, which is a proper threaded port that is closed to hand-tightness, and then only capable of being dislodged by a deliberate effort.

Tim

Maybe...

 

... I'm still concerned about the failure modes of the vacuum system, if only on the KISS principle!

 

I like the Anthis/Nexus solution, which is a proper threaded port that is closed to hand-tightness, and then only capable of being dislodged by a deliberate effort.

 

Tim

 

Here Here.. Agree completely, that is exactly why I went to Nexus and avoided Ike. I want diving and u/w photograghy to be my escape and be relaxing. Worrying about a dome falling off does not fit that situation.

Add a tiny dome for the Tolina 10-17 at a reasonable price and its all good.

Now, if I only had talent to add to the equation...but hey..we cannot all have everything...

Dave

Ikelite has a new retrofit for their housings which adds two more port locks (4 total) and a wide body port lock to keep it from rotating.

http://ikelite.com/faq/faq_4portlock.html

I've never had any issues with my 8 inch dome on the wide body port, but this is a welcome bit of insurance.

JP

I believe he was using the 8" dome. It is also the acrylic housing. I don't really know what happened but he was on the surface and a large wave crashed over him and the housing. Next time I looked over to him the housing was in two pieces and he was struggling to keep the half with the camera out of the water. The housing was for the Olympus E-410 which I think may be an older camera but the housing is fairly new. I believe the clips either broke or just released. I do find it odd that when the housing is together the dome spins freely on the housing but I'm told that's just how they are and it needs water pressure to really lock it on to the housing so swimming with it on the surface in bad conditions is less then ideal for this design. I have been working with manned subs and ROV's for 20 years and I have never seen a seal like that. Because it took some time to get back to the boat and get the battery out the camera is toast. The 8mm fisheye is still out for repair. I will dig through my emails looking for the brand of silicone but I do remember it was only available in Canada.

Hi Paul

Thanks for the update. I am sure that everyone appreciates hearing the details. Sorry for your friends loss or losses but thats mother nature. Sounds like the extra port locks could have possibly helped in this situation and the vacuum check would have definitely helped. In this situation the dome could have rotated and just become dislodged also and here some simple anti-spin locks would have helped. I understand what your saying about the ikelite locks but that is what some of us have to work with.

The 8" dome is massive and presents a large surface area for the watter to gain some leverage or force to cause a mishap. As I have stated I am also working on a stainless steal connector that would have really helped in tis situation. The delay is that my housing was just upgraded to the 4 port lock system and now my port is being upgraded. I will post information here when I have a update. We are working on the electronics for the vacuum check system and it is coming along just fine.

Again thanks for your update.

I like the idea of a vacuum check for housings. We use a vacuum pump on the electronics pods on the ROV's I have worked with to ensure we have a seal. A small fitting with a small hand pump would be ideal for a camera housing.

Paul

Hi Everyone

Well it's been a while since I have posted a update. I have been busy skiing and shoveling snow but I did find some time to work on the project. I have assembled the prototype and needed to make some changes to the original schematic. After the modifications it works great. I now have to run those modifications past the EE who is working with me on the project and then we will go on to the next step of making it small and using surface mount chips.

This section is a area inviting comments and feedback. Without getting too much into the details of how things work I will attempt to describe the circuit as well as it's functions. One of the concerns when designing the project was power consumption as well as space required as we already have the connection to the housing solved. We have a power saving feature installed that will really extend the length of the battery life. My minimum requirements were to be able to run on one battery for 12 hours a day for at least 7 days on a single coin cell. After all coin cells are not that expensive.

The circuit also contains a moisture sensor. With a good battery, anytime there is water in the housing you will get a red flashing alarm regardless if you are in power-saving mode or not. The unit will automatically come out of power-saver mode as we didn't want any manual switches etc.

If you have less than 2" of vacuum in the housing then you will be in power saving mode.

If you have from 2" to 8" of vacuum in the housing then you will see a rapid flashing red alarm.

If you have from 8" to 10" of vacuum in the housing then you will see a slow flashing red alarm.

If you have from 10" to 12" of vacuum in the housing then you will see a solid green safe light.

The way I figure it if you have a lose of vacuum you have a problem !!!!!

I am open to ideas and suggestions in this area.

More updates to follow.

Also see threads http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...=33256&st=0 and http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=32883

Bill Libecap