New Subal Housing

So my new Subal C40 housing arrived Friday from Reef Photo and I had a chance to test it out today at our local quarry. First off, I pretty much know I'm going to love this housing. I wasn't planning on upgrading but Reef had a crazy-low price on this so I jumped on it. Anyway, when putting it together last night with my main UW camera the main control dial was slipping. I suspected maybe I accidentally got a bit of 0-ring grease on it so I put my other 40D in the housing and it worked just fine. This morning however when I arrived at the dive site the quick command dial was slipping a bit after the first dive, which it wasn't doing last night, nor during the first dive. I opened up the housing and checked the dial and it seemed fine. After fiddling for awhile I got it to make good contact again. But I'm wondering if the tension is adjustable, or if anyone else has run into this problem and has a fix or tip?

That said I love the housing. I was easily able to reach but the main control and quick control without taking my hands off the handles using both dry gloves and then 5mm wet gloves. However, I was using my 60mm for the first time and I discovered I suck at close-up UW photography. While it was very, very fun shooting fish, I need to get a dome port real soon and go back to shooting wrecks. Maybe I'll change my mind if I get a chance to shoot some colorful fish in Florida in a couple weeks.

I'll call Reef today when they open but am surprised nobody here has had this issue.

I had a problem with a Subal housing and the mail control dial once, when the retainer clip broke. But it doesn't sound like that's your problem. Another thing, where the control dial contacts the camera's control dial, there should be a rubber ring that's making contact---at least there is on the two Subal's I've owned-- that didn't fall out did it?

I'm sure you'll figure out it. Subal housings are pretty darn sweet, except for the occasional little adjustments needed.

Hi Andy.

I also have the C40 housing. And I have definitely had troubles with the main (top) control dial. I have 2 @ 40D bodies and 1 @ 50D bodies. The control dial gives me grief with any or all of the bodies. I have it tuned in fairly well with one of the bodies, but it is still finicky.

I have made some modifications to improve the fit between the actuator and the dial. According to Ryan:

The housing's sub command dial setup is adjustable, and yours is way too low. It looks like it is so low that the camera isn't going as far into the housing as it should. The rubber o-ring should function as a tire, riding on the axel and turning the sub command wheel. The o-ring groove in the axel should be directly above the sub command dial, not in front of it as yours is positioned. The lower of the two allen headed cap screws pictured is an adjustment for that entire assembly. Loose that a half turn or so, then you should be able to rock the gear rack back and forth, moving the wheel. Most of the ones we see are too loose, but yours is too tight.

Here is how the mount for the actuator looked when I first got my housing:

Here is a close-up showing the two mounting screws:

Note that the bottom screw in the above photo was in pretty good shape:

But that the top screw look like it had been worked over pretty hard at the factory:

Here is how the actuator contacted the dial in my housing as received:

In the above photo the actuator is in front of the control dial, not on top of it. Simply adjusting the screws made no difference as the actuator needed to be shimmed to move it closer to, and therefore above, the command dial. So I found a couple of fibre washers:

I installed the fibre washers under the mount to shim it up:

Once shimmed I was able to adjust it so that the actuator contacted the control dial in the properly place and with the proper amount of pressure:

The problem was solved. Or so it seemed. On my next dive trip it worked flawlessly. Since then, however, it has acted up a bit. As I said earlier it does not always work well when I swap bodies. So perhaps the cameras are not all precisely the same. Even sticking with only one body I find there are times when the actuator does not work properly or at all. Before my next dive trip I need to fiddle with it some more. It appears that there is not sufficient friction between the rubber on the actuator and the rubber on the control dial. Even if it appears to be perfectly position, it will still slip. I don't know if the rubber on the actuator can be cleaned or scuffed up to make it grip better.

HTH. Any questions, let me know.

John

but am surprised nobody here has had this issue.

Others may have had the same issue, but perhaps they did not read your post? Unfortunately "New Subal Housing" is a pretty generic topic. Next time try something more specific like "Trouble with Subal C40 Housing." Or even better "Trouble with Top Command Dial on Subal C40 Housing."

Just a thought.

John

Hi Andy.

 

I also have the C40 housing. And I have definitely had troubles with the main (top) control dial. I have 2 @ 40D bodies and 1 @ 50D bodies. The control dial gives me grief with any or all of the bodies. I have it tuned in fairly well with one of the bodies, but it is still finicky.

 

I have made some modifications to improve the fit between the actuator and the dial. According to Ryan:

 

 

 

 

Here is how the mount for the actuator looked when I first got my housing:

 

 

 

Here is a close-up showing the two mounting screws:

 

 

 

Note that the bottom screw in the above photo was in pretty good shape:

 

 

 

But that the top screw look like it had been worked over pretty hard at the factory:

 

 

 

Here is how the actuator contacted the dial in my housing as received:

 

 

 

In the above photo the actuator is in front of the control dial, not on top of it. Simply adjusting the screws made no difference as the actuator needed to be shimmed to move it closer to, and therefore above, the command dial. So I found a couple of fibre washers:

 

 

 

I installed the fibre washers under the mount to shim it up:

 

 

 

Once shimmed I was able to adjust it so that the actuator contacted the control dial in the properly place and with the proper amount of pressure:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem was solved. Or so it seemed. On my next dive trip it worked flawlessly. Since then, however, it has acted up a bit. As I said earlier it does not always work well when I swap bodies. So perhaps the cameras are not all precisely the same. Even sticking with only one body I find there are times when the actuator does not work properly or at all. Before my next dive trip I need to fiddle with it some more. It appears that there is not sufficient friction between the rubber on the actuator and the rubber on the control dial. Even if it appears to be perfectly position, it will still slip. I don't know if the rubber on the actuator can be cleaned or scuffed up to make it grip better.

 

HTH. Any questions, let me know.

 

John

Thanks for the info. I'll look closely at this when I get home. The rubber ring is there on the quick command dial. I'll check everything out when I get home.

Thanks,

Andy

Others may have had the same issue, but perhaps they did not read your post? Unfortunately "New Subal Housing" is a pretty generic topic. Next time try something more specific like "Trouble with Subal C40 Housing." Or even better "Trouble with Top Command Dial on Subal C40 Housing."

 

Just a thought.

 

John

Fair enough, thanks.

Hi Andy,

I gad the same issue with my control dial on my C40 when it was new. Mine was simpler - the rubber bushing was just not quite gripping the control wheel and so it slipped. I was told that there are ever so slight variations in the camera bodies from different factories. All I had to do was make a slight adjustment (not quite as intricate as so eloquently described and documented above) and it works well now - I just make sure to use the same body as I've adjusted the housing for.

Phil

So I figured out that if I move the right side of the camera a smidge after it is mounted in the housing I can get good, positive contact with the main dial on both cameras, so that makes me happy. Thanks for all the help.