Leave O rings in place or remove?

I recently read a comment by someone who said he did not "ever" remove housing (and maybe port?) O rings. He prefers to leave them in place and wipe them clean and lube them in place. He recommends that others do this as well, and believes the removal and re-installation to be the cause of many O ring problems and resulting floods.

I have always thought the preferred practice was to remove the O rings for storage, transport and to clean and lube the O ring and clean the track in which it resides.

Just wondering what others think and do?

I recently read a comment by someone who said he did not "ever" remove housing (and maybe port?) O rings. He prefers to leave them in place and wipe them clean and lube them in place. He recommends that others do this as well, and believes the removal and re-installation to be the cause of many O ring problems and resulting floods.

 

I have always thought the preferred practice was to remove the O rings for storage, transport and to clean and lube the O ring and clean the track in which it resides.

 

Just wondering what others think and do?

I leave the o-ring in place but store the housing with the back off so there is no possibility of compression set on the o-ring. Once I am ready to assemble, I remove the O-ring and lube it and clean the track then put it together.

Bill

I see no gain in leaving the o-ring in for storage. No way I would enter the water after long term storage without inspecting the o-ring properly, making sure there were no cuts or dirt, or anything happened during flight or inspection by customs. So if you know you're going to remove it at least once before entering the water, why store it with the oring in place. I put the o-ring in a bag and put the bag in the housing. On the other hand, you might as well store it in the groove as well Who cares. Point is, I dont believe in leaving it in place between storing and diving.

Once I have it on and am starting to dive it's a different story. I dont take it off unless I have to. I have gone through 30 day trips without once removing the oring between dives.

If one is concerned about o-ring compression, then ALL the o-rings should be removed for storage. I hope we would agree that this is a bit ridiculous. Compression is not the issue - cleanliness is. I only remove o-rings to properly clean & lightly lub them. The main o-rings may stay in place for a whole trip if it can be keep them clean without removal. If it looks a little dry, then apply a little grease to surface. All o-rings remain in place for storage with housings closed & latched. My reference is buna/neoprene o-rings (the black ones). When I buy something that uses a colored o-ring (like my S&S strobes) I replace them with buna. A good quality silicone grease is all you need. Some seem to spend too much time playing with o-rings. If it isn't broke don't fix it.

P.S. If you have a silicone (red/orange) o-ring, don't grease it. Spit works just fine as a lubricant.

Have your housing serviced (complete overhaul - replace ALL o-rings) every 1-2 yrs depending on use.

If one is concerned about o-ring compression, then ALL the o-rings should be removed for storage. I hope we would agree that this is a bit ridiculous. Compression is not the issue - cleanliness is. I only remove o-rings to properly clean & lightly lub them. The main o-rings may stay in place for a whole trip if it can be keep them clean without removal. If it looks a little dry, then apply a little grease to surface. All o-rings remain in place for storage with housings closed & latched. My reference is buna/neoprene o-rings (the black ones). When I buy something that uses a colored o-ring (like my S&S strobes) I replace them with buna. A good quality silicone grease is all you need. Some seem to spend too much time playing with o-rings. If it isn't broke don't fix it.

 

P.S. If you have a silicone (red/orange) o-ring, don't grease it. Spit works just fine as a lubricant.

I have to agree with the above statement. Just last month I decided to take the glass dome out of my old 1970's Oceanic housing for my Hassy SWC medium format (the dome design was too small for the lens and I decided to take it out for DIY CFWA project). The port had never been taken out and still had the original o-ring from about 40 years ago. Although I do not recommend this , this o-ring never failed me and the housing has never flooded or leaked. It still has some original static o-rings for some of the small film counter viewing windows. Over the decades I have only replaced the main body o-ring (compression seal)and the o-rings for the control shafts, but usually only once a year (or sometimes even less). I would keep the main body o-ring seperate in a baggie during storage, but always used very minimal silicone grease, having learned that silicone grease is a great magnet for sand and hair. Only time I'm obsessive compulsive is during housing prep and just before and during housing closure, which I prefer to do in comfort at home or hotel (if I'm not on a multiday boat trip). My experience has been that too much application of silicone grease (together with the trapped dirt) is often the reason for housing leaks by beginners that think that silicone grease improves the sealing, which it doesn't.

Bo

I had a close call last year which was a result of me reinstalling the main housing o-ring which ultimately bulged out. As a result I now leave it in place unless I have cause to remove and clean it.

In use I try to only remove/lube O rings when changing ports

cleaning off sand/silt etc.

In storage I remove all port, extension ring and main housing (back)

O rings and store them (clean) in a Ziploc bag.

I suppose it depends on the housing and the o-ring.

In most of the dive centers I have worked, the rental point & shot cameras are permanently closed with the main o-ring in place. Lucky if somebody cleans and lubs them once every two months and they never leak.

But with bigger housings and/or different o-rings I found that if I don't clean the main o-ring regularly (almost every time I use it) they accumulate more sand and dust and after a time start to leak.

The other problem is when you keep the main o-ring in place and you close the housing it loose slightly the original round shape and doesn't seal so well. Also the dirt that it may have can damage it and make small holes or cuts if you keep it under pressure.

Since then I store in a zipbag the main o-ring and clean and lub it before each use with no problem. For the dive center ones they still are fine as they were.

you should take the oring out for plane travel

you should take the o-ring out for plane travel

...unless you have a Hugyfot housing with a pressure-relief valve for use with Hugycheck.

you should take the oring out for plane travel

Or just leave off the port

i keep an old oring in place for storage, i am worried on my aquatica housing that i will damage the sealing face on the back of the housing if it is stored loose or together with nothing in between. The o-ring just makes sure that the surface stays clean and won't get scored or chipped in any way.

i use a port cap for storage and keep the ports seperate with their neoprene covers on.