Nauticam port adapter stuck fast...

Has anyone else had a problem with a Nauticam port adapter becoming impossible to remove from the housing? If so then hopefully you found a solution and can let me know the tricks to getting it out. It was a very tight fit when I did fit it to my Nauticam housing, but now when I want to remove it nothing seems to work - it just won't budge a fraction of an inch. Any suggestions that don't involve the use of a Halligan or C4 would be very helpful as visibility has turned bad here and I need to switch to macro.

Are we talking about the locking extension or the the standard joint? Assuming it's unlocked, I have found it's easiest to push it out from the inside with a little thumb pressure.

HTH,

Steve

I agree with Steve's advice.

Occasionally I have had to exert a little pressure from the inside and usually with a port extension which has been fitted for a few days. Generally I now try to disassemble the ports and extensions after diving and re-lube the o-rings which keeps things 'moving'...

If the guys' advice does not help, have a look from the inside and see if, when the red locking mechanism is open on the front, that the teeth of the mechanism are aligned with the teeth on the port. It may be that the gears have jumped a tooth and now, when fully open, do not rotate the mechanism far enough to disengage the port.

Check that the plastic gear on the inside end of the red locking lever shaft is not cracked, allowing the shaft to turn without rotating the bayonet mechanism sufficiently. In my view, this gear should be metal. If it is cracked, you can remove the gear and turn the bayonet locking mechanism by hand from inside.

I had this exact same problem!

I tried everything everything for about an hour and then found that I had turned the port counter-clockwise just about a millimeter too far. Turn it back about a millimeter (clockwise) and push from the inside like Steve suggests. Make sure the locking system matches up.

I had this issue with the Zen 100mm Dome port (or I think it was its extension). Did you use the same port and extension?

Those extension joints are tight aren't they? You ought to try unscrewing a Nauticam / Nexus adapter ring that is so narrow, it barely has 1/4" to grasp. The only method of dis-assembly that I found workable is to dis-assemble one section at a time, leaving the first extension still attached to the housing. The strap wrench will work on the last extension, as it will slip on the extension still attached to the housing.

I appreciate that the fit is tight but I do not see the need to be as tight as they are. However, once assembled and locked - no way is it going to leak!

TomC

I had this exact same problem!

 

I tried everything everything for about an hour and then found that I had turned the port counter-clockwise just about a millimeter too far. Turn it back about a millimeter (clockwise) and push from the inside like Steve suggests. Make sure the locking system matches up.

 

I had this issue with the Zen 100mm Dome port (or I think it was its extension). Did you use the same port and extension?

Precisely! Its very easy to over-rotate the Nauticam extensions isn't it?

Ummm...

... I haven't had this problem (yet), tho' I have found that my Nexus ports are very tight on the adapter ring and need a rubber strap wrench to undo. I wouldn't dare do that whilst attached to the housing because of the strain on the locking mechanism...

Tim

If you take a close look at how the extension fits into the housing, I believe that you will find that applying torque to the extension ring does not stress the locking mechanism. Those Nauticam engineers are pretty sharp and appear to have thought of this situation. There is a metal tab mounted on the inside of the housing that mates with the extension or port. The metal tab restricts any radial movement of the extension or port.

Many thanks for the replies guys. In this case it was the Nauticam adaptor for Nexus ports that was stuck - and I mean really stuck! I checked the teeth and gears and everything there was still in the right place, it was just the sheer friction of the oring that that was holding it in there. Eventually we got it out by applying sheer brute force, but it probably doesn't need to be this tight.

If you leave a port or extension with a fairly large 'O' ring assembled for some time and use it, the pressure can squeeze the grease out from where the 'O' ring makes none pressurised contact with its seat (that is when at the surface) so you are effectively trying to rotate something which is held in place by virtually dry 'rubber'. This effectively creates a massive amount of grip, which prevents rotation and requires a great deal of force to overcome. So the answer to avoiding this is simply to disassemble more frequently and re-grease the 'O' ring. If you have a port or extender stuck then there is little you can do other than use a substantial amount of force, as far as I know anyway - certainly its the only way that I've ever found of removing 'stuck' ports and extenders or separating them either.