How long do you think it's safe to leave housing assembled?

I have a bit of a concern...I will be hopping on the boat and cruising the western Bahamas for about 5-7 days here in a few weeks, mostly for relaxing and fishing. I'd like to get in the water with my Canon 5DII Ikelite housing/8" dome, probably every day to do some photography, as we'll be around sharks, shipwrecks, and general beautiful u/w locations. But I really won't be able to do anything more for my gear than a good freshwater rinse after each splash during this time.

Would you feel okay assembling the camera/housing and leaving it assembled during the whole week, with nothing more than periodic rinses, or is this not a wise idea to leave the o-rings compressed for this length of time? I appreciate your thoughts, thanks!

John

I can only speak for Subal, but it shouldn't be too different for other brands. I usually leave mine assembled the entire time I am diving, and only open it if I need to change lenses and/or memory card. The longest I went was about 3 weeks when I was diving every day on a sailboat. It is however very important that you rinse it after every dive or at the very least give it a good rinse in the end of the day.

Ditto for Nexus. Also, as part of your end of day rinse, work all buttons & control shafts a few times to help flush out all the salt water. Should be fine.

Hi John,

I don't think it would cause any problems, when on diving trips the housing stays together, the only time I take mine apart is to

put new card in & change batterys. I know that means you are taking it apart every day. But I do not take my veiwfinder out

once it has been fitted at the start of the week & on the trips I have been on I have not seen anyone else do so. You may get other veiws, but like I say I don't think their will be a problem, just my two cents worth.

Andy

I always keep my Subal ND2 together for the duration of the trip, opening every few days only to change battery [big battery in D2x] and memory card. Trips are 2-4 months long. Never had problems and have been using 6 years now.

Agree with above comments and add that all metal to metal threaded joints should be greased.

We do this and have been OK for 4 weeks.

Awesome folks, thank you so much for the input and suggestions, I feel much better :-D

Happy and safe shooting to you all!

John