Discussion about 8" dome of ikelite DSLR housing

I own a IKELITE 6871.55 housing for a Canon EOS T1i with a newly purchased 8" (20 cm) acrylic dome. When I mounted the 3.5 pound heavy dome to the 4 clips housing mountings I had some concerns about the stress that may occur to the 4 clips on the housing. Sure enough after mounting the heavy dome onto the housing the dome wobbled and the O-ring almost slipped out of the housing.

I contacted IKELITE Customer Care and their respond was "It's normal that the dome might be a bit loose but with increasing water pressure that should be solved". Not with mine, after I entered the water with both the housing with the camera, waterdrops appeared inside the dome glass. On the same charter boat was another diver with no camera housing pointing to mine and said " That's how mine got flooded".

I'd like to start a discussion within Wetpixel to figure out if this is an isolated incident, or does Ikelite simply ignore my concerns.

Any input from you Ikelite owners (or pre-owners) is appreciated.

Feel free to express your experiences, but please remain within this type of housing with same size dome, since all other domes ( 4" and macro) with Ikelite work fine.

Thanks!

I personally can't see how the port makes any difference; the piston seal arrangement is exactly the same on all. The 4 clip system gives additional mechanical strength over 2 clips when out of the water but makes no difference once submerged.

I've never had a drop of water in my ageing 400D 2 clip Ike housing in 4 years and 400 dives and never seen anyone else flood one. Been carrying a spare O ring for the last 4 years too, but still using the original. The only concerns I have is if you have to jump in or enter heavy surf - definitely needs cuddling to keep the dome pressed into the housing. Extra care is needed when assembling the 8" dome and short extension (for Tokina 10-17) because you can't really see the O ring.

2c

I have D7000 and D80 Ike housings and use the 8" dome for split level shots. I guess that means I'm using this combo in the worst situation pressure wise because the dome is not really pushed in at the surface. Never had a problem with seal integrity even with the wobbly fit.

I've had two Ike SLR housings, the first with two clips made 800+ dives and the second with 4 clips is now around 150. That goes along with sitting most of the day in a rinse tank.

So far no problems with the 8" dome or macro ports, but mine have never had enough "play" in the coupling once the clips are closed and locked for the o-ring to get even close to slipping out.

Out of the water it can be rotated and there may be a slight wobble but once in it's locked.

Had a flood but it was with the port clip popping up on the 10-17 port when I rotated it.

Never had a leak in the circumstances you're describing and it sounds a bit funny that theres enough play for the o-ring to pop. Some people use gaffa tape to make sure the dome is held against the housing, you could try that for peace of mind if you like.

Otara

I agree with you the the 8" dome is quite a mass as well as quite a lot of surface area to catch the current / flow and maybe loosen the fit a bit. I would ask if you have your port clips tight enough. I can't say for sure that I ever had a leak with the 8" dome but before I installed my vacuum sealing system " Housing Sentry " I did have some minor leaks. I would suggest that maybe you try posting this on the Ikelite Forum and see if any one has some suggestions also.

In regards to the port rotating I also have a solution for that problem for users with 4 port locks that i think is a better solution than the supplied port lock. The information is available on My Website.

I am sorry to here that you are having problems but ikelite is known for there great customer support and service and i am sure that you will get your problem resolved.

I used Ike housings for several years with both the 2 and 4 port locks and the 8" dome. Never had an issue. I would check to see if the port locks are tightened down properly with the phillips screws. I used to keep mine pretty snug.

Also, this is how I would put the port on:

1) pull all four lock tabs out

2) put just the port body on

3) check snugness of phillips screws. not super tight, can still move port lock, but pretty snug

4) screw on 8" port

I wouldn't jump in the water holding an Ike with the 8" dome, but it's a very reliable product. Did many over/unders with mine at the surface, never had a drop of water inside. If you grab the 8" dome and wiggle it back and forth, it will definitely move around and flex, but that's normal.

take care,

John

I'd also add to make sure that the o-ring is lubed. Not gunked, but nicely glossy with no extra globs. When you loosen the 4 port locks to the open position, it should be a fairly tight fit to get the dome port extension centered and you should almost have to do tiny rotations back and forth to slip it in with the o-ring in the right position. Once that beveled extension face is flush at the perimeter with the housing face, you're in.

Closing the port locks you can NOT count on the 'click' sound as they are snapped forward. You must make sure that the little peg part you lift up also drops down into place. I've noticed even on smaller ports, I can hear a 'click' but the lifting finger part is still lifted and has not dropped into the lock position.

Never had a problem with the 8" dome on my old housing with only 2 port locks, even in pretty rough surface conditions sort of 'towing' the housing behind me on a lanyard. But I also only went on a few trips with it. Now I'm using a smaller dome on a newer 4-lock housing...but that's out of packing preference not because I distrusted the port lock / o-ring interface. The 4 locks are really more of a psychological comfort than a significant seal improvement, IMO. (Actually they're almost a pain as you really have to make sure all 4 are 'out" all the way or else the extension flange won't fit between them!

I own a IKELITE 6871.55 housing for a Canon EOS T1i with a newly purchased 8" (20 cm) acrylic dome. When I mounted the 3.5 pound heavy dome to the 4 clips housing mountings I had some concerns about the stress that may occur to the 4 clips on the housing. Sure enough after mounting the heavy dome onto the housing the dome wobbled and the O-ring almost slipped out of the housing.

 

I contacted IKELITE Customer Care and their respond was "It's normal that the dome might be a bit loose but with increasing water pressure that should be solved". Not with mine, after I entered the water with both the housing with the camera, waterdrops appeared inside the dome glass. On the same charter boat was another diver with no camera housing pointing to mine and said " That's how mine got flooded".

 

I'd like to start a discussion within Wetpixel to figure out if this is an isolated incident, or does Ikelite simply ignore my concerns.

 

Any input from you Ikelite owners (or pre-owners) is appreciated.

 

Feel free to express your experiences, but please remain within this type of housing with same size dome, since all other domes ( 4" and macro) with Ikelite work fine.

 

Thanks!

I have been using this dome since they came out. In fact when I got mine they had not yet released the shade. There is nothing wrong with the design. I actually wish they had never gone to the four clip design because now there is a chance you can lose the dome if you forget the funky locking mechanism when using a fisheye. My camera has over 100,000 actuations on it so you know I dive a lot and almost always shoot wide angle with this dome (10.5, 10-20, 17-70). The dome itself is better than many manufacturers housings because it is not so hemispheric, so the virtual image is less curved, therefore less DOF needed (read: sharp corners). Your housing could have flooded in many other ways, including through the dome oring (just like any other camera housing).

I'd also add to make sure that the o-ring is lubed. Not gunked, but nicely glossy with no extra globs. When you loosen the 4 port locks to the open position, it should be a fairly tight fit to get the dome port extension centered and you should almost have to do tiny rotations back and forth to slip it in with the o-ring in the right position. Once that beveled extension face is flush at the perimeter with the housing face, you're in.

 

Closing the port locks you can NOT count on the 'click' sound as they are snapped forward. You must make sure that the little peg part you lift up also drops down into place. I've noticed even on smaller ports, I can hear a 'click' but the lifting finger part is still lifted and has not dropped into the lock position.

 

Never had a problem with the 8" dome on my old housing with only 2 port locks, even in pretty rough surface conditions sort of 'towing' the housing behind me on a lanyard. But I also only went on a few trips with it. Now I'm using a smaller dome on a newer 4-lock housing...but that's out of packing preference not because I distrusted the port lock / o-ring interface. The 4 locks are really more of a psychological comfort than a significant seal improvement, IMO. (Actually they're almost a pain as you really have to make sure all 4 are 'out" all the way or else the extension flange won't fit between them!

I actually NEVER jump into the water with the camera, rather having it handed to me and I never put it into a tank onboard, because other cameras tangle against it and acrylic domes don't take hits that well. Looks like I'm the only one with a leaking problem, also I check and lubricate the O-ring prior every dive.

You might inspect them really really well for hairs, even tiny cotton fibers from like a towel. I don't inspect and lube mine "every dive" - more like every day or two, or if they start to feel like they're binding when you're trying to do the piston action to insert the port extension.

Also check for seams or pits in the o-ring. It's possible you got a badly molded one, or nicked it. Once damaged, they'll never come back.

From your original message, with the dome 'wobbling' on the surface, the O-ring should still NEVER be able to 'come out'. It should be completely trapped, with the angled part of the port extension meeting the inner faces of the port locks perfectly flush, which means the o-ring is entirely trapped between concentric cylindrical surfaces (the outer cylindrical face of the extension, the inner cylindrical face of the housing mold). Any chance your o-ring got 'stretched' so it's not a tight fit over the port extension? Again, if it wasn't lubed and was tight on the very first insertion and bound up a little bit, it could have been stretched, and won't necessarily recover.

I wouldn't say you're the "only one" having problems - don't want to make it sound like we're all blaming you. I have heard others say (it seems to be a mantra, frankly) that Ike is somehow less reliable than other ports, although I really think it's probably more a matter sample size (many more Ike housings than more expensive housings in use, and across a broader range of users in terms of experience level, hence...statistically there must be more failures). [EDIT - just to clarify, by this I mean with a larger # of housings, and the exact same failure rate, statistics says you should have a larger failure count. Not larger proportion - just same small percentage of bigger pool will mean bigger numbers. Factor in the less expensive factor and the sheer quantity of Point and Shoot housings they make and there's also a skew toward perhaps less overall careful users (not aimed at the original poster here at all). Although admittedly most of the point-n-shoot housings don't have the port seal in question.... I'm an Ike user myself -- past and current -- and have never had a leak, although I have at times criticized the 2-port system on this very site. I just don't want to leave the impression I'm bashing them as that's not at all my intent.]

Clearly port o-rings are a source of failure (on any housing) and Ike responded to at least the psychological fear of the older 2-lock system by beefing it up. But your description really does not sound normal.

Can you take pictures of your port extension with o-ring and locks engaged, just in the air, and post them? Would like to see how it compares to how I think it should look (and I can respond in kind, if it would help, although I don't currently have an 8" dome).

Hi I had the same problem, couple of drops... After tightening the screw form the port lock it got a bit better for a few dives then more drops... after changing the o ring (which was new) the problem diseapeared, I have now >100 dives without a drop

Okay, thank you guys for your kind input. I will take care of your suggestions and see what happens.

checking and lubing the oring before every dive, if doing a series of dives in one day, is asking for trouble.

Just check and lube it the night before, and then use it for a whole day.

Of course, this is assuming you are diving the same port all day.

I have owned and dived two years with the Ikelite housing for Canon 7D, and have used the Ikelite 8 inch dome on +100 dives.

I have never had any issues or serious concerns with the dome. Never had any leaks either.

With the Tokina fisheye the dome port body is extremely short, and in fact attached in a bayonet fashion. You don't get to see too well how the o-ring seals, but the whole package seems quite rigid and reasonable external forces will not dislocate the port.

With the Sigma 17-70mm zoom I use a longer port body, which may appear to make the assembly more susceptible to external forces, however I have not had any issues with that either, and have taken the camera to some really rough places. Using the longer body allows you too see very well that the seal is OK.

Picture of the whole rig with the Sigma 17-70 below:

And underwater:

I have used both the 2-lock and 4-lock system with the Ike 8" dome. I was initially worried about the integrity of the system but once you get the housing completely submergered the dome-housing seal is generally fairly good. I've also used it snorkeling and chasing whale sharks without problem, and on long surface kicks from shore entries. I have twice had water drops get into the dome, both times during safety stops while hanging at ~15ft without any obvious reason; drops just started to enter the dome as I watched. I have to assume that either the dome was not seated 100% correctly (even though this was the end of the dive and there had been no drops earlier during the dive) or something like fin wash or contact (from me or a buddy) caused the problem. I now pray slightly each time I use it but it has not yet flooded, I just assume that it may happpen one unhappy day.