Full service of housing

Hello all,

I would like to know how many photographers out there (especially any pro shooters) do a FULL service on their housing? And do you did yourself or send it back to the manufacturer?

I'm talking about an inspection and replacement (if necessary) of every single O'ring on their housing +/- a pressure test.

Does anyone think whether this activity extends the life of the housing or reduce the incidence of flooding?

Cheers

The LAST TIME that I did a full service was a couple of decades ago when I thought that the line in the user manual about a regular full service sounded like a good idea.

So, I sent my Nikonos V and SB102 to the local Nikon service centre. On return I did a test in the bath then went diving. The camera flooded past the internal o-ring around the shutter-speed control shaft. Just a few drops but enough to fry the electronics. The strobe had a wire pinched against the case wall and would not fire below 5 meters deep.

And, guess what? Nikon accepted zero responsibility.

Since then, I have always employed an "ain't broke, don't fix" approach.

But, I do take great care with my housings: plenty of fresh water soak time, careful o-ring maintenance.

One of the things that I like about the BS Kinetics housing is that it only has two o-rings and they are both easily checked.

Regards

Peter

Thank you, that's a very telling case study.