Recommended maintenance schedule for Subal housings?

I have a ND30 for my Nikon D300-its about 10 years old now and have yet to have any issues with the orings-any suggestions on how often I should have this serviced with new o-rings?

I have the o-ring kit but would most likely send it to a dealer for this service as it takes time to dissemble the whole thing.

It not had that many dives on it and its stored in a cool dark place with main ring out. All controls work smoothly.

Any recommendations ?

Mark

Hi Mark

I'm on my 5th Subal housing. My D300 one must have done well over 1000 dives over about 5 years and was in the water every day for a year. I guess because servicing was not an option at that time, nothing was ever changed although it was rinsed! I never had a problem and it always worked as smooth as silk.

No doubt Subal have their factory recommendations. But my own experience has been that servicing does not need to be done too often although if it has been sitting in store for a long time, unused, then maybe I'd get it serviced.

And I always have in the back of mind that old motto, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it...." but then 10 years old. That's getting up there. Maybe worth it if you have good access to a Subal servicing facility.

I have had 4 subal housing myself and never had one serviced-I'm about to head this winter back to indonesia as well a few weeks at Wakatobi . I'm only a few days UPOS shipment to a subal dealer.

I'm on the fence about servicing it.

I have had 4 subal housing myself and never had one serviced-I'm about to head this winter back to indonesia as well a few weeks at Wakatobi . I'm only a few days UPOS shipment to a subal dealer.

I'm on the fence about servicing it.

Hmmm, very tough call. If it's working fine I'd be tempted to leave it as is. My only concern would be whether o-rings might be starting to crack/fail after 10 years. Worth asking your dealer what the turnaround time would be?

(I've never had one serviced either!)

Hi, I have owned 7 housings and replaced the O rings myself on several, it takes a bit of time, but if your are handy and have a few simple tools, it is reasonably easy. I do the replacement in stages, over several days; first I photograph the inside and outside of the housing & rings, also the pushbutton spring-washer-O ring assembly, etc, for reference when re-assembling. I do all the work alone, no distractions, on a soft towel to catch any small parts that want to escape and hide. It is a good idea to be extra careful when removing/replacing e-clips, such as used on Ikelite housings, and to have a few extras on hand as they are escape artists.

Now I have been diving a Subal D800 for 2 years and all seems fine. I have the Subal O ring kit and the 5.5 mm hex socket required to undo the nuts. My procedure after each day's dives is to clean the housing carefully, lube with good silicone grease, then feel how smoothly the buttons and controls are working, and examine the visible O rings and their mounting grooves, such as for the back cover and ports for stiffness or hair-line cracks. After a season of dives I open one of the push-button assemblies to make sure all is well in the hidden parts. Also I look carefully for rust or signs of damage anywhere. If just one push-button or similar has damage, I take no chances and I rebuild the entire housing.

To test before dive trips or if in doubt: If all looks well, a good test is to sink the housing, using lead weights instead of the camera, in a swimming pool overnight. Another test is to install a vacuum leak detector such as the VividHousings Leak Sentinel, pump a vacuum and work the buttons; leave the housing closed for several hours or overnight and see if the vacuum holds. Both tests can be combined.

O rings are a lot tougher than one would think, and if treated reasonably, will give long excellent service. But if in doubt, play it safe, and have the housing serviced.

We recommend servicing every 3 years but as TimG describe, this is directly connected how much often you use the housing and how much you take care after dive. Regular service is changing o-rings and springs, and in every service department they adjust with camera after, that everything work perfect again.

Vladimir,

Would you please look at the topic about sticking push-buttons. In particular on Subal housings. Is Subal willing to send replacement springs to the Subal ND800 purchasers who are having trouble with their push-buttons? As I am. How can I get the "stronger springs" that one of the Subal users says Reef Photo installed in his housing to reduce this problem?

Fred

The Subal ND800 was released with defectively designed push buttons and weak springs. Mine and those of buddies would stick in the depressed position underwater and could be released by pushing the stuck button sideways. Subal should have recalled all ND800's. The solution I used was to return the housing to the dealer for a complete replacement of the push buttons and springs, which was done at no cost as it was a factory defect. After this my ND800 and that of my dive buddy have worked just fine.

Thanks guys, this old thread turned out useful!