Aquatica Surveyor with Vivid Leak Sentinel V4

So... Im new to DSLR UW housings, just got my first one today, an Aquatica D500.

It has the Vivid Leak Sentinel V4 on it, switched it on, got a vacuum, got a green light, awesome! Then I realised that the Aquatica Surveyor vacuum system is still active as its integrated with the moisture sensor, so I decided to test that out (for redundancy?).

So I switched on BOTH, started pumping, Surveyor starts going orange, then solid green, which is a sign that its reached its pressure. But the V4 was still on red.

Is this just that each one is set up for a different level of vacuum, the V4 expecting a much greater vacuum than the Surveyor?

The Surveyor being Aquatica's own, is it protecting the housing of too much underpressure when it beeps and flashes red? If so, is the V4 expecting too much under pressure?

Seems for now I can't have both systems active as they are expecting different pressures, but someone with some knowhow would be greatly appreciated!!

I would suggest you create more vacuum until the V4 is activated too.

Elmer

Did you bleed off when you started to pump the second time.

Vivid may only measure differential pressures..

So if you were pumped down, turned off then on and stared to pump again you may not have lowered the pressure enough for the electronics to recognize it.

I normally get a green at about 8-10 strokes and then go another 8-10 more.

I would suggest you create more vacuum until the V4 is activated too.

 

Elmer

If I keep pumping till the V4 is activated, the Surveyor module starts flashing red and beeping (too much underpressure) and then switches itself off..

Did you bleed off when you started to pump the second time.

Vivid may only measure differential pressures..

So if you were pumped down, turned off then on and stared to pump again you may not have lowered the pressure enough for the electronics to recognize it.

I normally get a green at about 8-10 strokes and then go another 8-10 more.

No bleeding.. I basically did the following steps:

1. turned on the surveyor

2. closed housing

3. turned on the v4

4. started pumping

5. the Surveyor LED went ORANGE

6. the Surveyor LED went Solid GREEN

7. the Surveyor LED started flashing RED and beeping

8. V4 still in the RED at this point

9. Surveyor switched itself off

 

If I keep pumping till the V4 is activated, the Surveyor module starts flashing red and beeping (too much underpressure) and then switches itself off..

I would suggest you eliminate one of your systems to avoid the confusion or have them recalibrated to match each other.

Elmer

I would suggest you eliminate one of your systems to avoid the confusion or have them recalibrated to match each other.

 

Elmer

So then that brings up the question: which system is better and would a higher vacuum pressure baseline be better than a lower one?

So then that brings up the question: which system is better and would a higher vacuum pressure baseline be better than a lower one?

Exactly!

I do prefer the V4, was only testing the surveyor module to see how it worked, to have as a backup.. the ability to be able to switch off the V4 after setting everything up is great as Im often getting on a boat first thing (think small boat with barely room to get your gear on) and heading an hour and a half out to the dive sites.. so being able to set everything up the night before and then just switch it on on the day, is invaluable! (Will see how the LED flash trigger copes with being left on all night... )

But yeah, is there a downside to depressuring 'too much'?

 

No bleeding.. I basically did the following steps:

1. turned on the surveyor

2. closed housing

3. turned on the v4

4. started pumping

5. the Surveyor LED went ORANGE

6. the Surveyor LED went Solid GREEN

7. the Surveyor LED started flashing RED and beeping

8. V4 still in the RED at this point

9. Surveyor switched itself off

I have a Aquatica AD500 housing fitted with the Aquatica Surveyor. Going by what you have discribe it sounds like you have a small leak in your housing to trigger the Surveyor Alarm. I use a Mityvac hand pump to create a vacum in my housing (as it has a gauge showing how much vacum you have inside the housing) and the Aquatica Surveyor starts blinking green from orange around -18KPA (5in HG vac). I continue to about -35KPA or 10in HG vac to get a good seal.

Now I did have the same issue as you with not getting a proper seal and the cause was that I had a single hair from my beard fall onto the main body oring when I closed the housing. So double check your main body o-ring before closing.

Now if the Surveyor is starting to flash RED after it has a steady green light here is a drop in the vacum coming from somewhere to trigger the Alarm. A ever so slight leak in the hand pump can also cause this and possibly a leak coming from somewhere else on the housing.

What I would do for starters is to concentrate on the Surveyor first buy putting the cap on the V4 and turning on the Surveyor and using the hand pump at the Surveyor valve. Start pumping and count how many pumps it takes to make the Surveyor turn from orange to blinking green. I then continue to pump the same amount of pumps you used to make the orange to blinking green light. Stop and replace the valve cover. This should be around the 10 in HG vac or -35KPA. Remember to becareful of accidently adding air back into the vacum from the hand pump.

Now then watch. If the Surveyor turns Red and alarms then you have a leak in the housing and the alarm is doing its job. Then you have to find where the leak is coming from. Try this first and go from there.

Regards Mark

The Downside of adding more vacum to your hosuing is the reduction in maxium depth of your housing. I think from memory is was reducing maxium depth by 5-10m for high vacum in a housing????

Regards Mark

 

I have a Aquatica AD500 housing fitted with the Aquatica Surveyor. Going by what you have discribe it sounds like you have a small leak in your housing to trigger the Surveyor Alarm. I use a Mityvac hand pump to create a vacum in my housing (as it has a gauge showing how much vacum you have inside the housing) and the Aquatica Surveyor starts blinking green from orange around -18KPA (5in HG vac). I continue to about -35KPA or 10in HG vac to get a good seal.

 

Now I did have the same issue as you with not getting a proper seal and the cause was that I had a single hair from my beard fall onto the main body oring when I closed the housing. So double check your main body o-ring before closing.

 

Now if the Surveyor is starting to flash RED after it has a steady green light here is a drop in the vacum coming from somewhere to trigger the Alarm. A ever so slight leak in the hand pump can also cause this and possibly a leak coming from somewhere else on the housing.

 

What I would do for starters is to concentrate on the Surveyor first buy putting the cap on the V4 and turning on the Surveyor and using the hand pump at the Surveyor valve. Start pumping and count how many pumps it takes to make the Surveyor turn from orange to blinking green. I then continue to pump the same amount of pumps you used to make the orange to blinking green light. Stop and replace the valve cover. This should be around the 10 in HG vac or -35KPA. Remember to becareful of accidently adding air back into the vacum from the hand pump.

 

Now then watch. If the Surveyor turns Red and alarms then you have a leak in the housing and the alarm is doing its job. Then you have to find where the leak is coming from. Try this first and go from there.

 

Regards Mark

I checked the o-rings for hairs and minute particles, always do, didn't see anything..

I don't have a surveyor valve, just the v4, but it still depressurises the housing in the same way.

in the Surveyor manual it says:

"NOTE: Be careful not to over depressurise the housing, this will trigger the alarm and require the sensor to be reset." which is what I believe happened.. once I just used the V4 and left it switched on for 4 hours there was no pressure drop..

Cheers for the tips anyways!

The Downside of adding more vacum to your hosuing is the reduction in maxium depth of your housing. I think from memory is was reducing maxium depth by 5-10m for high vacum in a housing????

 

Regards Mark

OK so no actual damage risked, just a decrease in max depth? I can deal with that, only diving to 40m anyways..

In any case, decided not to worry too much about the Surveyor module, since I can't switch it off and on with the housing closed, it's not particularly useful for setting up the night before, unlike the V4! Thanks to everyone for their insights...

Hi Chris,

Now I understand where your coming from. I havnt had the alarm go off in my Surveyor from increased vacuum and I do pump the housing a fair few more pumps after the light blinks green. I dont know how much vacuum is needed for the V4 to go green but this is where the guage on my mityvac hand pump comes in handy.

Have you tried using both alarms and see how much more pumps after the Surveyor turns Red that the V4 needs to turn Green?

On a side note I simply set up my housing with the Surveyor late the night before and leave it blinking green over night. The CR2032 batteries last for ages and they are cheap and easy to replace.

Regards Mark

Hi Chris,

 

Now I understand where your coming from. I havnt had the alarm go off in my Surveyor from increased vacuum and I do pump the housing a fair few more pumps after the light blinks green. I dont know how much vacuum is needed for the V4 to go green but this is where the guage on my mityvac hand pump comes in handy.

 

Have you tried using both alarms and see how much more pumps after the Surveyor turns Red that the V4 needs to turn Green?

 

On a side note I simply set up my housing with the Surveyor late the night before and leave it blinking green over night. The CR2032 batteries last for ages and they are cheap and easy to replace.

 

Regards Mark

Yeah I probably need to do a more 'scientific' test with number of pumps recorded.. I WAS testing with no camera in the housing which obviously means a lot more pumps, so I should try with the camera inside..

I know they are easy to replace, but if the battery goes while on a dive, and I have 2 more dives that same day, and Im on a little rocking boat with no room to move for the next 4 hours, it's certainly added peace of mind to know Im not going to have to face that issue (as often) if I can turn it off between dives! That said, I do appreciate the visibility of the surveyor LED! (Kinda envious of the Nauticam one even more so!)