real trouble with canon s30 housing!

the fogging problem which i mentioned has led to flooding and malfunction! :'(

at 8 - 12 metres on the best dive site here, it flooded a little, the little silica gel pack sure had a good drink of salt water. my camera was saved!

at 10 metres at the same site on another occasion, it malfunctioned -- none of the buttons worked.

i have tested it soaked in big containers of water at the same temperature, but of course it never fogs during the tests.

being paranoid from the beginning, i thoroughly inspect and care for the housing, especially the o-ring, each time before i close it.

it hasn't flooded since the last time, but it still keeps fogging even with a nice and dry pack of silica gel inside. what's strange is that it fogs even when i'm snorkelling.

i have really tried everything i know to get rid of this problem. i am really frustrated -- saw some of the most amazing creatures out here... there is nothing more disappointing than a housing problem like this.

canon has not been able to help me over the phone. they have adviced me to take it into their customer care center, the nearest being 900 miles away.

:'(

[Edited on 5-23-2002 by lisa]

I have never actually taken a housing underwater yet - but I am an engineer - just a few thoughts.

The dessicant is probably only going to absorb what little moisture exists in the housing as humidity which isnt going to be much more than a few drops of water - probably not enough to damage your camera. It sounds to me like there is a problem with your housing. Is it under warranty? The condensation is caused when the housing cools due to the temperature of the water. The depth you go should not effect the fogging much but it may cause the housing to leak.

Clean the interior of the housing well before your next dive. Take the empty housing down with you without the dessicant. Taste (yes taste) the condensation that forms in the housing. If it is salty, you probably have a leak. Condensation formed solely from the humidity in the air should not contain any salt.

I've owned aluminium housings in the past.

I had troubles when I kept them in a

airconditioned room or boat .

The outside of the housing was warm to

the touch but the inside was cooler or

cold compared to the sea water.

this led to fogging.

If this is the case try opening the housing outside to let it warm up to the outside temperature before closing the housing.

Make sure you Leave the camera inside the housing while it warms up.

Stay wet,

Marc

[Edited on 5-23-2002 by Marc Furth]

Its seems that you have a permanent leak, some of the times you get only moisture and some sea water penetrate into the case.

I have the same case and only once I had some moisture, but after I started to let the case & camera to warm up a little the problem disappear.

I've got an S40 and WP-DC300 and would agree about the warm up, only short time required.

The WP-DC300 should also have come with an anti-fog solution for application on the inside of the cases glass lens, on the glass only (can apparently damage the plastic?).

No leaks on my case so far, gone to 25 mtrs, and about 30 dives.

Hope this helps ? You might be able to get more anti-fog solution (you can definitely get spare O ring) direct from Canon Spare Parts and they should mail it to you ( at least they do in Australia).

Good luck,

Aengus

There are 3 possible reasons

1. You really have a small leak somewhere, probably a damaged o-ring on one of the controls. (Our video housing leaked if the zoom controll was pressed too hard.)

Try what Krash told you, if it tastes salty, there is a leak.

2. The inside of your housing is dirty, same effect as with a mask.

3. The batteries of your camera produce too much heat. In that case the fogging should start or get worse after some while, not in the beginning of the dive. Try to put as many silica gel packs as possible inside of the housing.

Have your camera and housing checked when you're back home.

Regards - Sabine

I had not given anti-fog a thought. None came with my Ikelite. It is necessary? Is it the same as you use on your mask? I was just going to pop a dessicant pouch or two in there.

I may be getting it wet for the first time tomorrow. The pool is upto 73 deg but I don't own any neoprene.

This may sound silly, but I wonder if someone has come up with a way to use your tank air to displace the ambient air in the housing? Have you seen the vacuum pumps with alarm that test the seal on your housing without getting wet? It pulls and locks a vacuum for 15 min and a light comes on if it loses the vacuum. It works underwater as well.

Flooded my new Canon Housing and new S30 on first use. Anyone else have the same problem? I am not a novice, used my Nikon V on the same trip and familar with testing, o-ring inspection etc. Started leaking at about 10 meters, the case was half full at the end of the dive. I did get a few pictures in up to 10 meters and the controls stopped function. Thus, one useless housing and camera. Anyone have experience with Canon on the warranty issuess, camera replacement.

A couple of advices on (new) housings:

1) Always do at least one checkdive without camera. Move all controls with some more force than you would normally.

2) If it floods it will probably (almost) on the surface. If possible check before you enter the water in a rinsetank or something. If it floods, at least it's not salt water.

3) Never had any moisture problems when the temp of camera and housing was about temp of the air outside. Better not assemble in an airond'd room

4) If entering by Zoadiac or something don't loose sight of your gear. Only flood I had was when "el capitano" smashed the housing against the boat. Bad luck, new housing, new camera at own cost.

A couple of points:

1. Make sure you turn the LCD off by pressing "display" - only get it on just before you take a snap - (it will come on with a half press of the exposure button). This will make a drastic difference to the temp. inside the casing - and therefore - no condensation. Hoorah.

2. Once you get your new o-ring, always use the silicon gel supplied - or get some more - just a tiny amount to grease between your fingers and apply.

3. It is difficult to apply the anti-for solution inside the camera, (as said above - only in the lens area!), without finger prints appearing - use a fresh cotton bud - apply a very thin film - and simply let it evaporate.

4. To further aid condensation problems - store the case in some type of insualted bag - I use a drinks cooler! - and minimise the time from out the bag and under the water - if it stays cool - no probs with condensation.

Hope this helps,

Andy.

I sent my housing and camera to Canon Customer Care with a description of the problem, fact I test and followed all instructioni prior to its first use, etc. They sent it back w/o comment and said it was unrepairable. End of Story...NOT..I intend to sue Canon in Small Claims court and let them show up and tell me why. Nothing to loose.

When I went to the shop to buy my WP case for my S45 camera, the salesman told me, before the sale, that Canon provides no warranty on

the case or damage to the camera due to the case. He made sure that I

understood this before selling the case. After the sale, he told me that he had no news of problems with such cases (from its clients).

I never dived below 7meters, so I don't know if the case works below this depth. I know that it does, down to 7meters, though.