Maintenance of the PT-105 & o-ring removal/replacement

The second time that I took out the rings they did not fit very well back into their spaces. I closed it anyway and it sealed ok. It happened to a friend of mine too. Was this a fluke or ??

I have misplaced the pick to get out the o-rings and have been using an old Dan card that is getting quite bent up. Åny other suggestions?

Every dive I check out the o-rings of my PT-105 and the two ports on my Nikonos 105 strobe then grease them. Is there anything more that one has to do for maintenance of either?

tarzana

You can use a very soft lightweight guitar pick.

thanks Boatie.. I got a guitar pick and it works great!

thanks Boatie.. I got a guitar pick and it works great!

just a warning, use only the silicon grease recommended by Olympus, or other alternative is the grease by Sea&sea, i bought a tub of 'silicon grease' from one of the shops and used it to maintain my o ring,

they then become overstretched badly after i've applied the grease and storing it. it was so over stretched i had to squeeze the o-rings in the housing everytime i cleaned my orings and tries to put them back.

its also the main cause of the flooding it didn't seat well in the groove.

my other friends who have stucked to using the silicon grease by olympus and sea&sea does not face this over over stretching problem, thought minor stretching does occurs

The more you grease a silicone o-ring (the red ones) the more it will swell & elongate. The more you handle it the more it will stretch - it doesn't take much effort to stretch it. So if you're removing and/or greasing o-rings after every dive, you are reducing their live. If they no longer fit in the groove properly, no matter how old they are, replace them. Silicone o-rings do not need to be greased. Use water to lubricate them. Some housing maufacturers, like Gates Underwater video housings, tell you up front not to grease silicone rings. They are used to minimize maintenance i.e. you don't need to grease them. Do maintenance when necessary, but do not over maintain. Your o-rings will last much longer that way.

jcclink,

I think you have your facts a little mixed up, the OLYMPUS O-Rings need to be greased. The O-Rings need to be slippery to they do not kink or get caught up when they are pushed into the bore seal.

The O-rings such as Ike, Gates etc are a different style of O-Rings.

Grease them, and just do not go overboard.

I was referring to the main housing silicone o-rings (red ones). They are red for easy compound identification. I also have a Gates video housing. They use the same compound o-ring. All red o-rings are silicone. The ones that go in a standard bore are the little control o-rings (black ones). They are Buna N (neoprene) & do need to be greased. One main Oly o-ring is a face seal & the other is a radial seal(even thou the groove isn't round). This could marginally be called a bore seal I guess.