Canon DC40 crack and flood.

My relatively new DC40 case developed a small crack on a recent dive which caused a flood and killed my S70. The crack was in the front of the case, under the support block that holds the flash defuser. I bring this up in the off chance others with the case have experienced a similar event and thus it may be a specific manufacturing problem.

If anybody else has experienced a case failure with this or any other housing, please chime in. I say case failure, rather than 'O' ring caused leaks.

MY CASE

The flood occured on my second dive trip with the case (the 6th dive overall with the DC40). At 89ft on a wall dive, I went for my camera but the LCD wouldn't turn on and then I noticed the water in the bottom of the case. Uggh! I completed the dive and when I got back to the boat, I opened the case to find about 1/4" of water in it. The battery and CF card were ok and dry but the outside of the camera was definetly touching the water.

TIPS

The pro photographer on the dive boat told me not to try and turn the camera on and send it directly to a repair shop (which I did when I got home after contacting DEPP insurance). As a tip, she had me stuff the case with dry paper towels. I took the case down on my next dive and when I surfaced after the dive and we found the paper towels partially wet (which ruled out user error ie. my not closing the case properly). The towels facing the buttons on back were dry but the front was wet. No damage to the glass lense but after closer inspection we finally saw the small crack behind the flash defuser plate (not easily visable from the outside of the housing).

CAUSES

The case was relatively new. I never dropped the case nor bumped it hard. Based on the location of the crack, it most likely happend due to pressure or weight being applied to the front of the case causing a failure at the stress point under the defuser base. Was this a hairline manufactured defect that passed initial inspection but failed under water pressure? Did this occur in airport bagge handling (my soft trunk getting squished under other luggage?). Did a tank roll onto my bag in back the dive shop van? Who knows. But if others have experienced similar cracks it could point to a clue.

GET INSURANCE

I want to give high praise to D.E.P.P. insurance. They replaced both my camera and housing within 2 weeks of my sending in my kit to be inspected for the claim. They mailed me a brand new S70 and DC40! Remember, no matter how good your housing, you'll get a flood eventually. It's not if, it's when. B)

I assume this is the WP-DC40 Case that came through our shop recently for a DEPP claim inspection. I was asked to inspect that housing and was of the opinion the damage was caused by severe compression (external force not dive related). The compression most like occurred directly to the diffuser panel and the crack was directly between the two internal support braces for the diffuser assembly.

FYI, this is the first WP-DC40 case I've seen with a crack of any kind and we have sold alot of them as well as handling many DEPP claim inspections.

Wow, small world!

Yes, I believe it was my housing you inspected. Thanks for the quick inspect. I got the new camera and housing yesterday. I'm very impressed.

As for the housing, I'm still at a loss to figure out specifically how it got damaged. I have a WP-DC600 and S230 (my old camera which I use as a backup). It wasn't damaged on this trip, even though I had it packed in the same bag as the WP-DC40.

Like I said, its likely that mine is a unique incendent. But I thought I'd start this tread and see if anything comes of it from other folks. Its a relatively new camera and housing.