O-Ring Maintenance

O-Ring Maintenance

Ah, o-rings. They can be your best friend or your worst enemy in digital underwater photography. O-rings are rubber rings that prevent water seeping into your electrical equipment. They sit inside grooves around the various openings of your camera. If a leak or flood occurs, nine times out of ten it will happen because of a faulty o-ring or bad o-ring maintenance.

A flood is an underwater photographer’s worst nightmare. For film shooters, floods were serious, but many times the equipment could be salvaged. With digital this is not the case. If water gets into your digital camera, chances are, it will be destroyed and the experience should be chalked up as one very expensive lesson learned. But, with the proper o-ring maintenance and care, the event of a flood can be severely reduced.

In order to work properly, o-rings must not dry out. They are kept lubricated by o-ring grease supplied by the manufacturer. First, take the o-ring out of the groove gently and inspect for any cracks, pieces of sand or dust, or any abnormalities such as places that were pinched by the housing. Apply a small amount (rice or pea size depending on the size of your o-ring) to the o-ring and spread all over the ring with your fingers. Be sure to cover all areas of the ring. If you do not keep your o-ring moist, cracks can occur. Also, do not apply too much grease because an over-greased o-ring can attract dirt, sand and hair creating a place for water to seep into your camera. Before placing the o-ring back into the groove, examine both sides of the groove to be sure there is nothing that would disrupt the integrity of the tight seal made by the o-ring. Some o-rings can only have certain types of grease applied to them, so be sure not to lose the tube, and do not mix and match greases.

O-rings are on the camera housing, strobe and connections and the manual should be read on your equipment for further, detailed instructions regarding their o-ring maintenance. Remember, floods do occur even if your o-ring maintenance is impeccable, so plan for the worst and hope for the best. And if you are very accident prone, many diving insurance companies such as DAN provide quality flood insurance.

Other Equipment Maintenance

Salt water and sun are very corrosive to underwater photography equipment. Unfortunately, underwater photography is almost exclusively done in the ocean under the hot sun, so some basic preventative maintenance needs to be done to minimize corrosion. Here are some basic rules:



· Keep and service equipment inside in an air conditioned room if available

· When in the sun, keep your camera in the shade or wrapped in a damp towel

· Avoid excessive opening and closing of your camera housing and strobe, this minimizes the amount of debris that can collect on your o-rings

· If convenient, bring just the camera housing on a dive before you put the camera in it. This way you can detect any leaks before you put the camera in the housing.

· Put your setup in a bucket of fresh water before and in-between dives.

· Thoroughly rinse all equipment when you are done diving. This means pressing all of the buttons and twisting the knobs in fresh water to make sure all of the salt is out. Soaking equipment for extended periods is also a good idea.