How to Care for Underwater Camera Cases

Underwater camera cases make it possible to photograph plant and animal life under the surfaces of streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans.  You can even take a picture of your diving partner.  This type of case needs a certain level of care or it will not keep a camera from getting wet. 

Before using underwater camera cases, it is necessary to prepare them each time.  The water-tight barrier must be established for the case to work.  This is done using a part called an O-ring.  The O-ring lives up to its name in shape.  It is a sort of gasket. 

To start out, you have to take out the O-ring.  It lies in a groove in the case.  You can lift it with any blunt object, including your fingers.  After you release it in one place, you can ease it out of its groove all the way from around the groove. 

After you have the O-ring out, carefully check it for any foreign objects or debris.  You do not want so much as an eyelash on the O-ring, or it will not make a good seal as you would expect with underwater camera cases.  Make sure every grain of sand is off the O-ring. 

At the same place where you got your underwater camera cases or Unterwassergehäuse, you can get water-tight grease.  Use a very small drop on your finger to coat the O-ring thoroughly.  This is like lubricating a gasket for a car part.  When the O-ring is greased, put it back in the groove in the underwater camera case.  Feel along the length of the O-ring to check again for debris. 

It is unwise to take cameras in underwater camera cases on a dive without checking them for water-tightness first.  You can take the prepared case and submerge it underwater overnight.  At this point, do not have the actual camera in it. 

When it passes this test, put the camera in the case and submerge it again.  Only leave it in for a short while this time.  If the underwater camera case shows no signs of leaks, you are ready to use it for a dive. 

After underwater camera cases have been used in a dive, they need to be maintained for their next use, too.  To start out, take the camera out of the case.  With the camera in fresh water, use all the moving parts.  This gets the sand and salt out of the works. 

Any sand in underwater camera cases can be removed by turning the case upside down and swishing it out with water, or possibly running a stream of water through it.  This can all be done on site as long as you have access to fresh water. 

However, a longer soaking in fresh water is required when you get underwater camera cases home.  A quick washing out will not completely rid the case of sand and salt.  It takes giving the case an extensive bath to clean it out in the best manner. 

If underwater camera cases are prepared and cleaned thoroughly, they should give service for a long time.  A yearly replacement of the O-ring is all that is usually required to keep them working the way they were designed to work.