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Bonaire Photography & Videography: Another newbie question silica gel pack??
Bonaire Talk: Bonaire Photography & Videography: Archives: Archives 2006- 2007: Archives 2006-08-01 to 2007-12-31: Another newbie question silica gel pack??
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Nell Keene (BonaireTalker - Post #41) on Saturday, December 2, 2006 - 3:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Just got my Fantasea housing for my Coolpix and will be attempting first photos in a week.
Reading about silica packs, panty liners for fogging
issues.
This housing did not come with any silica packs. Do you get them at any camera store?

Suggestions??

Thanks

Nell

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron Myers (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #344) on Saturday, December 2, 2006 - 3:39 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I bought mine here. Two years later I still have most of them left.

http://www.preservesmart.com/products.htm#SilicaGelDesiccants

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Timmmmy (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #2662) on Saturday, December 2, 2006 - 6:36 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

check in your vitamin bottles....

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Sea Goddess Kelly (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5126) on Saturday, December 2, 2006 - 10:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

or old shoe boxes.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron Gould (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #715) on Saturday, December 2, 2006 - 11:49 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Nell, if you load and unload your camera housing at outside temperature you will not need the desicant bags at all. Use the trimed down panty linner. If there is a minute leek the panty linner will absorbe the water and save your camera. If your camera is digital and you have a large enough memory card you shouldn't have to open the camera very often. I use Lithium batteries in my SP350 and only opened my camera 2 times to change batteries in two weeks and took 400 shots. I hope this helps. A/C temp change is a problem but not if stored in the housing... Ron

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Nell Keene (BonaireTalker - Post #42) on Sunday, December 3, 2006 - 2:21 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the advice.
My Coolpix is digital, I have a large memory card and use Lithium batteries.
We Never use A/C, like the ceiling fan...
Since I expect we will take photos on land as well as trying
underwater, that will be when I will be taking it out of the housing.

thanks again
Nell

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Richard (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #128) on Sunday, December 3, 2006 - 10:03 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Here's another link where you can buy desiccant packs at a very low price. I bought some of these in assorted sizes a couple of years ago and they work great.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Just type "desiccant packs" into the search window at this site and you will find a huge selection.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Peters (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #120) on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 8:52 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

If you seal the housing while in an air conditioned room and leak check it in the pool you shouldn't need desiccant packs or anything else in the housing.

I shot for six dive days and over 1000 photos and didn't have any fogging in my housing at all. The
housing was opened daily to swap batteries or change SD cards, but closed only in my room under the A/C. If I had to open it away from the room I'd just get the A/C in the truck cranking and that worked as well.

The only reason you will ever get fogging is because you sealed moist air inside the housing. If there's no moisture in the air then there's nothing to condense which is why it should be done in an air conditioned area. Desiccants are fine if you're forced to work in an area where you don't have an air conditioning to work in, but they need to be kept sealed until time of use or they will pull moisture from the surrounding air and be useless by the time they're put into the housing. They also need to be recharged by baking them at between 250F and 500F for around an hour or more depending on the size of the desiccant pack. Microwaving them doesn't work because it doesn't keep them hot enough long enough to dry them out.

I work in marine electronics and this is a major issue for our products so I deal with it all the time. Basic rule of thumb, seal the enclosure in a dry environment and there will be no need for a desiccant.

 


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