How often should I maintain them?

• If you are doing shore dives, or where you are most likely exposing your rig to sand, do it each time you open the housing.
• If you are boat diving or on a live-aboard, where you are diving in clean water, you should service your O-rings at least once each day.

Considerations for setting up:

• Set up your housing ahead of time. Avoid rushing right before a dive. 
• Try to set up your housing in a cool, dry and well-lit area (e.g. Camera Room).
• If you are on a boat, set it up in a calm, sheltered area with minimal people traffic.
• If you’re a glasses wearer, use reading glasses to see best close-up.
• A head-lamp can come in very handy to see well as not all camera areas, hotel rooms, etc. are well-lit. 

Types of O-ring seals on your Nauticam Housing:

Your Nauticam housing has two types of owner serviceable O-ring seals; axial or face seals and radial or piston seals.

For Nauticam housings where the back comes completely off, such MIL and DLSR housings, the main housing O-ring seal is an axial seal. For all ports, and compact camera housings where the camera back hinges to open, a radial O-ring seal is used.

With both types of seals the O-ring is captured in a groove. However, with axial seals the O-ring is only compressed when closed while with radial seals the O-ring is both compressed and must slide when closed.

The maintenance of both types of seals is the same with the only difference that O-rings in radial seals requiring greasing with each maintenance.

This is the meticulous part, don’t get distracted.

To remove O-rings:

• Use the O-ring remover (supplied) to gently pry it out. 
• NEVER use a knife, tweezers or any sharp object to remove the O-ring. 

To clean O-rings:

• If the O-ring has sand or grit on it, wash the O-ring in fresh water to remove. Dry O-ring with a lint-free towel or cloth. 
• Gently clean the O-ring by wrapping a microfiber cloth or lightly moistened paper towel around a portion of it and pulling the O-ring through it very gently with your fingers. Be careful not to stretch it. If you feel any nicks, cuts, or dents in the O-ring discard it and use your spare. 

Housing or port preparation:

• Clean the O-ring groove with a microfiber cloth, high quality paper towel slightly moistened with fresh water, foam swab, or a cotton swab with a piece of lens tissue wrapped around the tip. 
• Clean the O-ring sealing surfaces. For an axial seal this will be the flat portion of the housing back that presses against the O-ring in its groove. For radial seals this will be the lip or edge of the housing or housing port opening against which the O-ring will press and slide. As with the O-ring groove, use a microfiber cloth, high quality paper towel slightly moistened with fresh water, foam swab, or a cotton swab with a piece of lens tissue wrapped around the tip. 

O-ring lubrication:

• Axial seal O-rings need only be lubricated at most once a day. Lightly coat the O-ring with the lubricant provided and wipe away the excess. A sheen on the O-ring is good enough, not globs of lubricant that will attract sand and grit! 
• Radial seal O-rings need to have a sheen but also a thin layer of lubricant should be applied to the exposed O-ring surface after the O-ring has been placed in its groove to assure the O-ring slides properly. 
• Do NOT use anything other than genuine Nauticam lubricant. 

Assembly:

• Carefully place the O-ring into the groove, ensuring that it lays flat and inside the entire groove. 
• For radial seal O-rings, apply a thin layer of lubricant to the exposed portion of the O-ring as previously described. 
• Inspect the O-ring again, make sure there is no lint or hair on the O-ring. 
• Close the housing and/or attach the port. Make sure the housing latches and port locks (if equipped) are fully closed. 
• Lift up the entire system and inspect where the housing back and port meet the housing. There should be a thin, uniform gap with no extruded O-ring.