How to use Vacuum Pump System to extra seal your Salted Line Underwater Housing
How to use Vacuum Pump System to check the full water tightness of your Salted Line Underwater Housing
We offer extra support for underwater photographers with optional VPS-100 Vacuum Pump System that allows you to pump the air out of Salted Line housing and clearly shows the green LED indicator light when the housing is sealed with a vacuum.
How to use the Vacuum Pump System?
Before inserting the camera into housing, we recommend going through the overall housing check to ensure all parts and elements are properly greased and ready for the seal and water tightness:
- Check the Port O-Ring and the tightness of the bayonet connection
- Check the Pistol Grip cover lid and its O-Ring for tightness
- Check the Housing O-Rings and make sure there is no sand, hair or other debris around the O-Ring
- Insert the camera inside underwater camera housing in a dry and low humidity place.
- Remove the lid from 10mm accessory port on the top of the backplate, make sure the black color O-ring stays in place to seal the upcoming VPS valve.
- Check that your valve port mount location is clear and free of debris, attach the electronic valve into accessory port by threading it in clockwise until it sits there properly
- Unscrew the electronic valve lid and you will see the metal valve button inside
- Press the metal button inside the valve to turn the LED indicator ON. The LED starts blinking RED
- Attach the soft rubber end of the Pump to the valve, keep the Pump in a vertical position and start pumping the air out until the RED color LED changes to GREEN. LED blinking RED indicates there is still ambient atmospheric pressure inside the housing
- On average it may take around 15-30 pumps until the LED changes from RED to GREEN indicating that the vacuum inside the housing has been achieved (*). We recommend keeping pumping for another 2-3 strokes after the LED turned GREEN to make sure there is sufficient pressure inside the housing for the housing seal test.
- Remove the Pump and place the protective lid back to ensure airtightness
- Observe the green LED blinking for 15 minutes to make sure there is no air leakage.
- If LED stays GREEN after 15 min it confirms that your housing is properly sealed and there is no air leakage.
You can remove the VPS (**) and get ready for the dive.
In case the green LED turns RED again within the first 15 min, there might be an air leakage somewhere in the housing and we recommend doing another round of housing check before trying again with the Vacuum Pump System setup steps 1 – 10 described above:
- Check the Port O-Ring and the tightness of the bayonet connection
- Check the Pistol Grip cover lid and its O-Ring for tightness
- Check the Housing O-Rings and make sure there is no sand, hair or other debris around the O-Ring
See how to use the VPS-100 system in the video below.
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(**) Sea Frogs manufacturer does not recommend diving with the VPS installed, although our Salted Line team has been diving with the VPS occasionally and there were no issues. One of the major benefits of diving with VPS is absolutely no risk of fogging since there is no air to generate the fog, but such practice remains experimental and might be performed at your own risk.