Made in the USA
Phone: 805.484.3334 - Fax: 805.984.3008
Email: info@ulcs.com
General Care And Maintenance
This section is included to help owners or prospective owners of our products maintain all working parts.
Treat Ultralight parts just like your other underwater photo equipment. After every dive the best thing to do is thoroughly rinse everything in fresh water. If this is not possible, then keep the equipment wet by soaking in salt water or as a last result, place a wet towel over the equipment. What you don’t want is salt water drying on your gear forming salt crystals that can cut and scratch O-Rings, especially those you can not service yourself. You can wash your gear in hot, soapy water to remove the grit and grime that builds up. There are a couple of products on the market that help remove salt build up. You can find these at your local dive store.
Periodic Maintenance
NUTS, BOLTS, and SCREWS
Whenever you have two dissimilar metals in contact with each other you will have electrolysis. This is what happens in the case of aluminum and stainless steel. The aluminum becomes oxidized and the nuts and bolts tend to freeze, making it difficult or impossible to remove them. We have found that wrapping the threads of screws and bolts with Teflon plumbers tape (found at your local hardware store), reduces electrolysis and removal of the screws, nuts, and bolts is much easier. If you are looking at the thread end, make a couple of turns with the Teflon tape in a clockwise direction while stretching it slightly. Also it is best to remove all stainless steel nuts, bolts, and screws periodically to clean the threads and keep them from freezing up. A good soaking is first in order, then a tooth brush for anodized parts and a wire brush for the stainless parts.
CLAMPS
If you remove the clamp knob, clean the threads with a wire brush and place a small amount of silicone grease on the threads and the washer. The clamp knob will remain easy to turn.
O-RINGS
The o-rings in the balls of the adapters will last one to two years if not left
out in the hot sun all the time. They will crack, but this will not affect the
clamping ability of the clamp. We do not recommend changing them until they
have broken all the way through. It is very difficult to remove them until they
have completely broken. To replace them, go to any plumbing shop and purchase
"BUNA O-Ring, Size 2-209." If you can not locate o-rings at a plumbing
store then your local hardware store, Lowes, Home Depot, ACE, OSH sell them
in one-packs from Danco # 95. (The size is 15/16 X 11/16 x 1/8). Take the o-ring
and stretch it over the ball and into the groove. If you lose the o-ring while
on a dive the clamp will still work; but you will have to tighten it since the
o-ring is gone.
PIVOTS
The only thing you need to do for Pivot maintenance is keep it clean and occasionally lubricate it. To do this, remove the two phillips screws that hold the camera base to the back, remove the white nylon washer, clean out the inside and lubricate with silicone grease. Wire brush the threads on the screws, grease the nylon washer, and screw the base back on.
Remember, if you just keep your gear clean and lubricated it will give you years of service and happy picture taking!