Maintaining A Fischer Connector

silentscuba · 3rd June 2008, 13:13

Maintaining a Fischer Connector

All the pictures were added by Stephane down the page aways

Just like any other part of our dive gear, if you have a Fischer Connector, it needs ongoing maintenance.

The main enemy of any electrical part that might be used underwater or in a moist environment is corrosion that can cause failures and/or give you inaccurate information.

Fischer connectors seem to always get moisture trapped inside and will with time corrode the electrical pins & sockets turning them green. If you see green, you have corrosion that needs to be removed.

On the end of your cable you will usually have the male side (pin side) of the Fischer connector. The computer usually has the female (socket side) of the Fischer connector.

The O-Ring seal that is suppose to keep the moisture out is located at the bottom of the inside of the female (socket) side of the connector mounted on the computer.

There are two types of male Fischer Connectors, one with, and one without a locking ring. The Shearwater seems to be the only computer that is using the locking ring at this time.

The idea of the maintenance is very straightforward, you must not let moisture be present inside the Fischer connector for any extended period of time, and if you find any corrosion you must remove it.

By checking for moisture often and coating the inside of the Fischer connector with food grade mineral oil, you will prevent the corrosion that so many people seem to complain about that creates problems.

The steps and idea behind the maintenance is very simple.

1) Before diving, inspect the Fisher connectors for corrosion, if any is noted then you need to remove it. Once the corrosion is removed, coat the insides of both ends of the Fischer connector with food grade mineral oil.
2) After diving and before you let your dive gear sit around for very long, inspect the connectors for moisture, blow out with dry air and coat with mineral oil and store with the protective caps.
3) Once you have coated with mineral oil, let it drain to eliminate any excess oil.

The protective caps will keep the moisture out, the mineral oil in and also protects the o-ring sealing surface on the male end of the connector.

The food grade mineral oil can be found in any pharmacy or drug store.

To remove any corrosion, I have use “DeoxIT” which can be found on line at DiveRite Express or Radio Shack. Any other type of high quality electrical corrosion remover would also work just fine.

Once the corrosion is removed, I would flush out the connectors with an electrical contact cleaner and then re-coat with mineral oil.

I have been maintaining my Fischer connectors for several years this way and have had no problems.

Shearwater Fisher Connector with Locking Ring

Drying Male Fitting with Dry Air

Adding Mineral Oil to Male Fitting

Drying Female Fischer Socket

Adding Mineral Oil to Fischer Socket

Food Grade Mineral Oil

5 ML Oral Syringe

Dry Air "Dust Off"

CRC Contact Cleaner

DeoxIT Corrosion Remover and Conditioner

tecdivertraining · 3rd June 2008, 13:44

Curt have some green,
Thanks for taking the time to post a useful guide to keeping these connectors in good shape, especially as more and more people are adding shearwaters, Vr3 etc to their units using this type of connector as they all go a bit crapy after use. I have a couple I will do when I get back.

Cheers

louisrankin · 3rd June 2008, 13:50

I made my own cable for the VR3 and filled the inside of the fisher connector with silicon sealant, I never had a problem with it and used it for other 2 years before I sold my VR3.

Stephane · 3rd June 2008, 14:32

Quote: (Originally Posted by silentscuba)

Are the pictures showing up on the post??? they were there and now I can't see them.

Hi Curt,
No they don't. Because you're using an URL like this one: https://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=...a4e704c3d4350b

I suppose you see them because you have an opened Gmail session in your web browser. Try to use ImageShack® - Image Hosting or something similar.

Stephane · 3rd June 2008, 16:35

Curt sent me the photos, here they are:

Quote: (Originally Posted by silentscuba)

Maintaining a Fischer Connector

Just like any other part of our dive gear, if you have a Fischer Connector, it needs ongoing maintenance.

The main enemy of any electrical part that might be used underwater or in a moist environment is corrosion that can cause failures and/or give you inaccurate information.

Fischer connectors seem to always get moisture trapped inside and will with time corrode the electrical pins & sockets turning them green. If you see green, you have corrosion that needs to be removed.

On the end of your cable you will usually have the male side (pin side) of the Fischer connector. The computer usually has the female (socket side) of the Fischer connector.

The O-Ring seal that is suppose to keep the moisture out is located at the bottom of the inside of the female (socket) side of the connector mounted on the computer.

There are two types of male Fischer Connectors, one with, and one without a locking ring. The Shearwater seems to be the only computer that is using the locking ring at this time.

The idea of the maintenance is very straightforward, you must not let moisture be present inside the Fischer connector for any extended period of time, and if you find any corrosion you must remove it.

By checking for moisture often and coating the inside of the Fischer connector with food grade mineral oil, you will prevent the corrosion that so many people seem to complain about that creates problems.

The steps and idea behind the maintenance is very simple.

1) Before diving, inspect the Fisher connectors for corrosion, if any is noted then you need to remove it. Once the corrosion is removed, coat the insides of both ends of the Fischer connector with food grade mineral oil.
2) After diving and before you let your dive gear sit around for very long, inspect the connectors for moisture, blow out with dry air and coat with mineral oil and store with the protective caps.
3) Once you have coated with mineral oil, let it drain to eliminate any excess oil.

The protective caps will keep the moisture out, the mineral oil in and also protects the o-ring sealing surface on the male end of the connector.

The food grade mineral oil can be found in any pharmacy or drug store.

To remove any corrosion, I have use “DeoxIT” which can be found on line at DiveRite Express or Radio Shack. Any other type of high quality electrical corrosion remover would also work just fine.

Once the corrosion is removed, I would flush out the connectors with an electrical contact cleaner and then re-coat with mineral oil.

I have been maintaining my Fischer connectors for several years this way and have had no problems.

Shearwater Fisher Connector with Locking Ring

Drying Male Fitting with Dry Air

Adding Mineral Oil to Male Fitting

Drying Female Fischer Socket

Adding Mineral Oil to Fischer Socket

Food Grade Mineral Oil

5 ML Oral Syringe

Dry Air "Dust Off"

CRC Contact Cleaner

DeoxIT Corrosion Remover and Conditioner

zoo_diver · 4th June 2008, 18:33

great post curt -- and thanks stephane for the pictures.

curt gave me the run down on fischer maintenance when i picked up my pursuit last year and 100 or so dives later, i have had zero problems.

**Gill Envy** · 4th June 2008, 19:26

Curt, any suggestions on how often that little "o" ring needs replacing/cleaning? any ideas on how to extract it and what it's actual size is? I suspect that little critter is responsible for some of the moisture issues, as the moisture consistently appears in one of our set ups but not in the other. maybe it's also a matter of machining tolerance variations.

you should hit up Fisher for a manual contract... great write up!

silentscuba · 6th June 2008, 05:01

Quote: (Originally Posted by Gill Envy)

Curt, any suggestions on how often that little "o" ring needs replacing/cleaning? any ideas on how to extract it and what it's actual size is? I suspect that little critter is responsible for some of the moisture issues, as the moisture consistently appears in one of our set ups but not in the other. maybe it's also a matter of machining tolerance variations.

you should hit up Fisher for a manual contract... great write up!

I have not had to remove one of those o-rings yet, but I am sure it can be done. The right size stainless dental pick would probably do the job.

I am very carefull about keeping the protective cap on my cable when it is not plugged in.

The cable cap does 2 things, it keeps the moisture out and mineral oil in and keeps the very end of the Fischer connector protected against dents and scratches. The very outside surface of the end of the connector is what seals against that o-ring that is down in the bottom of the Fischer socket located on the computer.

w ripley · 6th June 2008, 08:44

Curt:

What are your thoughts on keeping the female side packed with silicone grease?

I ask that as during a phone conversation with my CCR manufacturer that was suggested.

Bill

n2diving · 6th June 2008, 11:43

A note about Deoxit.... there are actually a several different formulations... Standard Deoxit, (the one in your picture shows both standard and gold formulations) and most generic 'contact cleaners' (your picture shows CRC), have too harsh a cleaning action on the precious metal plating of the contacts... my source on this was CAIG Labs. Some of the Deoxit brand formulations found in Radio Shack contains petroleum distilates, and is not always friendly to some of the other components found on rebreathers and particularly harsh on some types of o-rings. There is a Deoxit Gold G5 formulation which widely sold that also contains petroleum distilates. More difficult to find is Deoxit Gold GN5 formulation. The GN5 formulation contains no petrolum distilates, and is also friendlier to some plastics, and has a less powerful cleaning action. If you 'see green' then it might take several applications to clean the corrosion, but the patience with the less harsh formulation is probably wise.

Rather than use mineral oil, I've found following a dive trip, that blowing dry the connectors and then a liberal appication of the Deoxit Gold GN5 formulation works as well to coat and protect the connection.

3rd June 2008, 13:13	#1 (permalink)
silentscuba rEvo CCR Driver Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss rEvo Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic rEvo Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Mill Creek, WA USA Posts: 587	Maintaining A Fischer Connector Maintaining a Fischer Connector All the pictures were added by Stephane down the page aways Just like any other part of our dive gear, if you have a Fischer Connector, it needs ongoing maintenance. The main enemy of any electrical part that might be used underwater or in a moist environment is corrosion that can cause failures and/or give you inaccurate information. Fischer connectors seem to always get moisture trapped inside and will with time corrode the electrical pins & sockets turning them green. If you see green, you have corrosion that needs to be removed. On the end of your cable you will usually have the male side (pin side) of the Fischer connector. The computer usually has the female (socket side) of the Fischer connector. The O-Ring seal that is suppose to keep the moisture out is located at the bottom of the inside of the female (socket) side of the connector mounted on the computer. There are two types of male Fischer Connectors, one with, and one without a locking ring. The Shearwater seems to be the only computer that is using the locking ring at this time. The idea of the maintenance is very straightforward, you must not let moisture be present inside the Fischer connector for any extended period of time, and if you find any corrosion you must remove it. By checking for moisture often and coating the inside of the Fischer connector with food grade mineral oil, you will prevent the corrosion that so many people seem to complain about that creates problems. The steps and idea behind the maintenance is very simple. 1) Before diving, inspect the Fisher connectors for corrosion, if any is noted then you need to remove it. Once the corrosion is removed, coat the insides of both ends of the Fischer connector with food grade mineral oil. 2) After diving and before you let your dive gear sit around for very long, inspect the connectors for moisture, blow out with dry air and coat with mineral oil and store with the protective caps. 3) Once you have coated with mineral oil, let it drain to eliminate any excess oil. The protective caps will keep the moisture out, the mineral oil in and also protects the o-ring sealing surface on the male end of the connector. The food grade mineral oil can be found in any pharmacy or drug store. To remove any corrosion, I have use “DeoxIT” which can be found on line at DiveRite Express or Radio Shack. Any other type of high quality electrical corrosion remover would also work just fine. Once the corrosion is removed, I would flush out the connectors with an electrical contact cleaner and then re-coat with mineral oil. I have been maintaining my Fischer connectors for several years this way and have had no problems. Shearwater Fisher Connector with Locking Ring Drying Male Fitting with Dry Air Adding Mineral Oil to Male Fitting Drying Female Fischer Socket Adding Mineral Oil to Fischer Socket Food Grade Mineral Oil 5 ML Oral Syringe Dry Air "Dust Off" CRC Contact Cleaner DeoxIT Corrosion Remover and Conditioner __________________ Curt McNamee rEvo CCR Diver KISS CCR Diver www.silentscuba.com Last edited by silentscuba : 3rd June 2008 at 16:48.
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3rd June 2008, 13:44	#2 (permalink)
tecdivertraining RebreatherWorld Sponsor Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Evolution Megalodon Ouroboros Dolphin Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Dolphin Join Date: May 2005 Location: Phuket, Thailand Posts: 462	Re: Maintaining A Fischer Connector Curt have some green, Thanks for taking the time to post a useful guide to keeping these connectors in good shape, especially as more and more people are adding shearwaters, Vr3 etc to their units using this type of connector as they all go a bit crapy after use. I have a couple I will do when I get back. Cheers __________________ Mathew Partridge Technical Director Pro-Tech Dive College www.protechdivers.com www.tech-ccr.com
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3rd June 2008, 13:50	#3 (permalink)
louisrankin Póg mo thóin Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Classic Kiss Join Date: May 2005 Location: Cambridge Posts: 302	Re: Maintaining A Fischer Connector I made my own cable for the VR3 and filled the inside of the fisher connector with silicon sealant, I never had a problem with it and used it for other 2 years before I sold my VR3.
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3rd June 2008, 14:32	#4 (permalink)
Stephane Stéphane Acounis Current Rebreather/s: rEvo Other Rebreather/s: rEvo Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Nantes - France Posts: 769	Re: Maintaining A Fischer Connector Quote: (Originally Posted by silentscuba) Are the pictures showing up on the post??? they were there and now I can't see them. Hi Curt, No they don't. Because you're using an URL like this one: https://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=...a4e704c3d4350b I suppose you see them because you have an opened Gmail session in your web browser. Try to use ImageShack® - Image Hosting or something similar. __________________ Stéphane
(Online)

3rd June 2008, 16:35	#5 (permalink)
Stephane Stéphane Acounis Current Rebreather/s: rEvo Other Rebreather/s: rEvo Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Nantes - France Posts: 769	Re: Maintaining A Fischer Connector Curt sent me the photos, here they are: Quote: (Originally Posted by silentscuba) Maintaining a Fischer Connector Just like any other part of our dive gear, if you have a Fischer Connector, it needs ongoing maintenance. The main enemy of any electrical part that might be used underwater or in a moist environment is corrosion that can cause failures and/or give you inaccurate information. Fischer connectors seem to always get moisture trapped inside and will with time corrode the electrical pins & sockets turning them green. If you see green, you have corrosion that needs to be removed. On the end of your cable you will usually have the male side (pin side) of the Fischer connector. The computer usually has the female (socket side) of the Fischer connector. The O-Ring seal that is suppose to keep the moisture out is located at the bottom of the inside of the female (socket) side of the connector mounted on the computer. There are two types of male Fischer Connectors, one with, and one without a locking ring. The Shearwater seems to be the only computer that is using the locking ring at this time. The idea of the maintenance is very straightforward, you must not let moisture be present inside the Fischer connector for any extended period of time, and if you find any corrosion you must remove it. By checking for moisture often and coating the inside of the Fischer connector with food grade mineral oil, you will prevent the corrosion that so many people seem to complain about that creates problems. The steps and idea behind the maintenance is very simple. 1) Before diving, inspect the Fisher connectors for corrosion, if any is noted then you need to remove it. Once the corrosion is removed, coat the insides of both ends of the Fischer connector with food grade mineral oil. 2) After diving and before you let your dive gear sit around for very long, inspect the connectors for moisture, blow out with dry air and coat with mineral oil and store with the protective caps. 3) Once you have coated with mineral oil, let it drain to eliminate any excess oil. The protective caps will keep the moisture out, the mineral oil in and also protects the o-ring sealing surface on the male end of the connector. The food grade mineral oil can be found in any pharmacy or drug store. To remove any corrosion, I have use “DeoxIT” which can be found on line at DiveRite Express or Radio Shack. Any other type of high quality electrical corrosion remover would also work just fine. Once the corrosion is removed, I would flush out the connectors with an electrical contact cleaner and then re-coat with mineral oil. I have been maintaining my Fischer connectors for several years this way and have had no problems. Shearwater Fisher Connector with Locking Ring Drying Male Fitting with Dry Air Adding Mineral Oil to Male Fitting Drying Female Fischer Socket Adding Mineral Oil to Fischer Socket Food Grade Mineral Oil 5 ML Oral Syringe Dry Air "Dust Off" CRC Contact Cleaner DeoxIT Corrosion Remover and Conditioner __________________ Stéphane
(Online)

4th June 2008, 18:33	#6 (permalink)
zoo_diver Is it snack time yet? Current Rebreather/s: Evolution Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Suffolk, VA Posts: 259	Re: Maintaining A Fischer Connector great post curt -- and thanks stephane for the pictures. curt gave me the run down on fischer maintenance when i picked up my pursuit last year and 100 or so dives later, i have had zero problems.
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4th June 2008, 19:26	#7 (permalink)
Gill Envy Shearwater Copis Divers Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Evolution Other CCR Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: seattle Posts: 1,314	Re: Maintaining A Fischer Connector Curt, any suggestions on how often that little "o" ring needs replacing/cleaning? any ideas on how to extract it and what it's actual size is? I suspect that little critter is responsible for some of the moisture issues, as the moisture consistently appears in one of our set ups but not in the other. maybe it's also a matter of machining tolerance variations. you should hit up Fisher for a manual contract... great write up! __________________ Gill Envy ...Because I wasn't born with gills! ><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>
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6th June 2008, 05:01	#8 (permalink)
silentscuba rEvo CCR Driver Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss rEvo Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic rEvo Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Mill Creek, WA USA Posts: 587	Re: Maintaining A Fischer Connector Quote: (Originally Posted by Gill Envy) Curt, any suggestions on how often that little "o" ring needs replacing/cleaning? any ideas on how to extract it and what it's actual size is? I suspect that little critter is responsible for some of the moisture issues, as the moisture consistently appears in one of our set ups but not in the other. maybe it's also a matter of machining tolerance variations. you should hit up Fisher for a manual contract... great write up! I have not had to remove one of those o-rings yet, but I am sure it can be done. The right size stainless dental pick would probably do the job. I am very carefull about keeping the protective cap on my cable when it is not plugged in. The cable cap does 2 things, it keeps the moisture out and mineral oil in and keeps the very end of the Fischer connector protected against dents and scratches. The very outside surface of the end of the connector is what seals against that o-ring that is down in the bottom of the Fischer socket located on the computer. __________________ Curt McNamee rEvo CCR Diver KISS CCR Diver www.silentscuba.com
(Online)

6th June 2008, 08:44	#9 (permalink)
w ripley Sorta New Member Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other CCR Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Norfolk VA USA Posts: 144	Re: Maintaining A Fischer Connector Curt: What are your thoughts on keeping the female side packed with silicone grease? I ask that as during a phone conversation with my CCR manufacturer that was suggested. Bill
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6th June 2008, 11:43	#10 (permalink)
n2diving Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other CCR Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 272	Re: Maintaining A Fischer Connector A note about Deoxit.... there are actually a several different formulations... Standard Deoxit, (the one in your picture shows both standard and gold formulations) and most generic 'contact cleaners' (your picture shows CRC), have too harsh a cleaning action on the precious metal plating of the contacts... my source on this was CAIG Labs. Some of the Deoxit brand formulations found in Radio Shack contains petroleum distilates, and is not always friendly to some of the other components found on rebreathers and particularly harsh on some types of o-rings. There is a Deoxit Gold G5 formulation which widely sold that also contains petroleum distilates. More difficult to find is Deoxit Gold GN5 formulation. The GN5 formulation contains no petrolum distilates, and is also friendlier to some plastics, and has a less powerful cleaning action. If you 'see green' then it might take several applications to clean the corrosion, but the patience with the less harsh formulation is probably wise. Rather than use mineral oil, I've found following a dive trip, that blowing dry the connectors and then a liberal appication of the Deoxit Gold GN5 formulation works as well to coat and protect the connection. Last edited by n2diving : 6th June 2008 at 11:49.
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