SportDiver Ultra SL405 Troubleshooting and Technical Updates

SportDiver Ultra SL405

Troubleshooting and Technical Updates

Housing

1. Preventing internal moisture build-up and fogging

Make sure you and the SportDiver housing are completely dry when releasing the vacuum pressure and opening the waterproof door. Releasing the pressure with a wet finger will result in water drops getting forcefully pulled into the housing, which may cause fogging on your next dive.
After use, dry the housing with a towel. Before opening the waterproof door, ensure you and the housing are completely dry. Open the door with the back of the housing facing down (lens facing up) to prevent water drops from entering the housing, which may cause fogging on your next dive.

Open with housing facing down (lens up)

2. Preventing the leak alarm [wet sensor] from activating

The 5 gold-plated wet sensor contacts are located on the inside bottom right of the housing. The leak alarm will activate if anything conductive (i..e. water drops, your finger, etc.) touches the wet sensor contacts.

If the leak alarm is activated, a “Leak Detected” message will appear on the display for 5 seconds and the housing will beep 5 times. If this happens during your dive, surface SAFELY in accordance with safe diving practices. Power off the housing. Use a cotton cloth to clean and dry the housing and phone. Inspect the O-rings for damage, twisting and sand/hair/debris. Clean and lube the O-rings or replace if damaged.

3. Housing frequently fails the 3.5-minute Leak Analysis

The purpose of the Leak Analysis is to check if the housing maintains an airtight seal before diving. After sealing the housing and applying the vacuum pump pressure, the housing monitors the internal air pressure for any changes. If the housing loses internal vacuum pressure, the phone will display “Leak Detected” or “Keep Pumping”, depending on the amount of pressure change. If the housing maintains vacuum pressure, the leak analysis will be successfully completed, and the housing is ready for diving.

Here are the most common causes for a loss of vacuum pressure resulting in leak analysis failure:

Changing air temperature inside the housing during the leak analysis will cause the vacuum pressure to change and may activate the alarm or “keep pumping” message. For example, if the housing is taken from a cool air-conditioned room to the warm outdoors. If the housing is warming up during the leak analysis, the housing’s internal air expands causing vacuum pressure to drop and the leak analysis to fail. Make sure to allow a cool housing to adjust to the warmer ambient temperature before starting the leak analysis. Inserting a hot phone into the housing before starting the leak analysis will also cause thermal expansion inside the sealed housing and vacuum pressure drop. A freshly charged phone may be hot. Also, unused apps running in the background will draw battery power and generate heat. Force off all apps running in the background, except for the SportDiver app. Also, allow a hot phone to cool down before starting the leak analysis.
One or both O-ring are not lubed, dirty or damaged. Clean the O-rings and apply very thin film of lube. Replace the O-ring if cut or damaged in any way. One free O-ring set is included with each SportDiver Ultra. A spare O-ring set may be purchased at your local authorized SeaLife dealer. See item # SL40510.
The O-ring is installed incorrectly. The O-ring is “D”- shaped. The flat side of the O-ring must be against the O-ring groove with the round side facing outward. Make sure the O-ring is not twisted.
The yellow one-way rubber valve at the vacuum check port is damaged or has some sand/debris trapped underneath. Clean the one-way valve using lint-free cloth moistened with alcohol. Use pressured air to blow out any sand/debris trapped underneath the one-way valve. If the one-way valve is damaged, contact the SeaLife Service Center in your country. For a list of dealers/distributors that can offer repair service, please visit the SeaLife website at www.sealife-cameras.com/dealer-locator/. Note: Screw on waterproof cap after applying vacuum pressure and always make sure waterproof cap is installed when diving.

If the above information does not fix the issue, please contact the SeaLife Service Center in your country for assistance. For a list of dealers/distributors that can offer repair service, please visit the SeaLife website at www.sealife-cameras.com/dealer-locator/.

4. The 3.5-minute Leak Analysis not working at high altitude

After preparing the housing and applying vacuum pressure, the app keeps displaying Please Prepare Housing message and status LED continuously flashes red, yellow and green. This issue is most likely caused by exceeding the SportDiver’s high altitude pressure limit. The SportDiver housing vacuum pressure check (leak analysis) works up to altitude of 6500 ft / 1980m (11.6 psia). At higher altitude, the SportDiver Leak Analysis will malfunction, and LED status indicator will show red/green/yellow error code.

5. Cannot open the housing

The internal vacuum pressure must be released before the housing can be opened. Unscrew the vacuum check valve cap. Use your dry fingertip to move the rubber yellow 1-way valve sideways to release the pressure. Do not push down the valve as that will not release the pressure. You may also use some dull object, like a pen cap, to move the valve sideways. Never use a sharp object near the rubber 1-way valve.

6. Attaching wrist strap to the underwater housing:

The housing wrist strap included with the SportDiver Ultra attaches to the housing as shown below. Attached the looped end of nylon cord through the housing strap connector (A). The clip (B) is used for attaching the camera to your BCD (buoyancy Control Device) D-ring. Adjust the sliding lock (C) to tighten around your wrist.

7. Fogging inside the housing lens

Humid air or water drops trapped inside the underwater housing may condense on the cooler glass lens port and cause fogging. Here is the best way to prevent fogging:

Do not allow any water drops to enter the inside of the housing. Even one water drop can evaporate and condense (fog) on the lens port.
The phone must be completely dry before inserting it into the UW housing.
Load the phone and housing in a dry environment, like an air-conditioned room. This will help to avoid trapping humid air inside.
Avoid letting the housing get hot or sit in direct sunlight for pro-longed periods of time.
Avoid opening the housing in a humid environment. If you need to charge the phone between dives, make sure you and the phone are dry before opening the housing.
Use a fresh Moisture Muncher desiccant capsule (item # SL911) inside the housing.

8. Glare showing up in photo

Glare in the upper left corner may occur when a bright light or sunlight is behind you and there is an air gap above the phone. Light is passing through the air gap and reflecting off the inside of the glass lens port. To eliminate the gap [and glare], use larger rubber grip tabs along the bottom.

If there is still a gap after changing the grip tabs, attach one self-adhesive, anti-glare strip to the inside top of the lens port. Do not stick the anti-glare strip to the glass lens.

Apply anti-glare strip to inside top of lens port

The anti-glare strip will eliminate any gap.

9. Siri launches when putting iPhone into the housing

The volume button is being pressed accidentally. Move the rubber grip tabs around so they do not touch the iPhone buttons. Refer to page 14 of the manual.

10. Cannot release vacuum pressure with my finger or a pen

Move the rubber tip sideways to release internal vacuum pressure. Pushing the yellow 1-way valve down will not release pressure.

11. Rear buttons not working

Here are some common causes and solutions for the rear housing buttons not working:

No vacuum pressure has been applied to the sealed housing. Applying vacuum pressure moves the waterproof door assembly closer to the internal buttons, ensuring the buttons make proper contact.
The rear housing buttons are sticky and do not return to the normal resting position. Soak the sealed housing in fresh water for 20 minutes. Push each button 20 times to flush out any sand and debris that may cause the buttons to stick.
No Bluetooth connection between the housing and installed phone. Make sure the Bluetooth icon on the bottom right of the SportDiver app display is blue, indicating the housing has a Bluetooth connection with the phone.

12. Using lithium single-use or NiMH rechargeable AAA batteries

We recommend using two standard alkaline AAA batteries, which will last about 50 hours of continuous use. Single-use lithium and NiMH rechargeable AAA batteries may also be used in the SportDiver with no known side-effect. When using non-alkaline batteries, the housing battery strength indicator on the top right of the SportDiver app display may not be accurate because NiMH and lithium AAA batteries operate at slightly different voltages than alkaline batteries.

SportDiver App (see above for underwater housing troubleshooting)

App

13. SportDiver iOS App Update V3.4.3 (iPhone only)

SportDiver iOS app version V3.4.3 was released to the App Store on May 8, 2024. Before updating the app on your iPhone, it is important to uninstall the previous SportDiver app. Deleting the app will not delete any photos or videos. The update includes the following:

Update the SportDiver app version number in the settings menu.
Bug fixes that may cause the SportDiver app to close, lock-up or crash on some iPhone models.
New White Balance menu with options for Auto, UW Deep, UW Shallow, and Manual. UW Deep (>25ft/8m) and UW Shallow (<25ft/8m) are color-correction filters for deep diving or shallow snorkeling. Use white balance color filters as an alternate to the included red filter - Don't use both at the same time. Set white balance to auto when using a photo-video light. When white balance is set to Manual, use the Temperature and Tint settings to manually adjust color balance.
Add Aspect Ratio setting with options for 4:3 (default) and 16:9. The Aspect Ratio setting only applies to photos. Videos will always be recorded using 16:9 aspect ratio. When using 16:9, the Image Format setting will be locked to JPEG.
Photos and videos are saved in portrait orientation when the phone is held vertically. When the phone is held horizontally, photos and videos are saved in landscape orientation.
Add HEIF to Image Format settings. Supports JPEG, HEIF, ProRAW, ProRAW+JPEG and ProRAW+HEIF. ProRAW is only available for iPhones 12 Pro/Pro Max and up. HEIF files (High Efficiency File Format) use a more modern and sophisticated form of compression than JPEG, but may not be compatible with some photo editing software. HEIF and ProRAW is not available when Aspect Ratio is set to 16:9.
The Picture-in-Video (PIV) function has been relocated to the Mode button. During video recording, push the Mode button to capture and save a photo.
Updated Video setting with options for non-HDR video format. HDR (High Dynamic Range) is recommended if you are not editing your videos. HDR is also known as "Dolby Vision". Apple only supports PreRes with HDR.

If you are experiencing any app issues after installing the update, please email us at quality@sealife-cameras.com. Please include a description of the issue and include your phone make/model and the operating system installed on your phone.

14. SportDiver app not opening or crashes after opening

If the SportDiver app does not open or crashes, please follow these troubleshooting solutions:

Update your phone to the latest operating system. The SportDiver app supports phones running iOS 16 and 17. iOS 15 and older operating systems are not supported.
Uninstall and reinstall the SportDiver app. Uninstalling and reinstalling the SportDiver app will not delete the photos and videos already saved to your phone.
Make sure all SportDiver app permissions are allowed. The following screenshot shows the correct app permissions. Access to Photos must be set to “All Photos”. App permissions are located under phone Settings -> SportDiver [app].

SportDiver app iOS permissions

SportDiver app Android permissions

Reboot your phone (power phone off and on).

If you are still experiencing any app issues after following the online troubleshooting, please email us at quality@sealife-cameras.com. Please include a description of the issue and include your phone make/model and the operating system installed on your phone.

15. SportDiver iOS app only records video but not photos (iPhone only)

This issue only affects older iPhones running iOS 15 or earlier. The SportDiver iOS app supports iPhones running iOS 16 or 17. Please check your phone’s operating system and update it to the latest available iOS version.

16. Some photos/videos are not in focus

The smartphone camera’s auto focus system requires sufficient lighting and contrast to focus on the target subject, as well as good visibility for the camera to “see” the subject. If the subject is in low light or blending in with foreground/background (i.e. low contrast), the camera will struggle to focus. If you are experiencing focusing issues, please try these troubleshooting tips:

Make sure the phone's lens(es), the housing lens port, and the red color-correction filter are clean without fingerprints or smudges.
Low visibility will hinder auto-focus performance. The phone may try to focus on the small particulates suspended in the water in front of the lens. In low-vis waters, keep your shooting distance close-up.
For plus-sized phones, slide the phone all the way to the right, up against the four inner buttons. That ensures the lenses have a clear view through the optical port.
Use the phone’s ultrawide lens for the close-up shots. The ultrawide lens has a higher depth of field and is more forgiving than the wide and telephoto lenses. For example, the iPhone 14 Pro Max 0.5x ultrawide lens has a close focus distance of 0.8” (2cm), while the wide and telephoto lenses have a close focus distance of 6” (15cm) and 18” (45cm), respectively.
If you notice the lens struggling to auto-focus, position your hand in front of the lens for a moment, allowing the camera to focus on your hand. When moving your hand away from the lens, the camera will re-focus on subjects farther away. You may also push the mode button four times to cycle through all the modes and back to photo mode. That will reset the lens.
Use the Manual Focus setting to manually adjust the desired focus distance. When turning on Manual Focus, push the OK button to toggle between zoom and MF (manual focus). Then, use the up/down buttons to manually adjust the zoom.
Use one or two Sea Dragon photo-video lights to illuminate the subject and improve contrast. Position the light as far away from the lens, which will minimize backscatter.
Use one or two Sea Dragon photo-video lights to properly illuminate the subject.

17. Video Plays back in slow motion

When video resolution is set to 120 fps (frames per second) or 240 fps, the playback will be in slow motion. This is useful when recording fast moving subjects and adding a dramatic effect to your videos. Recording videos at 30 fps or 60 fps will play back at normal speed.

18. Huawei Android smartphone unable to access SportDiver app on Google Play Store

Some Huawei smartphones have a special factory Android version installed that blocks out Google Play Store. You may install the SportDiver Android app directly to your Huawei phone by following these instructions:

Open the Dropbox link on your Huawei phone - https://www.dropbox.com/s/nkcdmwxoi1atngx/SportDiver%20Android%20App%20V1.23.apk?dl=0
Save the APK file to your phone.
Locate and open the APK file. This will install the SportDiver app.

Note: Dropbox prohibits opening APK, so that is why you need to save the file to your phone’s Files app and then open it from the Files app.

19. Screen not always dimming when iPhone is in Power Save (iPhone only)

We have recently discovered that some iPhone models may automatically undim the display even though the phone is in Power Save mode. The phone will normally go into Power Save mode if no buttons are pushed within 1 minute. The display will dim and camera turns off [showing a frozen image] to conserve battery power. Pushing any button brightens the display and “wakes-up” the camera. Some iPhone models may automatically undim the display when moving the phone without touching any buttons. The camera does remain off until a button is pushed. Changing the phones Display settings or SportDiver app Power Save settings does not fix the issue. App programmers are investigating the cause and solution for this issue and will release app update ASAP.

20. Unable to delete the last photo or video in Playback (iPhone only)

The SportDiver app will save the first photo or video in Playback mode. You may delete the other files by pushing the OK button and selecting YES, however, the first photo/video will always be saved. This is necessary to prevent the app from becoming unstable and potentially crashing.

21. Zoom function not working in Photo mode with iPhone SE or Xr, but works in video mode

This is not an app bug - There is an iOS systems limitation within the iPhone SE and Xr that blocks out the zoom function.

22. iPhone “Back Tap” feature activates while underwater

Back tap is an iPhone feature that performs select tasks when tapping on the back of the phone 2 or 3 times. Back Tap should be turned Off when the phone is inside the housing because it may accidently perform the task and close the SportDiver app if the housing gets bumped or knocked.

23. Cannot play.MOV videos on Windows computer

We recommend using the VLC Media Player, which is a free download at https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

24. Delay when selecting Video mode or changing the Lens Settings

There is a slight delay when selecting video mode or when changing lenses. This delay is necessary for stable app performance.

25. Vacuum pressure check (Leak analysis) not working at high altitude

The SportDiver housing vacuum pressure check (leak analysis) works up to altitude of 6500 ft / 1980 m (11.6 psia). At higher altitude, the SportDiver LED status indicator will show red/green/yellow error code.

When diving at altitudes higher than 6500 ft, you will need to disable the leak alarm in the SportDiver app Settings Menu. Make sure you carefully set up the housing to avoid a leak – inspect, clean and lube O-rings, and properly seal the waterproof door. You also need to add two pumps of vacuum pressure after sealing the housing even though the leak alarm is disabled. The vacuum pressure helps the waterproof door to fully seat itself into the housing, creating a strong seal.

26. How to display on-screen exposure and settings data

The SeaLife SportDiver app includes on-screen exposure & settings data feature, which can be enabled or disabled. To enable the on-screen exposure data feature on your iPhone, go to your phone Settings, scroll down to the SportDiver app and turn on “On-screen Settings”. For Android phones, the on-screen display setting is located at the bottom of the SportDiver app Settings Menu.

App settings screenshot

On-screen display of exposure and lens setting

27. Photos and Videos Not Saved to the phone’s Photos or Gallery app

Check that SeaLife SportDiver app permissions are set correctly. The following screenshot shows the correct app permissions. Access to Photos must be set to “All Photos”. App permissions are located under phone Settings -> SportDiver [app].

SportDiver app iOS permissions

SportDiver app Android permissions

28. Notifications still appear when Do Not Disturb is turned on

Phone notifications may still appear if exceptions are allowed. For iPhone, got to your phone’s settings and select “Focus” to review and update your Do Not Disturb settings. For Android, remove any Do Not Disturb Exceptions.

29. Cannot download RAW files from an iPhone to a computer

Here is some information from Apple on how to import photos. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201302. For PC, use Windows Photo App. For MAC, use Photos app import tool.

30. Using the Triple Lens Setting with SportDiver iOS app (iPhone only)

The SportDiver iOS app includes a Triple lens setting, which applies to all iPhone Pro and Pro Max models with 3 lenses. The Triple lens setting allows you to quickly change lenses when zooming up/down. 0.5x is Ultrawide, 1.0x is Wide (normal) and 2.0, 2.5 or 3.2 is Telephoto lens. The other zoom steps in between lenses are using digital zoom.

Notes

In Triple lens mode, the Telephoto lens will automatically switch to ultrawide when shooting macro (close-up). This is a function of the iPhone, not the app.
For iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, 3.2x is actually 3.0x Telephoto. The 2.0x Telephoto feature is not supported by the SportDiver app.

31. Manual White Balance setting with some Android phones shows green live view and black image capture (Android only)

The manual white balance setting is not supported by some Huawei and Redmi phone models. The live view will appear green and result image capture will be black. See below screenshots. This is a limitation with those phone models and app update will not fix this issue.

Photo is black

Live view is green

32. Cannot access all available lenses (Android only)

For Android phones with two or more lenses, the SportDiver app may not show all available lenses in the Lens settings menu. This is not a bug. Some Android phone makers block out access to ultrawide and telephoto lenses. The SportDiver app will display all lenses made available by the phone maker. In most cases, it is possible to access the Telephoto lens by using the normal Wide lens and zooming to 2.5x or 3x – the lens will automatically switch to Telephoto.

33. 12 megapixel Photo resolution (Android only)

Some Android phones include a high photo resolution of 48MP or higher. The highest available photo resolution setting with the SportDiver app is 12MP. This is not a bug or oversight. Most Android phone makers will limit the maximum saved photo resolutions to 12MP. This limitation applies to all Android camera apps, not just SeaLife. We are monitoring this closely and will update the SportDiver app if and when higher photo resolution options are available.

One thing to note – The SportDiver app will utilize the full image sensor size that the Android phone is capable of capturing. For example, if the phone’s true image sensor resolution is 48MP, the phone will convert the 48MP to 12MP using a technology called “pixel binning”. The result is an ultra-sharp 12MP image because it utilizes all the pixels available within the image sensor.

34. Ultrawide lens vignettes inside the SportDiver housing (Android only)

Some Android phone makers position the ultrawide lens in the upper left corner of the phone, causing the SportDiver lens port to appear in the photo or video (i.e., Vignette). This issue only applies to some Android phones but not iPhones. iPhone has the ultrawide lens is positioned away from the corner, so there is no vignette.

35. SportDiver Android app update V2.2 (Android only)

SeaLife released SportDiver app update for Android phones on June 5, 2023, which fixes a RAW mode storage bug affecting some Android phone models.

36. Smartphone not making Bluetooth connection with the SportDiver housing

The SportDiver housing is designed to automatically connect to your iPhone or Android smartphone running the current or previous version operating system. Older phones that cannot update to the current or previous operating system released by Apple or Google are not supported and may not connect.

It may take up to 1 minute for the phone to automatically connect to the SportDiver housing. The blue status LED will blink with the phone is not connected and will be solid blue when it is connected. You will also see the Bluetooth icon on the bottom right of the app turn from white to blue when the phone connects to the housing. Please follow these troubleshooting tips:

Do not go into the phone’s Bluetooth settings to connect to the housing. The SportDiver app must be open and running in the foreground. Going to the phone’s Bluetooth setting while the SportDiver is trying to connect will prevent the housing from connecting because the SportDiver app is running in the background.
Check the SportDiver app permissions and make sure they are all allowed. For iPhones, go to the phone settings, scroll down to the SportDiver app and accept all permissions. For Android, go to the phone settings, scroll down to Apps and select SportDiver – there you will find the app permissions screen.
Check Apple App Store [iPhones] or Google Playstore [Android phones] for available SportDiver app updates.
Make sure the SportDiver housing is not accidentally connecting to another nearby phone that has the SportDiver app open. The housing should automatically connect to the nearest phone, but some phones have stronger antennas and transmission strength than others.
Reboot the SportDiver housing.
Force-close the SportDiver app and open it again.
Force-close other apps running in the background.
If the above information does not fix the connection issue, please test the housing with another smartphone to rule out problems with the SportDiver Bluetooth transmitter.If the above information does not fix the issue, please contact the SeaLife Service Center in your country for assistance. For a list of dealers/distributors that can offer repair service, please visit the SeaLife website at www.sealife-cameras.com/dealer-locator/Please let the service center know what smartphone make/model you have, and what operating system the phone is using.

SeaLife Cameras (Division of Pioneer Research), 97 Foster Road, Moorestown, NJ 08057

(856) 866-9191 service@sealife-cameras.com www.sealife-cameras.com