[ytterbium]

Do the weather seals have any kind of manufacturer indicated wear, like usage hours, shutter count or camera life time.

Since some of the seals (for on/off, card doors, battery doors, e-dial, ok/fn buttons) can get serious stress or friction. I wonder how long does it approximately take for them to wear out and become ineffective.

I started to wonder because my bicycle has this rubber head light on/off button, and even if it gets more wear since the "seal" is being pressed directly it developed a hole quite fast.
And it gets used only twice a day, when on a day when i'm taking pictures i can press shutter/ok/fn buttons hundreds of times. And since the seals are not visible, i would not see a leak at such an water exposed place as shutter.

Does Pentax services offer to replace the seals if they should last less than the camera itself (i believe refurbishing means returning the equipment completely to factory under warranty or some similar case).

[jamesm007]

Do the weather seals have any kind of manufacturer indicated wear, like usage hours, shutter count or camera life time.

Since some of the seals (for on/off, card doors, battery doors, e-dial, ok/fn buttons) can get serious stress or friction. I wonder how long does it approximately take for them to wear out and become ineffective.

I started to wonder because my bicycle has this rubber head light on/off button, and even if it gets more wear since the "seal" is being pressed directly it developed a hole quite fast.
And it gets used only twice a day, when on a day when i'm taking pictures i can press shutter/ok/fn buttons hundreds of times. And since the seals are not visible, i would not see a leak at such an water exposed place as shutter.

Does Pentax services offer to replace the seals if they should last less than the camera itself (i believe refurbishing means returning the equipment completely to factory under warranty or some similar case).

The service guide for all weather-sealed Pentax and Samsung dSLRs has a section just to show the tech how to make sure the camera is sealed (proper placement of the seals) and strongly tell the tech any signs of wear or crushing and they must replace the seal. The more the camera is opened and serviced the less effective the sealing and it recommends all seals be replaced if such is the case of frequent repair of the same camera. I am speaking of the internal seals for the casing like the lower plate it has about 6 seals that go around it and not all seals are silicon. Theres the key for you the SD card and port doors have silicon seals maybe the battery door as well. Push the seal of the SD card door with something but gently and see how soft the silicon is, and that stuff lasts years. And(!) those doors are pressed against the seals. The SD card door is being pulled shut by the spring loaded latch so any wear is automatically compensated for.

I think sealing is not something to worry about, just keep them clean of dust and debris. I have a all weather Kodak DC5000 a 2mp camera I bought almost 10 years ago. Its rated for any weather and drops of 3' onto concrete without breaking, its as big and heavy as our K10D type bodies without lens. It still keep all water out, and I still use it in any weather and I still test the seals and no water gets by those old rubber type seals 10 years latter.

How strong is the Kodak DC5000, because its kinda big it looks like if you drop it you might break it, for fun I did a joke to my neighbor one snowy day a couple years ago. He was worried the snow would hurt it then I tossed it about 5' in front of me into the snow and it went through and hit the ground, he was and when I pulled it out and it was fine he just shook his head and of course the DC5000 is still seeing duty in the family.

Of course I don't do anything like that with my K20D I don't abuse it at all.

[ytterbium]

Good to hear it. How about cold weather? You know, when your mp3 headphone cable gets like headphone plastic stick fragile .

[Pentaxor]

I'm sure that weather seals will last longer than their SDM function.

[Oggy]

I'm sure that weather seals will last longer than their SDM function.

Yellow card Mr Pentaxor - once more and you're off.

[Pentaxor]

Yellow card Mr Pentaxor - once more and you're off.

c'mon ref. that wasn't a foul, honest ! am I suspended for the next game?

[jamesm007]

Good to hear it. How about cold weather? You know, when your mp3 headphone cable gets like headphone plastic stick fragile .

The seals won't be hurt by cold weather but they can lose some of their sealing properties. The K10, K20, K200 are rated for 32 degrees (F), the K-7 has seals better able to withstand cold and can go to 0 Fahrenheit. Remember some 15 year old cars are using plain old rubber to keep water out, and many of the pipes are exposed to all weather, it does not hurt the sealing as the sealing is not hard and brittle even in cold weather. You can even shoot with your K10s... in below 0 weather with full WR as long as the exposure is brief (less than 5 minuets).

BTW I should type Silicone not Silicon . Has very good temp properties.

I just don't believe from reading of people taking a K10 to the Arctic and its one of the few that never had its WR fail, and other stories that long term or temp extremes should be worried about too much. Also my own experiance with the GX10 and now K20D suggests to me they are fully sealed against any type of natural wet weather 32F or higher of course, and of course being cautious is always good!