DIY Video Housing a success...

[amadus98]

i went with the design mensioned above but after awhile changed my views. Haveing a fixed end had sum drawbacks. After a few dives i scratched the plexi-glass.... well there goes the whole case had to start over to replace plex-glass. So i went with couplers, o-ring and latche technique on both ends. Im very happy with the result. One benifit is that its alot easier to keep the len's clean on both ends. Now im working on controls. when im all done and have figured out all my mistakes ill post sum pic's. The bigest pain so far has just been pressure testing the housing. the only way i can is to keep diving with it. but im missing alot of good video shots.... I need to figure out some kind of pressure testing pot. Good luck to all.

 

[pdh]

Ah. What you need is one of these. Take an old scuba cylinder and cut the top off, it doesn't matter if it's out of test or even failed as the pressures are really low compared to scuba (disclaimer - your local laws, especially in the US might not like you making your own pressure vessels so if you do, it's nothing to do with me). Now weld a half inch thick ring of steel to the top and screw some studs into it. Make a 1 inch thick lid for it from Plexiglas and add an o ring groove and holes for the studs. I used plexiglas so I could see what was happening at depth. Then drill a hole in the side to take a standard car tyre inflater - it needs to be a tight fit. I added a tube to the side with a 0 - 10 bar (150psi) gauge so it then reads in metres - 1 bar = 10 metres. Put your housing in it and fill up to the top with water then put the lid on and screw it down tight. Now you can add a small amount of air from a bicycle pump or foot pump to increase the pressure. Every 15 PSI is 10 metres/33 feet so a 30 metre dive is 45 PSI, which can be easily done with a foot pump. There is very little air added because the water does not compress so if it all lets go and breaks it's not going to do much damage. If you want higher pressures you can use a compressor but it starts to get dangerous then and you are relying on your good welding skills and the strength of the Plexiglas before it turns into a bomb. I've had mine to 120 PSI - about 80 metres but the lid starts to bow slightly then so that's the limit without additional strengthening. I try not to put my head directly above it at these pressures - just in case.

The fins on the bottom at just welded on to stop it falling over. I also lined it with a cut up plastic bucket so it does not scratch whatever is put in it. It only took a day to build it.

Paul.

 

[amadus98]

AWSOME!!!!! pdh..... i kinda had a simillar thing in mind...... thanks for the pic.
Andreas

 

[amadus98]

ok all done......... now lets see if i can post a few pic's... also check out my gallery for other housing pics.

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/500/thumbs/DSC00015.JPG

 

[amadus98]

lets try this again

 

[FunkyDiver]

Hi All ! It's been awhile since I've visited the thread ( I made a housing and it seems to work well enough), but I'm wondering how to incorporate some controls into it. Has anybody had any luck making their own controls and if so, how did you do it? I would love to see some pictures. I made my housing out of 4" PVC and the camera fits in there pretty snugly. I may actually have to upsize to a 6" housing to get enough room inside to be able to give the controls some room. Thanks! Happy Video Shooting

 

[MATTKINZ]

padipro has posted pics of some good controls earlier on this thread and has them on the MSN group divelight. .

I bought from ebay an old Ikelite flash unit hopusing with controls and snap closures to scavenge. I haven't done anything with it to make a control yet but plan to do so one day.

 

[amadus98]

Im using controls out of an old ikelite housing. but made my own that worked fine too. Ill see if i can come up with sum pics 4 ya.

 

[pdh]

I posted a link to my site earlier in the thread - it has details of magnetic controls.

Paul.

 

[konasdad]

I hope SB will get this thread posted in the DIY forum so that it may continue. Perhaps by posting this it will appear in the DIY forum.

I've been gathering parts and materials to make my own housing but haven't started the actual construction.

So, I'm hoping this will get those of you that have been active in this thread in the past back to share what you've done recently.

I'll post something once I've actully put something together. In the meantime, thanks for all of the information from those who have already put it together!

-Mark-