DIY Underwater Video Housing

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Yes to avoid the leaking connectors/adapters issue entire I was just going to have everything sealed and only the wire in the water. For example there's going to be a Micro HDMI to HDMI adapter but that will be contained inside the Extended GoPro housing, and then an HDMI to Mini HDMI adapter but that will be sealed within the acrylic sandwich.

If silicone compresses too much at depth, maybe I'll seal instead with epoxy resin -- that shouldn't compress significantly at depth. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm not sure if this would even apply to your situation but way back when I was making camera housings I used a 1\4 " NPT barbed hose fitting on the strobe and the camera housings and attached 1\4 vinly tubing which had the wires pulled through and the ends filled with clear silicone The housings were tapped and I used Teflon tape to seal the threads and I never had even the slightest hint of a leak Also I wrapped the vinyl tubing\wire around a steel pipe and heated it in the oven for a while to make a coiled wire\tubing
 
Your choice for battery housings seem like they might go Pop! at depth. Why do you need to change the batteries? Most camera's shooting video last for housrs and the monitor probably for days so incorporate both Inside your hardened housings for each.

Might want to give more thought to a bulkhead connector for the HDMI cable as a regular cable will leak at the connector, they're Not waterproof

Try to Minimie the failure points not add to them.

The housing is flooded which is why the batteries need their own compartment. The way I have it configured the monitor will last 60 hours before I need to recharge, but I will have to change the batteries eventually which is why I need an easy way to access the batteries without permanently sealing them in like the monitor. I will test the plastic cup filled with epoxy idea to make sure it doesn't get crushed at depth, to be safe.

I'm not sure why you think the HDMI cables will be a problem. Nothing but plastic will be in the water. The connection from the micro HDMI to the camera (including the necessary adapter) will be encased within the extended GoPro housing
extended gopro case.png (this but without the extra battery shown)
and also the connection from the mini HDMI port on the monitor to the adapter to the HDMI cable (the very same cable which is hardsealed to the extended GoPro case) will be completely sealed with the monitor. Literally only the plastic outside of the wire will touch the water. But I can follow JamesBon92007's suggestion and put the wire in a hose if that doesn't work for some reason.
 
OK,

Sorry if this is a little harsh but I finally had tine to read your entire post and I can see problems with it.

First of all are you building a video housing or a carry- all? Drop the Bonus section completely, it adds a layer of complexity you don't need. If you need that stuff on an hour dive, that's why BC's have pockets.

Second, I don't believe that you have a good idea of the crushing pressures the housing will endure at 100+ fsw. You are thinking like this is to protect the
at the surface from a little splashing.

You need to beef up your overall strategy. Buy thicker sheets of acrylic for everything. Do not use any silicone sealer anywhere to keep water out. No commercial housing manufacturer does - because it will fail.

When building acrylic housings there is a special glue you use that melts the edges together and fuses them to make a seal that may be stronger than the glas itself.

What the above poster said is true, cutting the corner off an integrally sound housing is a bad idea, it won't work, it will leak as it deforms under pressure and wil "depress the button" at depth.

One thing you might try is gut an old Ikelite housing (cheap on eBay for one of the control glands, usually a knob that swivels inside a sealed gland. Position it right and you can spin it to turn the monitor on/off. Ikelite does not sell their pushbuttons separately which would be perfect for this use. Over 10" I would expect the front sheet to distort enough to press on the LCD - IDK if that will cause problems.

I know two people that work with acrylic - one makes aquariums, the other museum display cases. The former carefully rounds and seals corners with a propane torch - the latter uses a "Hot wire" to cut it - just like what it sounds like, a hard wire with a voltage passed thru it clamped to a table - cuts it like butter.

Possibly to DIY a flexibble covering go to Home Depot and buy some thick wall acrylic tubing. You will also need to engineer a way to seal both ends to the housings also.

Good rule of thumb- do not make any more intrusions in either housing than you absolutely have to.

The above poster's' suggestion of NPT Tapered fittings is a good one. They're not pretty, often brass but they work. You will have to tap the holes and don't over tighten.

I modified an older Quest housing once for a newer camera. Bought it used on eBay and updated the port and the back cover. It was acrylic and at least 1/2" thick.Also used magnetic controls in a joystick configuration attached to the outside od the housing with a corresponding receiver on the inside so no thru the wall penetration.

I shoot an Amphibico Evo - it's an Aluminum housing coated with epoxy paint. Every penetration - port, rear door, control handle is double o-ring sealed. You could probably stand on it - it's guaranteed to 330' fsw.

My advice to you is to double the thickness of evreything you plan to use and double seal everything you can. Also the tighter the fit around the components the less problems you'll have with buoyancy and balance. One of the u/w video pro's in SE Asia posted pics of his rig once, to help with the buoyancy - he used sealed tubes of PVC pipe under the housing.

my .02
 
Sorry if this is a little harsh but I finally had tine to read your entire post and I can see problems with it.

No worries, I'm as resilient as they come. I appreciate the feedback. :)

First of all are you building a video housing or a carry- all? Drop the Bonus section completely, it adds a layer of complexity you don't need. If you need that stuff on an hour dive, that's why BC's have pockets.

Since I'm going to have extra space in the device anyways, I'm just going to to have a little elastic band that can be use to hold stuff down inside if needed -- it won't get any more complex than that to start.

Second, I don't believe that you have a good idea of the crushing pressures the housing will endure at 100+ fsw. You are thinking like this is to protect the at the surface from a little splashing.

You need to beef up your overall strategy. Buy thicker sheets of acrylic for everything. Do not use any silicone sealer anywhere to keep water out. No commercial housing manufacturer does - because it will fail.

Gotcha, no silicone and thicker acrylic. :)

When building acrylic housings there is a special glue you use that melts the edges together and fuses them to make a seal that may be stronger than the glas itself.

Yes I didn't mention this in the posting but I already have acrylic glue and was going to use it for all the acrylic joints.

What the above poster said is true, cutting the corner off an integrally sound housing is a bad idea, it won't work, it will leak as it deforms under pressure and wil "depress the button" at depth.

Yeah I will have to see if I can find a button with some resistance such as a spring. Thanks

One of the u/w video pro's in SE Asia posted pics of his rig once, to help with the buoyancy - he used sealed tubes of PVC pipe under the housing.

Yeah I was actually thinking something similar for the battery housing, but sealed tubes simply for lift is a good idea. Thanks :)
 
A gland is nothing more than a carefully designed double o-ringed solid rod inside the right ID opening. Ikelite used to have exploded views on their website,

here's one - Ikelite 6146.10 - Manual (Page 4)

Somewhere here on SB a while ago someone showed ho to make one using two different sizes of thin wall brass tubing like you buy in a good hobby shop.Plus several o-rings,

The old Quest housing I had used reed switches to control the camera - the joystick seen on the front here had a magnet in it's base, For on/off control of the monitor a reed switch spliced into the power button (assuming it's wired) would do the same/ - early housings sold you a 1 finger clove with a magnet sewn in
.
quest.jpg

Noe the thickness of the back plex, this housing was rated to 130' IIRC

Since you are working in acrylic, I would just buy some old Ukelite housing on eBay and remove/rework the controls as needed.

Note - they are Exceedingly hard to re-bend,
 
I thought Ikelite used to sell their controls separately but for me they were too expensive so I used brass or bronze compression fittings which are also 1\4" NPT and sealed with Teflon which were intended for use with 1\4" copper tubing but I used 1\4" brass rod which is easy to bend with heat and grind and drill etc Two 1\4" O-rings and silicone grease provided the seal placed on the rod just under the top cap

I have used 1\4" acrylic tubing with good results for ports etc but used 1\2" acrylic for the housing body and 3\4" for the back but never took it down past about 80 feet
 
026613161730lg.jpg


This is what I used on several housings You will need the right size drill a 1\4" NPT tap Teflon tape 1\4" brass rod and two o-rings that fit the rod plus silicone grease The tapered compression ring is not used

The only problem I encountered in years of use was they tend to get stuck and should be worked a little before jumping in the water They can also be used as push\pull controls
 
This is what I used on several housings You will need the right size drill a 1\4" NPT tap Teflon tape 1\4" brass rod and two o-rings that fit the rod plus silicone grease The tapered compression ring is not used

The only problem I encountered in years of use was they tend to get stuck and should be worked a little before jumping in the water They can also be used as push\pull controls

Yeah for the button I just decided to buy a GoPro dive housing for $12 and cut out the buttons. They should work fine for my purposes with a bit of customization.
 

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