dvoodoo83
Guest
any know how to make a good underwater ligth please lt me know
DIY under water light?
- Thread starter dvoodoo83
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PonyBottle
Contributor
Get your checkbook or credit card...visit LDS...BUY Halcyon 18W HID!
dvoodoo83:
You've got to be kidding right? Do a search on DIY Canister Light and it should turn up several dozen hits.
Check out this thread...DIY Canister light and head
Go to;
http://www.airspeedpress.com/index.html
and check out "The Divelight Companion".
Why do you want to build your own light?
Save money?
This is not the best reason as you can very easily spend more on parts and tools and then still have no warrantee.
Need a custom configuration?
This is a good reason but is unlikely in sport diving. In rec/tec sport diving it is best the have a light the same as the rest of the diving team, largely for signaling reasons.
Just because you want to and/or for the fun of it?
This is the best reason! It helps if you are a DIY type person with a workshop full of tools and materials, or want to be one.
In any case there is a lot of great information and reference material in the airspeed press book and it is worth having on the shelf.
http://www.airspeedpress.com/index.html
and check out "The Divelight Companion".
Why do you want to build your own light?
Save money?
This is not the best reason as you can very easily spend more on parts and tools and then still have no warrantee.
Need a custom configuration?
This is a good reason but is unlikely in sport diving. In rec/tec sport diving it is best the have a light the same as the rest of the diving team, largely for signaling reasons.
Just because you want to and/or for the fun of it?
This is the best reason! It helps if you are a DIY type person with a workshop full of tools and materials, or want to be one.
In any case there is a lot of great information and reference material in the airspeed press book and it is worth having on the shelf.
PoorManDiving
Registered
I've got as far as roughly designing the circuit and drafting some code for the microprocessor on a dual light (5 LED / 50W Halogen) light.
Everything is great apart from I can't find a suitable housing. I've been focussing on using PVC pipe as I don't have milling facilities to use Alu. A Maglite isn't big enough for the SLA batteries (6 x 2v) Would like to have 2 rows of 3 batteries with a light at each end. Only problem is the PVC is going to melt with the heat of the Halogen. Ideas?
It would/will look great if the weather stays poor. Problem is... spring is coming so the projects are getting buried!
Everything is great apart from I can't find a suitable housing. I've been focussing on using PVC pipe as I don't have milling facilities to use Alu. A Maglite isn't big enough for the SLA batteries (6 x 2v) Would like to have 2 rows of 3 batteries with a light at each end. Only problem is the PVC is going to melt with the heat of the Halogen. Ideas?
It would/will look great if the weather stays poor. Problem is... spring is coming so the projects are getting buried!
PVC won't necessarly melt from the heat. The pictures are of a light head I made before I converted the Mag-Lite. It's made entirely from PVC. I made my own socket to hold the bulb, and applyed a layer of thick aluminum tape to the inside as a heat shield. The only part the bulb touched was the lens, and it bubble it a little during the dive. I used some pretty thick Plexiglas for the lens and it didn't cool enough from the water. I switched to a thinner Plexiglas that was a thermo plastic and was supposed to withstand several hundred degrees before it would melt but I never tried it out because I had converted the Mag-Lite by then and scraped the PVC light head. It worked great other then the lens bubbling a little, it was completely water tight and felt nice inthe water even though it was a little big.
PoorManDiving
Registered
Wow, that is some thickness of plexiglas! Was tempted to use normal toughened glass. Seems to work out a similar price for me, though obviously harder to cut.
I like the PVC fittings, are they several pieces joined together or is it a one piece unit purchased like that? The local plumbers don't have anything useful looking to me! Am trying to use catalogues to find the right piece. Main problem is the internal diameter fitting the bulb if I use the 51mm downlighter. Could use the smaller one but unless making it for helmet mounting seems size has to be a good thing
Do you think the alu tape worked well as a heat shield?
I like the PVC fittings, are they several pieces joined together or is it a one piece unit purchased like that? The local plumbers don't have anything useful looking to me! Am trying to use catalogues to find the right piece. Main problem is the internal diameter fitting the bulb if I use the 51mm downlighter. Could use the smaller one but unless making it for helmet mounting seems size has to be a good thing
Do you think the alu tape worked well as a heat shield?
It's 1/2 inch Plexiglas. I had some extra laying around so I fugured that I would use it, besides it allowed me to counter bore the screw holes in the lens so that the heads were recessed.
There are no fittings in the light head. It's all custom made from different sizes of PVC pipe. Some pieces were heated and stretched around other pieces all to make a strong, water tight object that resembled a flash light.
I think the AL tape worked very well. There were no signes of heat damage to the PVC at all, only the Plexiglas lens.
If you find a plastics dealer in your town that has the type and size plastic/Plexiglas you're looking for ask them if they have some scrap pieces you can buy rather then having them cut you a fresh piece from a brand new sheet. That's the way I buy all my plastic parts. It's A LOT less expensive that way as they usually have stuff left over from other projects that are to smalll for them to do much with so if they don't sell them to you they'll be stuck with the stuff.
There are no fittings in the light head. It's all custom made from different sizes of PVC pipe. Some pieces were heated and stretched around other pieces all to make a strong, water tight object that resembled a flash light.
I think the AL tape worked very well. There were no signes of heat damage to the PVC at all, only the Plexiglas lens.
If you find a plastics dealer in your town that has the type and size plastic/Plexiglas you're looking for ask them if they have some scrap pieces you can buy rather then having them cut you a fresh piece from a brand new sheet. That's the way I buy all my plastic parts. It's A LOT less expensive that way as they usually have stuff left over from other projects that are to smalll for them to do much with so if they don't sell them to you they'll be stuck with the stuff.
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