I've acquired a new laptop and have started processing and uploading photos. Here's a link to the dive light construction photos, though I have yet to take the pictures intended to go with the instructions posted earlier. Picasa Web Albums - thenaimis - UV Dive Light
DIY UV dive light
- Thread starter naimis
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Uploaded all the pictures from the trip. I didn't separate out all the UV/fluorescent ones, but they're easily identified as the "mostly purple" pictures.
Picasa Web Albums - thenaimis - 2009-11 Cozumel
Picasa Web Albums - thenaimis - 2009-11 Cozumel
Evidently I waited too long to add images to my post, as I can't edit the original. So, I'm reposting the text with the images added. Note that the pictures are often of the 1 1/2" PVC original, rather than the final 2" PVC unit, mainly because that's what I had enough spares of sitting around to use for picture taking. The pictures in the post are clickable thumbnails.
Use 2" PVC. I tried using 1 1/2" PVC, which was big enough for the three 18650 Li+ batteries, but once I had put shrink-wrap on them, they wouldn't fit. These instructions assume sch40.
Take a coupler fitting and using wet/dry sand paper that's been soaked in water, smooth out one edge of the fitting, starting at 180 grit and gradually moving up to 600 (I had 180, 220, 320, 400, 600).
Put a cap on one end of the PVC pipe, and the sanded coupler on the other, leaving the smooth end of the coupler facing away from the pipe.
When joining PVC, make sure to clean it first using PVC cleaner, and put cement on both surfaces, all the way around. Push the two pieces together while twisting, and hold them together for a few seconds (say, 20). If you don't hold them together, they'll tend to push away from each other.
To make the lid, I used a 2" PVC plug. This is like a cap, but instead of being a fitting that goes around the OD of the 2" PVC pipe, it's the same OD as the pipe, so it goes inside a fitting, specifically the above coupler. The most important feature of the PVC plugs is that they have flat ends for the cable gland to seal against (though not so flat that they can be used as-is without sanding).
I had a fair amount of trouble drilling a hole to tap for the cable gland, so you'll probably want to do this as early as possible. Use a drill press and hold the piece in place by drilling a hole in a scrap of wood big enough for the bit (I used a hole saw that cut a hole big enough for the original 1" PVC plug that I was using before I switched to 2"). Clamp that piece of wood down to the drill press table with the piece underneath so the scrap is pressing down on the piece. DO NOT CLAMP FROM THE SIDES. That will only result in a mess as seen in my earlier pictures. When drilling, use a slow bit speed and a slow feed rate. If you go too fast in either, you'll have a mess.
Once the hole is drilled for the tap, go ahead and smooth out the top for the O-ring seal on the gland, use the wet sanding method described above.
You'll need a ring on the plug for the o-ring seal to push against, so get a 2" PVC fitting (coupler is probably easiest) and cut off a piece long enough to provide a ring around the plug (I used a 20mm length). It's a good idea to cut this straight, so you can either use the method described elsewhere on this forum (paper wrap), or a miter box. I used a miter box. When holding the piece in a miter box, you'll want to be holding it both down and to the back of the box.
This cut ring will need to have a smooth edge for the o-ring, so sand it smooth as above. Glue it onto the plug, but only put PVC cleaner and cement on the top-most portion of the plug - you don't want any on the part of the plug that will be inserted, dry, into the coupler on the pipe.
At this point, where the ring is, you should have a ~8mm thick wall. Use a drill press to drill out holes to tap for your latch screws. I used the latches that Oxycheq sells and #6 screws. My recommendation is to drill a 6mm hole for a 1/4" screw. Do one hole, tap it out, screw the latch piece in (I put the hooks on top and the latches on the main body), then mark and do the next hole for that part. You may have better luck using the paper cuff method, here, as far as getting everything parallel to the edges. For the lid, I just used an ordinary drill press vise to hold it in place, with wood scrap to keep the metal from scratching up the smooth lid.
For the holes on the main body, I used a jig I made by doing v-cuts into scraps of wood, setting the pipe into the Vs and clamping it down in the middle. The picture shows C-clamps, but I found it easier to use quick-grips.
Depending on the latches you get, you may find that you have to cut off a short length of pipe to glue inside the bottom of the 2" PVC coupler that's on the main body to provide a thicker wall for the screws to bite into. Again, don't put glue anywhere you don't want it to be when you're all done
.
If you have questions, feel free to ask.
Use 2" PVC. I tried using 1 1/2" PVC, which was big enough for the three 18650 Li+ batteries, but once I had put shrink-wrap on them, they wouldn't fit. These instructions assume sch40.
Take a coupler fitting and using wet/dry sand paper that's been soaked in water, smooth out one edge of the fitting, starting at 180 grit and gradually moving up to 600 (I had 180, 220, 320, 400, 600).
Put a cap on one end of the PVC pipe, and the sanded coupler on the other, leaving the smooth end of the coupler facing away from the pipe.
When joining PVC, make sure to clean it first using PVC cleaner, and put cement on both surfaces, all the way around. Push the two pieces together while twisting, and hold them together for a few seconds (say, 20). If you don't hold them together, they'll tend to push away from each other.
To make the lid, I used a 2" PVC plug. This is like a cap, but instead of being a fitting that goes around the OD of the 2" PVC pipe, it's the same OD as the pipe, so it goes inside a fitting, specifically the above coupler. The most important feature of the PVC plugs is that they have flat ends for the cable gland to seal against (though not so flat that they can be used as-is without sanding).
I had a fair amount of trouble drilling a hole to tap for the cable gland, so you'll probably want to do this as early as possible. Use a drill press and hold the piece in place by drilling a hole in a scrap of wood big enough for the bit (I used a hole saw that cut a hole big enough for the original 1" PVC plug that I was using before I switched to 2"). Clamp that piece of wood down to the drill press table with the piece underneath so the scrap is pressing down on the piece. DO NOT CLAMP FROM THE SIDES. That will only result in a mess as seen in my earlier pictures. When drilling, use a slow bit speed and a slow feed rate. If you go too fast in either, you'll have a mess.
Once the hole is drilled for the tap, go ahead and smooth out the top for the O-ring seal on the gland, use the wet sanding method described above.
You'll need a ring on the plug for the o-ring seal to push against, so get a 2" PVC fitting (coupler is probably easiest) and cut off a piece long enough to provide a ring around the plug (I used a 20mm length). It's a good idea to cut this straight, so you can either use the method described elsewhere on this forum (paper wrap), or a miter box. I used a miter box. When holding the piece in a miter box, you'll want to be holding it both down and to the back of the box.
This cut ring will need to have a smooth edge for the o-ring, so sand it smooth as above. Glue it onto the plug, but only put PVC cleaner and cement on the top-most portion of the plug - you don't want any on the part of the plug that will be inserted, dry, into the coupler on the pipe.
At this point, where the ring is, you should have a ~8mm thick wall. Use a drill press to drill out holes to tap for your latch screws. I used the latches that Oxycheq sells and #6 screws. My recommendation is to drill a 6mm hole for a 1/4" screw. Do one hole, tap it out, screw the latch piece in (I put the hooks on top and the latches on the main body), then mark and do the next hole for that part. You may have better luck using the paper cuff method, here, as far as getting everything parallel to the edges. For the lid, I just used an ordinary drill press vise to hold it in place, with wood scrap to keep the metal from scratching up the smooth lid.
For the holes on the main body, I used a jig I made by doing v-cuts into scraps of wood, setting the pipe into the Vs and clamping it down in the middle. The picture shows C-clamps, but I found it easier to use quick-grips.
Depending on the latches you get, you may find that you have to cut off a short length of pipe to glue inside the bottom of the 2" PVC coupler that's on the main body to provide a thicker wall for the screws to bite into. Again, don't put glue anywhere you don't want it to be when you're all done
.If you have questions, feel free to ask.
Just an update, I took the light with me to Grand Cayman, along with a new housing (Ikelite rather than Canon), to which I'd attached a Cokin 001 (yellow) filter. The filter did a pretty good job of blocking the blue light.
I'm putting all the pictures I've taken in this web album here:
Picasa Web Albums - thenaimis - Biofluorescence
I'm putting all the pictures I've taken in this web album here:
Picasa Web Albums - thenaimis - Biofluorescence
Blazinator
Contributor
Hi John (Naimis) - I saw your pics uploed to picasa, and I recognized one very similar coral head, as well as all the fluorescing anemones.
Did you do the night dive with Ocean Frontiers at "sunset reef" the small reef close to OF?
Here is my biofluorescent video fromt that reef with my UV filter on my HID:
Nice pics you shot - great with the yellow camera filter too. I've actually white balanced to the UV source with cool results.
Did you set a high ISO to get the stills from the low light?
Did you do the night dive with Ocean Frontiers at "sunset reef" the small reef close to OF?
Here is my biofluorescent video fromt that reef with my UV filter on my HID:
Nice pics you shot - great with the yellow camera filter too. I've actually white balanced to the UV source with cool results.
Did you set a high ISO to get the stills from the low light?
Yeah, that sounds right - Ocean Frontiers. Sunset Reef is probably also correct, but I can't recall. It was pretty shallow and there wasn't as much there as I'd have liked. There was, however, a grouper-sized parrot fish hiding in one of the coral heads, though.
Unfortunately, I can't view your video. Flash crashes or hangs firefox every time I use it, so I uninstalled it. I used a higher ISO setting on my G9 than I would have otherwise used, necessary due to the low-light conditions plus the yellow filter. Not a lot of light there to start with. Can't get the aperture open enough for the lower ISO settings. The G9's sensor is kind of noisy, though (relative to a digital SLR anyway), so it's not ideal.
I'm real curious about the white balance trick you describe. I'll have to try that next time I'm using the UV light.
AleG
Contributor
I guess I'm not so crazy after all..
I modified a cheap underwater torch to use a mix of white and UV 5mm LEDs (about 60 or so I think). I took it with me in my last dive trip to Koh Tao and it works fantastic, the colours pop out beautifully. I had two torches with me, the normal one had a depressing, slimy looking light compared with the custom torch. My buddy loved it too, he said he could tell at any moment where I was since the light was so distinct.
I modified a cheap underwater torch to use a mix of white and UV 5mm LEDs (about 60 or so I think). I took it with me in my last dive trip to Koh Tao and it works fantastic, the colours pop out beautifully. I had two torches with me, the normal one had a depressing, slimy looking light compared with the custom torch. My buddy loved it too, he said he could tell at any moment where I was since the light was so distinct.
AleG
Contributor
Not entirely crazy, perhaps, but 60 LEDs sounds like an awful lot of soldering... unless you have a wave solder tool or some such
heh... yes, a lot of hand soldering, but after the first twenty or so I get into the soldering Zen zone and I don't mind the chore.
Anyway, one of the reasons I used LEDs like that is that I can drive them directly with three NiMh AA batteries, so there's no need for a drive circuit. It's not optimal but it works well enough.
LarsB
Contributor
Actually, this does not seem to be tricky at all, I've done it with a Underwater Kinetics UK Sunlight C4 eLED dive torch, see my report (with pictures and videos) here: Steffen Beyer - Fluo-Diving
But indeed you need to unsolder the LEDs, scrap them off their heat sink, and glue and solder the new LEDs into place.
Fortunately in my case, I did not need to change anything else, not even the jumpers on the LED driver PCB.
Unless the C8 is significantly different from the C4, that is, of course.
But AFAIK, they only differ in the number of batteries and a different jumper setting on the LED driver PCB to adjust for the different battery pack voltage (12V instead of 6V).
Good luck!
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