Attaching Digital Lens Dock to Ikelite Housing?

[gbundersea]

Matt,

Your interpretation of my "compression clamp" idea is exactly right. I don't think the amount of pressure exerted on the arm would pose a problem for it.

However, after viewing your setup, I don't believe the arm is the best place to mount the DLD. It would be pretty far from the housing, and having a lens there might interfere with strobe placement, etc.

Take a look at this simple bracket:

Other views of this are shown on our Mounting Examples page. It was easily and inexpensively made by a fellow who also has an Ikelite housing and arm. With your machine tools and skill, it should be a simple task for you, and I think one that offfers many advantages over the alternative.

 

[segal3]

Looks to be a 12" section (including bend of ~1/2") of ~3/16" stock...I would assume it would be made out of stainless steel (to avoid rusting), but almost appears to be aluminum...?

The only problem in my situation is that the housing is not held to the tray in the same manner that his is. Note mine is bolted through the holes in the side versus his bolted through the middle...

Mine:

His:

I guess I'll have to ask Ike about loosening the bolts holding the tray to the housing such that I can slide it off and run the support bolts for the metal stock through...hmm...

Any way of getting in contact with this "Dustin Dorton" ?

~Matt Segal

 

[gbundersea]

Matt,

Dustin used aluminum stock from Home Depot. Not as good as 316SS, but readily available and cheap. You can probably find everything you need, and more, at McMaster-Carr ([COLOR=Red]www.mcmaster.com[/COLOR].) They have a huge selection.

The one problem I see (and can't tell from your pics) is if there'd be enough clearance between housing and tray for a bolt head to fit in the other place. Looks like you'd need washers too.
Since you'd have to remove the bolts holding housing to tray anyway, you might consider just replacing them with ones long enough to accommodate the thickness of the flat bar, and mount it using them.

Using bolts in the existing holes would be simpler and more elegant. You'd just have to make sure they're the right length, or cut them, since if they were too long they might bottom out against the housing and put stress there. Also, be sure to use only 316 stainless, as it's pretty much corrosion-proof, and not overly expensive. That's what we use for our MXTENDER fittings.

I'll pass along your email address to Dustin.

Keep us posted!

 

[segal3]

Searching through my toolbox, I found a bolt head that fit the 6mm (1/4") bolt that secured the tray to the housing. Note that this is a rather custom clamp arrangement, so not likely to replace this part any time soon.

Loosened it, took off the tray from the housing, and found that in the area of the two holes previously seen is a recesed area that a bolt can reside in (see following pictures).

There have been a few suggestions to possibly switch the single handle tray out to a dual handle tray, but problems are as follows - I've used the single handle tray in the water already, I'm not looking to spend too much more money (I am a struggling high school/soon-to-be-college student ), and I'm still trying to innovate here. *Edit* - I do believe that eventually I will upgrade to the dual handle tray (2nd strobe, etc), but even then I can utilize this assembly. Thanks for the ideas though.

I should be able to mark the (hopefully) stainless steel stock (I know of McMaster, but I believe Do-It-Center may have some that even if I do have to cut, I can round off the edges with an bench grinder) simply by lining it up under the tray, then drill, etc. I have reservations about using aluminum simply because of the fact that it will corrode. Not sure whether I'd want to use the spin-on nuts just regular ones...I guess it depends on how often I would be attaching/detaching the assembly...

I guess I'll keep everyone informed. Let me know about the email though.

*Edit #2* - While reading an email from Dustin, thought about something like this...:

An interesting variation on your design that I just thought of would be as follows (somewhat to scale):

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]iiiiiii____
[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii|
[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]iiiiiii[]iiiiii|
[xxxhousing_xxx]__( )__| <---bent stainless steel section
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^---lens dock

(treat "x" and "i" as spaces, used as placeholders)
In this way, one has effectively created another handle by which to hold the housing if need be...while keeping the lens close in and protected from practically anything...any comments?

~Matt Segal

 

[segal3]

The plan so far...

Basically mirroring Dustin's design. I'll see if I run into any problems this weekend...

~Matt Segal

 

[Dee]

The only problem I can see is the width of the whole thing. The lens is sitting out there at the end, to be bumped or whatever. But that's just me. I keep the base of my rig small for getting close to the bottom and/or getting into tight spots. I can think of several places where the lens in that position would prevent me from getting there.

Let's us know how it works for you.

 

[segal3]

I can think of several places where the lens in that position would prevent me from getting there.

But can you think of any other position that would be feasible to put the lens dock?

~Matt Segal

 

[Dee]

I still think it would be stable on your arm with tight tie wraps. Have you tried that? Mine ios very stable in the loc-line arms. I'm not familiar with the size Ike's arms but maybe there's a way you can drill a small hole to run the tie wraps through it. I'm just concerned that with the lens sticking out to the side like that it'll get damaged, if not during the dives then in handling it topside.

 

[segal3]

No way to drill a hole through the arms...anything of significant size (to fit the tie through) will weaken the arm's integrity, as well as void the warrant.

Additionally, the other issue I see with having it on the arm is the distance the securing wire reaches. I fear that there may be a situation in which the 9" distance is a limiting factor for strobe placement.

Dustin Dorton, the guy who built the design I'm following, mentioned:

I would use the aluminum bar, its easy to work with and bend. If it sticks out too far while you are taking a close up shot, you can just bend it up and out of the way. The aluminum will hold up for a long time especially if you rinse it off after you dive.

This should help to alleviate some of the problems you mentioned?

~Matt Segal

 

[Dee]

I was afraid of that. What will repeated bending do to that bar? I guess he thinks it will be OK.