DIY 35W Canister Light

[Pathfinder]

Woohoo! It worked.
Pic 3: closeup of the lid and switch. I still have to make a switch guard out of 1/8" pvc stock.

When the canister is completed it will be painted black. I think I'll keep the lid grey. sorta like the Diverite canisters. The canister is currently 9.5" long to give me some room for error. When I build the battery pack it will be shortened to fit. The battery pack will be made up of 12 x 1.2 volts NiMh cells with 5000 mah.

The mag lite.

Pic 1: The cut down mag lights and pieces.

Pc 2: The head of the mag lite showing the recess lathed in for the bulb. I also took a bit off to improve the O ring seating area.

pic 3: The back of the light head. The threads have been lathed off.

And finaly, the assembled mag lite

There's still work to do of course but I'm having fun

Thanks to PadiPro as well...great site with plenty of ideas.

Dave

 

[Tienuts]

These look great guys. I am curious, has anyone who made one dove with it yet? I am interested to see how the mag lite housing will hold up to the water pressure, specificaly the lense, and the threaded fittings.

 

[Padipro]

These look great guys. I am curious, has anyone who made one dove with it yet? I am interested to see how the mag lite housing will hold up to the water pressure, specificaly the lense, and the threaded fittings.

I've been diving mine for about 3 years in various stages of upgrade and it will take the pressure. I've had both my DIY canister light and my latest DIY camera housing to 165 FSW and both held up just fine with no water leaks. The original glass lens on my light did imploded once at about 145 FSW but after replacing it with a polycarbinate lens I haven't had a problem. You'll see it on the dive Sunday, my girlfriend now carries it.

Check out my DIY site for pictures. DIY Dive light

 

[Pathfinder]

Did more work
Here's a pic of the wire running into the rear of the light head.

More to come as I go along.

Dave

 

[dsater]

Looks good Pathfinder! I like your canister... what did you use to make yours?

 

[dsater]

These look great guys. I am curious, has anyone who made one dove with it yet? I am interested to see how the mag lite housing will hold up to the water pressure, specificaly the lense, and the threaded fittings.

I haven't used mine yet, I'm still waiting for my battery/charge. Should be here on the 25th. I am also curious to see if my light head goes past the bucket test. I bought a Solux MR16 Bulb to avoid putting the light head on the lathe. Seals up nice and tight with the added o ring and glass lens but we'll see.

 

[dsater]

I've been diving mine for about 3 years in various stages of upgrade and it will take the pressure. I've had both my DIY canister light and my latest DIY camera housing to 165 FSW and both held up just fine with no water leaks. The original glass lens on my light did imploded once at about 145 FSW but after replacing it with a polycarbinate lens I haven't had a problem. You'll see it on the dive Sunday, my girlfriend now carries it.

Check out my DIY site for pictures. DIY Dive light

Did you get your stress relievers from McMaster? I was looking for those and couldn't find a place on line that actually "sold" them and I couldn't find them on McMaster.

 

[Pathfinder]

Looks good Pathfinder! I like your canister... what did you use to make yours?

The tube is 2 1/2" id, pvc pipe. The lid is solid 1" pvc and the base is 1/2" solid pvc. I got my stuff from a plastic specialty shop. I asked about "delron" because it seems some of the high-end light canisters are made from it, and they said they had it in stock but they thought I would be spending money for no reason. They advised that I stick with the pvc and save my money. Total cost for the pvc parts, $6.00

I will have the canister and light built for about $25.00. I did have an old mag lite so I saved a few bucks there as well. I should have this up and running with batteries for about $125.00 (cdn). For that money it will be a 14.4 volt, 5000 mah set-up. If I wanted 7000 or 9000 mah the price would be about another $100.00. Quite a bit less expensive than the professional canisters out there and it should be just as well made. The weak link I see in this set-up is the mag lite. I am still considering making a light out of a chunk of aluminum. It would be nice to see a drawing of one of the "professional" light heads to pattern a design on.
Any idea how long that battery pack will give me for 20 watt, 35 watt and 50 watt bulbs? From what I can gather a 50 watt buld will run as high as 4000 mah.

Dave

 

[jpsexton]

I bought a Solux MR16 Bulb to avoid putting the light head on the lathe. Seals up nice and tight with the added o ring and glass lens but we'll see.

I'm in the planning stages of a canister light and I was set on the Solux bulb because of the color ratings. Are you saying though that the diameter is a little smaller on this bulb?

 

[dsater]

I'm in the planning stages of a canister light and I was set on the Solux bulb because of the color ratings. Are you saying though that the diameter is a little smaller on this bulb?

I too picked it because of the color rating but also for the smaller diameter. I have tried a few bulbs and they all seemed to teeter back and forth with out sitting "in" the housing. I wanted to avoid machining the head. The solux sits nice in the existing notch and with cap and extra o-ring, seals nicely. Keep in mind I have not made my test run yet so I'll let you know if it floods or not.