I do envy you!
Mike D
Mike D
DIY Canister Light and Lighthead
- Thread starter jtsmith
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Life is good. We did the wreck of the Captian Dan today. It's a 175 foot USCG buoy tender that sits in about 111' of water. The seas were nearly flat, there was no current, the vis was about 60', air temp 85 and water temp 77. Fantastic dive.
Come on down and I'll show you around.
Come on down and I'll show you around.
Tommygun53
Registered
Padipro:
Well I just finished painting my canister so I figured I would shoot a couple of pics for you guys.My light did leak (and the bulb was cracked)on its last-er I mean previous dive though and I will be changing over to the 2"-133 o-ring and possibly deepening the groove if need be.No leaks in the canister though.I just cant wait to finish up the goodman handle now as I will be taking Cavern and Intro to Cave in October in Florida...WooHoo!!!
Once again I would like to thank everyone for thier help and valuable info as I wouldnt have been able to do this project without it!
-Tom
Tom,
What did you use for the switch gaurd? I see it has what looks like screw holes on the top? I just glued a piece of small PVC pipe on top for my gaurd but I like your idea better.
What did you use for the switch gaurd? I see it has what looks like screw holes on the top? I just glued a piece of small PVC pipe on top for my gaurd but I like your idea better.
Tommygun53
Registered
Padipro:
Actually I purchased the switch,switch boot, and protector from www.dpvrepair.com but you could make the protector from delrin or pvc if you have access to a lathe.It is about 1.5" O.D. with an I.D. of the size of the boot. I just figured for how much this part cost it would be easier to buy it...
Tommygun53:
That's a great site. I'm going to put a link to it on the MSN site and refer others to it for parts.
Thanks
unfix8r
Registered
It's gratifying to know that my light wasn't the only one that leaked a little, although I'm not glad to hear about others' misfortunes.
I realized that the canister light I made was definitely second rate.... I used an acrylic tube for the canister. It held up fine under water, but when I got home I dropped a screwdriver on it and CRACK!! a big ole chunk came off. I'd definitely recommend using polycarbonate or what I am planning on using, Ultra High Density Plastic. It absorbs shock, resists pressure, and is really hard to stain. Paint, then, would be as silly as painting a teflon pan.
My last light leaked into the lighthead, as I imagine most lightheads initially do. It worked fine on the dive, but obviously was toast afterwards. My briany idea of using a low voltage wire housed in watermaker hosing was good in thoery, but seeing the retractable cords I've seen on this board tells me that's the way to go next time.
As it is, the light survived to 65' easily, and knowing that the lightead will still funtion flooded was very calming for me. I wouldn't recommend filling the lighthead with oil, either. The bulbs aren't designed to be sealed from behing where the pins come out.. I guess if you want an oily light you can do that.
As for placing the switich, which I feel is the second weakest point on the light, I would like to see a switch that doesn't have a longitudinal groove carved in the threading. Granted I only looked in two or three locations, but I wish there was a switich with longer, "uninterrupted" threads. My switch didn't leak, but that may be due to the three gallons of RTV sealant I used to seal it up. I woul also drill the switch hole out from the TOP, not the BOTTOM, as I did. This leaves the switch in a depression, creating its own switch cover, in essence.
Remember, I used UHDP plastic. Nothing glues to it, unlike PVC. Therefore my solutions are mechanical, instead of "gluing another piece on". Nonetheless, the idea works oor all the ther canister tops I've seen.
I realized that the canister light I made was definitely second rate.... I used an acrylic tube for the canister. It held up fine under water, but when I got home I dropped a screwdriver on it and CRACK!! a big ole chunk came off. I'd definitely recommend using polycarbonate or what I am planning on using, Ultra High Density Plastic. It absorbs shock, resists pressure, and is really hard to stain. Paint, then, would be as silly as painting a teflon pan.
My last light leaked into the lighthead, as I imagine most lightheads initially do. It worked fine on the dive, but obviously was toast afterwards. My briany idea of using a low voltage wire housed in watermaker hosing was good in thoery, but seeing the retractable cords I've seen on this board tells me that's the way to go next time.
As it is, the light survived to 65' easily, and knowing that the lightead will still funtion flooded was very calming for me. I wouldn't recommend filling the lighthead with oil, either. The bulbs aren't designed to be sealed from behing where the pins come out.. I guess if you want an oily light you can do that.
As for placing the switich, which I feel is the second weakest point on the light, I would like to see a switch that doesn't have a longitudinal groove carved in the threading. Granted I only looked in two or three locations, but I wish there was a switich with longer, "uninterrupted" threads. My switch didn't leak, but that may be due to the three gallons of RTV sealant I used to seal it up. I woul also drill the switch hole out from the TOP, not the BOTTOM, as I did. This leaves the switch in a depression, creating its own switch cover, in essence.
Remember, I used UHDP plastic. Nothing glues to it, unlike PVC. Therefore my solutions are mechanical, instead of "gluing another piece on". Nonetheless, the idea works oor all the ther canister tops I've seen.
Have you determined what caused the light head to leak yet?
Sorry to hear about the missing chunk from the canister. My remake was the lid for the first canister I made. When I tapped the hole for the feed through I ran the tap all the way through the lid without checking the fit of the feed through base. The base has pipe threads and after running the tap all the way through the hole was to big for the base to tighten, it just kept spinning. That was a big pain but as they say live and learn.
Sounds like you're on the right track though. Good luck with the fixes and let us know how everything turns out.
Sorry to hear about the missing chunk from the canister. My remake was the lid for the first canister I made. When I tapped the hole for the feed through I ran the tap all the way through the lid without checking the fit of the feed through base. The base has pipe threads and after running the tap all the way through the hole was to big for the base to tighten, it just kept spinning. That was a big pain but as they say live and learn.
Sounds like you're on the right track though. Good luck with the fixes and let us know how everything turns out.
Hopefully I'll take you up on that someday Scott.Padipro:
I've got a daughter getting married July 31 this summer so we're kind of busy for a while.
best regards
Mike D
miketsp
Contributor
I just came across this thread and skimmed quickly through it. I didn't see anybody making use of Dry reed switches for lamp control.
If you don't know what they look like see some examples on
http://www.globalspec.com/FeaturedProducts/Detail?ExhibitID=8769
The big advantage is no leaks. The reed is glued against the inside of the tube and is operated by a sliding or rotating magnet on the outside of the tube.
The reed cannot handle the lamp current, only about 20mA, so it is used to control a MOSFET switch which with the addition of just a few more components can have softstart capability, ie ramp up the current over about 1 second. Your halogen lamp will last right up to its theoretical life - say 2000hours!
I also saw a couple of people with electrolysis problems at the charging terminals when they are exposed to seawater. What I do is put a diode (20A/100V) in series with one of the terminals. This lets charging current in but does not let any current back out. Another dry reed switch controls a small relay which may be used to short out the diode in charging mode. This allows the full battery voltage to appear at the external terminals. Even if the battery has been deep discharged and cannot operate the relay, the diode will allow injection of charging current to bring the battery up to near its operating voltage.
You can see one of my lights at
http://wave.prohosting.com/miketsp/angra/medres_Dsc02751_lanterna2.htm
This has a 12V / 9AH sealed battery and a 20W 38degree and 50W 8degree halogen lamps.
The magnet slides on the outside of the PVC waste pipe tube.
The unit is permanently sealed (so never leaks) except for 2 small Hydrogen pressure relief screws in the back plate - there for safety reasons to allow ventilation of long term accumulated gas.
If ever I need to do anything I just cut away the silicone sealing.
I found that the 50W lamp had to be 8degrees beam otherwise I could never attract anybodies attention - it's like daylight diving.
If you don't know what they look like see some examples on
http://www.globalspec.com/FeaturedProducts/Detail?ExhibitID=8769
The big advantage is no leaks. The reed is glued against the inside of the tube and is operated by a sliding or rotating magnet on the outside of the tube.
The reed cannot handle the lamp current, only about 20mA, so it is used to control a MOSFET switch which with the addition of just a few more components can have softstart capability, ie ramp up the current over about 1 second. Your halogen lamp will last right up to its theoretical life - say 2000hours!
I also saw a couple of people with electrolysis problems at the charging terminals when they are exposed to seawater. What I do is put a diode (20A/100V) in series with one of the terminals. This lets charging current in but does not let any current back out. Another dry reed switch controls a small relay which may be used to short out the diode in charging mode. This allows the full battery voltage to appear at the external terminals. Even if the battery has been deep discharged and cannot operate the relay, the diode will allow injection of charging current to bring the battery up to near its operating voltage.
You can see one of my lights at
http://wave.prohosting.com/miketsp/angra/medres_Dsc02751_lanterna2.htm
This has a 12V / 9AH sealed battery and a 20W 38degree and 50W 8degree halogen lamps.
The magnet slides on the outside of the PVC waste pipe tube.
The unit is permanently sealed (so never leaks) except for 2 small Hydrogen pressure relief screws in the back plate - there for safety reasons to allow ventilation of long term accumulated gas.
If ever I need to do anything I just cut away the silicone sealing.
I found that the 50W lamp had to be 8degrees beam otherwise I could never attract anybodies attention - it's like daylight diving.
Similar threads
