DIY Canister Light and Lighthead

[Padipro]

JTSmith,

How much did this project cost you?

R..

I know this question wasn't directed at me but I built my light for about $150. I used all top of the line materials and only the best name brand parts from dealers like Dive Rite, Sealcon, Ikelite, and Nielsen/Sessions.

DIY Light

 

[Diver0001]

I know this question wasn't directed at me but I built my light for about $150. I used all top of the line materials and only the best name brand parts from dealers like Dive Rite, Sealcon, Ikelite, and Nielsen/Sessions.

DIY Light

OOOHHHHH!!!! You have earned a new fan! I'm printing your article as I type this. Why Halogen and not LED?

R..

 

[jtsmith]

Padipro-> Please read closer before you flame, I never used or claimed to use a 50 watt bulb. There is no way you can use a 75 watt bulb in plain air with rubber wires...forget it. Secondly, the battery compartment is completely filled with oil in my lite too so the second comment is irrelevent.

The factory O ring at the lense will work fine if you use the double plastic lense like I suggest.

My project is a cheap, no frills high power light. I don't have the money to spend on all of the top of the line parts and so far I have not found them to be neccessary. Because everything is oil immersed you could literaly have a big hole in the light or canister and you should make it through the dive with no problems. Cost was a little over $60 bucks (considering I had the mag lite and a few other parts) and I have been using it 30 or more times a year with no problems.

 

[Padipro]

Padipro-> Please read closer before you flame, I never used or claimed to use a 50 watt bulb. There is no way you can use a 75 watt bulb in plain air with rubber wires...forget it. Secondly, the battery compartment is completely filled with oil in my lite too so the second comment is irrelevent.

The factory O ring at the lense will work fine if you use the double plastic lense like I suggest.

My project is a cheap, no frills high power light. I don't have the money to spend on all of the top of the line parts and so far I have not found them to be neccessary. Because everything is oil immersed you could literaly have a big hole in the light or canister and you should make it through the dive with no problems. Cost was a little over $60 bucks (considering I had the mag lite and a few other parts) and I have been using it 30 or more times a year with no problems.

JT

I wasn't trying to flame you. Please forgive me if it sounded as though I was. My intent was to inform others that the oil is not necessary and will most likely result in a big mess for no reason. All that is required to be added to the original Mag-Lite is an additional O-ring to seal the MR-16 bulb and a rechargable Mag-Lite glass lens. If you are using the original plastic lens, that came with the Mag-Lite, then yes I agree you will have problems with the heat. My original designs for a light head, made from plastic and PVC, had troubles with the heat melting the lens but I have never had any trouble with the light head sinse making it from the alimunum Mag-Light and the glass lens from a rechargable Mag-Lite.

My original desire was to make an afforadible canister light because I didn't have the money to buy a name brand light at somewhere around $400 either. But I did buy parts that were of good quality and would work for the intended purpose. I wasn't about to have cheap parts fail during a wreck penetration.

I'm not sure if you mean that you are using your light out of the water when you say "in plane air" or if you mean that the inside of the light head contains plane air but, 1. you should never use a diving light out of the water. They are not designed, nor intended, to be use that way. 2. If you get a socket that is rated for a 75 watt bulb and only use the light in the water then, again, there will be no problems with the heat of the buld. The socket is rated for that wattage, and heat range, bulb "in plane air" so with the surrounding water in contact with the aluminum light head it will be more then enough to dissipate the heat generated by the bulb and keep everything from melting down into a molten blob. The socket is designed for that heat so it WILL take the heat.

As far as adding much in the way of cost to the entire project you should look at the cost of the glass Mag-lite lens, it adds a wapping $2.10 to the total cost and saves you from the hassle of having to add mineral oil to the entire light. Check out the web site, Mag-lite Glass Lens, and see for your self.

I'm not trying to say that my design for the home built canister light is the one and only way of doing it, checkout my MSN site and you'll see that others have posted pictures and messages of their designs that work just fine, but some things are just not necessary and will cause more trouble then they are worth. There are easier ways of doing certian things, and believe me, I will be the first to admitt that when someone brings it to my attention, but adding mineral oil to the entire light assembly is not one of them. I've tried it and it's much easire to do without the oil. If the light is built correctly, with the proper parts, it's not necessary.

If you have pictures of your light please post some of them on my MSN site for others to see. I'm always interested in the ideas that others have come up with.


Diver0001

No reason, just halogen lights were available at the local Home Depot where LED lights wern't, and the MR-16 bulb fit's in the Mag-Lite like it was made for it. LED lights wern't available and you'd have to make a reflector for the light array. If you figure out a way of doing that please let me know.

 

[jtsmith]

JT

I wasn't trying to flame you. Please forgive me if it sounded as though I was. My intent was to inform others that the oil is not necessary and will most likely result in a big mess for no reason. All that is required to be added to the original Mag-Lite is an additional O-ring to seal the MR-16 bulb and a rechargable Mag-Lite glass lens. If you are using the original plastic lens, that came with the Mag-Lite, then yes I agree you will have problems with the heat. My original designs for a light head, made from plastic and PVC, had troubles with the heat melting the lens but I have never had any trouble with the light head sinse making it from the alimunum Mag-Light and the glass lens from a rechargable Mag-Lite.

My original desire was to make an afforadible canister light because I didn't have the money to buy a name brand light at somewhere around $400 either. But I did buy parts that were of good quality and would work for the intended purpose. I wasn't about to have cheap parts fail during a wreck penetration.

I'm not sure if you mean that you are using your light out of the water when you say "in plane air" or if you mean that the inside of the light head contains plane air but, 1. you should never use a diving light out of the water. They are not designed, nor intended, to be use that way. 2. If you get a socket that is rated for a 75 watt bulb and only use the light in the water then, again, there will be no problems with the heat of the buld. The socket is rated for that wattage, and heat range, bulb "in plane air" so with the surrounding water in contact with the aluminum light head it will be more then enough to dissipate the heat generated by the bulb and keep everything from melting down into a molten blob. The socket is designed for that heat so it WILL take the heat.

As far as adding much in the way of cost to the entire project you should look at the cost of the glass Mag-lite lens, it adds a wapping $2.10 to the total cost and saves you from the hassle of having to add mineral oil to the entire light. Check out the web site, Mag-lite Glass Lens, and see for your self.

I'm not trying to say that my design for the home built canister light is the one and only way of doing it, checkout my MSN site and you'll see that others have posted pictures and messages of their designs that work just fine, but some things are just not necessary and will cause more trouble then they are worth. There are easier ways of doing certian things, and believe me, I will be the first to admitt that when someone brings it to my attention, but adding mineral oil to the entire light assembly is not one of them. I've tried it and it's much easire to do without the oil. If the light is built correctly, with the proper parts, it's not necessary.

If you have pictures of your light please post some of them on my MSN site for others to see. I'm always interested in the ideas that others have come up with.


Diver0001

No reason, just halogen lights were available at the local Home Depot where LED lights wern't, and the MR-16 bulb fit's in the Mag-Lite like it was made for it. LED lights wern't available and you'd have to make a reflector for the light array. If you figure out a way of doing that please let me know.

A 75 watt or larger MR 16 bulb will get the air inside a mag light so hot that it melts the insulation on the wires that you route in there to connect to the socket. I used the ceramic socket that came with the bulb. The only other alternative was to use some type of really high temperature wire (like asbestos coated) which I couldn't find cheap. So oil became a neccessary evil for me. I also found that my light would have pinhole leaks every now and then and that would corrode the hell out of everything. I started using oil and it made my light leak proof and keeps the lighthead cool. I can also use it out of the water with no problems either. The lighthead will get pretty warm after 45 minutes or so, but no other problems than that.

Great link on the glass lenses! I wish I had found that a few years ago!

I'll post pics later today.

 

[Diver0001]

Question on the maglite head.

Actually 2 questions:

1 - Why a maglite? Why not just make something out of a bit of PVC to hold the light?

2 - After re-machining it can you still focus the beam? Actually this the only part of Scott's article that makes me frown. I don't have a drill press and I'm not confident about being accurate enough by hand.

.... ok 3 questions then ....

3 - if you can fill it with oil, why not just coat the potentially sensitive bits (I guess that's just the connections) with, for lack of a better term, a big glob of hot glue or wetsuit cement or something to seal it. That way you don't have to remachine anything, you can considerably cut down the amount of work in making the light because you could use the maglite head unmodified and you'd be done with a lot of potential headaches like heat problems and oil spills.... or am I missing something obvious here.

.... Ok, one last question then ....

4 - What kinds of burn times are you getting? In my case I often make 2 dives of 60-90 min in a day. Should I resign myself to building 2 sets of battery packs or just cut the end off an AL80 to use as a canister.... LOL

R..

 

[jtsmith]

Question on the maglite head.

Actually 2 questions:

1 - Why a maglite? Why not just make something out of a bit of PVC to hold the light?

2 - After re-machining it can you still focus the beam? Actually this the only part of Scott's article that makes me frown. I don't have a drill press and I'm not confident about being accurate enough by hand.

.... ok 3 questions then ....

3 - if you can fill it with oil, why not just coat the potentially sensitive bits (I guess that's just the connections) with, for lack of a better term, a big glob of hot glue or wetsuit cement or something to seal it. That way you don't have to remachine anything, you can considerably cut down the amount of work in making the light because you could use the maglite head unmodified and you'd be done with a lot of potential headaches like heat problems and oil spills.... or am I missing something obvious here.

.... Ok, one last question then ....

4 - What kinds of burn times are you getting? In my case I often make 2 dives of 60-90 min in a day. Should I resign myself to building 2 sets of battery packs or just cut the end off an AL80 to use as a canister.... LOL

R..

You could use PVC just fine as long as you use oil. Otherwise it will get too hot and melt the PVC.

You can't focus the beam in the maglite...and I didn't have to machine mine at all. I just use everything stock (except the button and wire). I get about 45 minutes at 75 watts. I can get a good chunk more with 50 watts.


Okay...on the oil thing...I don't see what all of the fuss is about? Once you fill everything up with oil there is no mess. I empty mine out at the end of the dive year to change the bulb and inspect...that's really no trouble at all. Opening the end to charge is the only time the oil is exposed. To charge I just put mine in a vice upside down, take off the end cap, and pull out the charge wires. If it has leaked any I'll usually use a syringe and suck out the water droplets. I usually top it off and then reseal. No muss, no fuss.

Jason

 

[jtsmith]

Pictures:

Keep in mind that is an old picture of the battery pack. DO NOT use electricalt tape. The pack now uses zip ties to hold the batteries in place.

Also, the tube is 3" PVC so this pack is relatively small compared to most.

 

[Diver0001]

Pictures:

Keep in mind that is an old picture of the battery pack. DO NOT use electricalt tape. The pack now uses zip ties to hold the batteries in place.

Also, the tube is 3" PVC so this pack is relatively small compared to most.

Jason,

How is the lid held on?

Also, can you take a picture of you holding it so I can get a better idea of the overall size.

Thanks,
R..

 

[jtsmith]

Jason,

How is the lid held on?

Also, can you take a picture of you holding it so I can get a better idea of the overall size.

Thanks,
R..

The end cap is held on with a single clamp. This makes it a piece of cake to open and service. I did make a plastic disc that goes in it to spread out the weight of the wooden dowel on the rubber end cap.

Jason