DIY Canister Light.

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Hey Scott,

Thanks for all of your expertise and instructions on the "Maglight" portion. I've used that document of yours to make mine.

Now, I just have to find the watertight feedthroughs.


Thanks again.
 
I have my lense stepped.. but I didn't glue the two lenses together.. I did flood my light head on last time.. just a teaspoon in it, but it was just enough to short it.. Saw a bright flash.. when I got out of the water, I could smell something.. I opened the battery case<an otter box> and the wires and battery pack were FRIED!! :P .. you might want to solder in a fuse somewhere :P.... I have since made another 50w light using two lengths of 1 1/4"ABS pipe with four test caps to seal the ends. IN two of the ends I put in the switch on one side and the cable gland and wire to the lighthead in the other. I am using 10 D cell NIMH Batteris 10000milli-amp. They are sealed in the two pipes, and I charge them through the lighthead<which was a maglight>.. I haven't tested it yet, but my buddy has the same set up and has had zero leaks up to 110'. Currently I use a spare weightbelt to hook it to the side of my tank. Like I mentioned earlier, I will post pictures when I get a chance...Cheers.. Nice Light btw :)
 
Here are the pics of my canister light.. Feel Free to ask any questions. I have put some explainations on the pics themselves.

Cheers

Firediver

PS. this design was my dive buddies Idea.. my first was using an otter box......I have pictures of that as well if you want me to post them.
 
I used 5 min epoxy, Locktight water proof glue, and the ABS cement on this project. Also you will notice the wires are quite long in the lighthead, I am planning to add a fuse in there somewhere to prevent a short like in my first one.....
 
Looks like a good job, Firediver. Did you just use "regular" D-size batteries? How do you have them wired, (parallel, series, 5X2)?

What are test caps?
 
I used 1 1/4" ABS pipe you can use 1 1/2" PVC. The bulb is not sealed, the lense sits on top of the bulb. My buddy used a sealed bulb and the glue let go the glass came off... no harm to the bulb tho... The Bulb is seated in about I'd say a 1/4" But I will have to measure it and get back to you.. I just tested depths.. if you go too deep you won't get compression of the o-ring which you need to make it seal properly.

Testing caps are what plumbers use to cap off a pipe they are working on and it can be removed.. they don't use glue to so it can be removed later. The PVC ones are blue and ABS ones are orange. Talk to your local hardware store clerk and I am sure they can point you in the right direction. The Testing caps do take the ABS/PVC glue fine. For the 1 1/2" PVC pipe, you can get actual PVC end caps.

The batteries are in series, so I get 12Vs ov power.. so One side I have all the positive going down.. and the other I have the positive going up.. there is a wire that connects the positive and negative at the bottom of the two tubes. The hole is drills just enough to allow the wire through.. Then I sealed the wire in with epoxy and locktight. I did use FULL SIZE D-Cell batteries got them from e-bay.. 12D's 10,000mah for $75.00 with shipping.

The positive wire on the up end<under the switch> is where I have the switch wired in.. so the switch will break the positive connection. So, the positive wire going to the light passes through the top hole drilled in both pipes.. and is connected to the switch... The Negative goes right to the light head itself where it completes the series....

I will have to draw out a diagram I think to show you how it works.. I used olf flashlight springs inside as well to make sure I have a good connection.
 
Oh I bought cheep bulbs from the dollar store and they are not sealed.. meaning there is no lense ontop of the bulb.. just the second lense I added.. the second lense is only there to support the o-ring.
 

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