DIY dive gear successes and failures

[pcscuba]

For all you guys that have made pvc canisters, what did you use to seal the bottom of the canister opposite from the switch? Did you buy a pvc cap or screw in plug or what. I would appreciate any help you could give me.

 

[canuckdiver]

what was suggested to me, and what I am using, is a circle of plexiglas epoxied to the bottom of the tube, just as a cap.

 

[pcscuba]

Would the epoxy hold the weight of the battery? I would think you would to have some sort of L bracket to hole it?

 

[pcscuba]

to hold it, not hole it

 

[canuckdiver]

what I did was to turn the end cap down to form a lip. gives the epoxy twice as much surface to grab.
even just bonding it to the end should be enough to hold the wieght of the battery, you may want to add a bit of a "fillet" on the inside to be secure.

 

[Padipro]

Take a piece of the PVC, say about 10 inches long. Split it from end to end down one side only. Heat your oven to about 400 degrees and put the PVC in the oven for 5 minutes. Don't worry, your wife or mother won't even know it's in there, it has very little smell. When you heat PVC it gets like rubber and you can mold it into any shape you want. Take it out of the oven and run it to the garage, your patio or some other flat surface that won't be harmed by something hot, lay it on the floor and put a piece of plywood and lots of weight on top of it, then let it cool. Work fast as it cools quick. I used several bags of rock salt and potting soil for the weight. Once the PVC cools it will be a flat sheet and you can then trace out a circle around the bottom of your canister on the sheet. Cut it out a little bigger then you need and using PVC glue, glue the circle on the bottom of the canister. It will look like it's part of the tube and not an end cap on a pipe. I use lots of glue on both mating surfaces and on both the inside and outside to make sure I've got a good seal. Make sure you also place some weight on the canister when you're gluing the bottom on so everything has a tight fit. Once it's dry I take the canister to a disk sander and sand off the remaining materal and excess glue so it looks nice, smooth and round.

Scott

 

[mddolson]

I was in a heavy current dive last weekend, and it made me think about needing a Goodman handle for my cannister light.

Attached is my drawing of my handle.
It fit's good, I'll let you know how well it works after this week end.

Mike D

 

[Padipro]

Nice drawing Mike. I was just asking someone a week or so ago about a drawing for a handle they had made.

Now I just need to find the material.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[mddolson]

Just a note, I forgot to mention, I added some heat shrink tubing around the bail handle, and used dome head screws to attach it. Worked great.

If you can't find Delrin or ABS , Nylon or polypropylene will work, but Delrin (acetal) machines much easier.

Mike D

 

[pcscuba]

Will that handle work with a C-cell Maglite?