DIY Video Housing a success...

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great video. amazing the condit. of the wood after 120 years of submersion.

You can PM me. I don't have a boat, but would go to the oriskany w/ you. BTW I am orig. from Wisco. I got tired of shoveling snow. I learned to dive in the Racine quarry. mk
 
Guba, That sounds like a pretty good controls solution but I wonder if the $25 replacement Ikelite gland/control solution is comparable in cost and performance. Where do you draw power for your solenoid? Camera or extra battery pack? I don't know if I have room for much more in this case.

One thing I figured out I should be doing differently in the future is loading the cam backwards. That is, the lense should face the openable end of the case for two reasons. If you work any control mechanism into the housing, it will need to sit behind the cam where most start/stop buttons are. Second, the acrylic window for your lense must be clean and scratch free. If you get it dirty or scratched, it would be easier to clean and polish the removable end. I SOOOOOO want to get started on V2.

I'll have some nice video of Cozumel in early September!

Bobby
 
I considered the gland solution, but I really hesitated to make any holes in my housing at all. That's why I used the solenoid solution. I also had the advantage of having the solenoid given to me, so cost wasn't an issue at all (it came from a decomissioned Zerox machine). The solenoid works on two 9 v batteries in series.
My housing has removeable plates on both ends, therefore I have access either way. Also, if the forward plate becomes scratched, all I have to do is replace it with the rear one since they interchange.
I, too, am looking at version 2. This one will be much smaller due to a much smaller camera (mini-DV). My current one is a larger Sony Hi-8. Works great, but getting it through an airport is a bit of a hassle.
 
Ok, here are the pics and vid of my new underwater housing.


giom:
here is some pics of finished underwater housing with my Sony PC100 in it. I just used in for half an hour in a lake not deeper than 8 feet. Absolutely no leek so far.
It is made of a 6" PVC and 1/2" acrylic windows. Screws for the latches are on the first 1/4 inch layer of pvc only.(coupling pipe).
Well, it seems like uploading pics doesn't work...so I'll do it whenever it works.
 
giom,

What did you use as the cement between the acrylic and PVC? This is where my housing failed at 25 feet before I resealed with epoxy.

I would have gone with a 3rd clamp, but if it works it works.

Looks good. Let us know how a deeper test goes. Please try it without the camera in!

Bobby
 
Bobby,

3M 5200 marine grade sealent works great for sealing the lens to the PVC. I used it to seal and glue the front lens to the new housing I just built with nothing more then a thin O-ring under the lens and the 5200 holding everything together. I took the housing to 128 FSW on the first test dive without a single drop of water inside. This stuff is very strong and once cures is very hard to remove. It's made to use below the water line on boats so water has no effect on it like it does on other brands of sealent. I'll post a few pictures of the housing tonight when I get home.
 
I used PVC one-step grey cement. So you say yours was fine, but when under 25 feet you got infiltration. Did you apply epoxy just on the outside windows? Do you think PVC cement is good enough?
I believe that 2 clamps is enough because the deeper you go the more pressure there is between the 2 of windows, making it tighter and tighter.
Unfortunately, I will have to wait a month before diving with it at deeper distance, so I'll give feedbacks later.
 
giom,

I initially used IPS Weldon #16 because they claim it bonds acrylic to PVC. I did have a leak at 25 ft on the first test but honestly it could have been at the O-ring or another glue joint. I did two things after that failed test that could have solved it.

1. Polished the o-ring surfaces.
2. Bead of epoxy on all mating surfaces including the acrylic to pvc joints.

I really couldn't tell where the beads of water were coming from so maybe weldon 16 is fine for this. I really don't know if PVC cement has any effect on acrylic. You might luck out.

Scott,
What made you decide to use an O-ring at the glued end? I'm leaning towards a two-part epoxy that remains slightly flexible for my next housing. Though I will look for the 3M product as well. Looking forward to your new pics.

Bobby
 
An o-ring under the lens will help seal the lens as the pressure increases with depth. Sealent or epoxy alone won't. If there is a small pin hole in the glue the water will find its way in but with an oring in place and using something flexable like 3M 5200 as the pressure increases on the lens with depth the sealent will allow the lens to press in on the o-ring and increase the sealing ability. You can see the o-ring inplace before and after the lens was installed. I installed the o-ring in the groove on the housing then ran a good beed of sealent around the entire surface of the o-ring and the edge of the housing. I installed the lens and placed a clamp in each corner to squeeze the lens against the o-ring until the sealent dried and held everything in place. I also used the 5200 to glue the side window on the housing. There is no o-ring there as cutting the groove would be nearly impossible. I just ran a good beed around the edge of the cut out and again held the window in place with a clamp until dried.

Ok, so something is wrong with the web site and I can't up load any of the pictures so if you want to take a look at what I did just go to my DIY Site.
 
Scott,
Well I wouldn't say that epoxy alone won't seal because I think a few of our housings are done that way. Granted, I've only had mine to 92 feet over the course of 6 dives and for that reason will not discount your O-ring theory just yet. I do have some concerns about using a rigid/brittle cement for this joint as I feel like the continued pressure cycles may compromise the seal. Therefore I'm in favor of materials like the 3M 5200 or a mildly flexible epoxy. Would you say 5200 is flexible, but firmer than a typical 100% silicone caulk? I have a feeling like any sealant that remains flexible and holds aggressively to both acrylic and PVC will work well in creating an "O-ring" of sorts.

I like your design overall and I bet you'll appreciate the more compact size compared to your 6" diameter version. I was thrilled that I didn't have to do any thermoforming to get my DV to fit into 4" because it just adds another level of complexity. Did your PVC say "Not For Pressure Applications"? I hope not because that's cellcore which is much weaker than we'd like. Finally, how did you make out with buoyancy? It didn't need much weight I bet.

Can you tell I like to ramble on about this project?

Bobby
 

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