DIY Video Housing a success...

[Guba]

Sorry to hear about test run. Like Bobby said, don't be discouraged. As a teacher of basic engineering skills (high school level) I get to see a lot of experimentation and revision of initial designs in addition to a huge amount of de-bugging and fine tuning. See if you can find the cause of the leak and plug it. Go for the simplest solution first. If that doesn't work you can always see about revising the basic design.
Hopefully, there wasn't a camera in it or if there was it was undamaged. I know the first two times I carried mine down it was empty, but fortunately I haven't had any problem with leaks (yet). Sure am enjoying getting it underwater, though, and I can't wait to shoot a "basic science" video underwater (explaining Boyles Law, Archimedes principle, etc...).
Good luck. Will be anticipating an update on your success.

 

[paulthenurse]

Paul,
Don't be too disappointed, mine leaked at 25ft the first time. Remove the inner O-ring and use a piece of wet 400-600 grit sandpaper and lightly buff the outer O-ring surfaces. Of course, it is possible that water is making it in at one of the glue joints as well. Have a very close look to see if the pressure put any pinholes at those locations. If you find any, try some crazy glue or 2 part epoxy delivered into the hole with a hypo.

Interesting... I'm a home brewer too.

Bobby

Ya, I'll spend my next available time trying to figure out what went wrong. A couple of things come to mind. When Alice and I jumped in, she was wearing a new drysuit, crushed neoprene instead of her usual DUI trilam. Her weight wasn't right and she had a bit of a problem getting under, so we swam back to the boat to pick up a couple of extra pounds. When we got alongside the boat I let go of the housing for a minute and it, of course, smacked against the hull. "SON OF A B****!!!" So that could very well be the reason it leaked. I'll need to try it again to see. The good news is that I did have the good sense to leave the camcorder on the boat for the test dive.

Here's a fun pic. Lobstergirl eschewing Paul's Patented Grape Destemmer and opting for good old-fashioned hand picking grapes. All the while, our dive gear 'dries' in the mist/fog. I'm thinking about naming this years vintage after our trip to the seals. Too bad "Smuttynose" is already taken, "Smuttynose Cabernet" has a nice ring to it.

That's the first of three barrels we filled up and crushed that day. I'm still sore, I should have spent a little more time figuring out how to put a motor on the crusher and played with the video housing over the winter.

 

[MATTKINZ]

I won a ribbon for 2nd place for a Munich Dunkel (? spelling , maybe Dunkle?) at a beer fest in Ft. walton Beach FL. I have a pilsner, a brown ale and a stout in my garage aging right now. Also, I have 5 gallons Liebfraumilch, 3 gals of cranberry and a gallon of orange wine aging right now in different parts of the house. I am thankful my wife lets me have the garage and other places to trash up a bit.

I started brewing in 1979 and it is an excellent hobby.

for divers who go out to cold areas and want hot cocoa or coffee,. look at this site for pepsi can backpacking stoves that burn alcohol and will bring 5 cups water to full boil in about 6 minutes. easy to make and remarkably effective. I could have been handy to have for the smuttynose cabernet crushing party if was misty and cold. mk
http://zenstoves.net/LinksGeneral-DIY.htm#HybridSideburnerJetAlcoholStoves

 

[MATTKINZ]

If I can get over this cold, I head to central FL this weekend and will dive Santa Fe river . May do video and hopefully will find fossils.

Ihope the video housing works after leak plugging. I'm glad camera is safe too.

I think Guba's idea for Boyles law video is neat. Go Guba! Science should be fun!!! MK

 

[allegfede]

Hi. I'm searching the net for the design of a mechanical push button for the underwater housing i have done.

http://groups.msn.com/divelight/jvceveriohousingandlightsys.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1082

quite sure i have seen it in this forum, but ......

....... how can I make a pushbutton for the housing?

I made a test one in a very simple way but i suppose can be improved.

http://groups.msn.com/divelight/jvceveriohousingandlightsys.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1125

Thanks.

 

[MATTKINZ]

Scott has a design for camera control that with a stainless spring under the knob should work for both ratary or push button method.

http://groups.msn.com/divelight/diycameracontrol.msnw

Your way looks as it would work too.

I just bought on ebay an ikelite housing complete with working camera control knobs. You may want to do this to get the knobs.

Good luck. MK

BTW, My central FL trip didn't include video but I found some fossil stuff. Some fragments were said to be from mammoth teeth. I found an old piece of what appears to be a piece of skull bone of animal considerably larger than human by the curvature. It appears partially damaged on the inner table as if it was partially burned. This was from an area of Human habitation for 10,000 + years. I have been told there are Indian points and artifacts in the area as well. I can't confirm this , though. Santa Fe River near Gainesville. MK

 

[The Horn]

Working on my first UW housing. 6" PVC as disposable???? video camera is larger 1995 model. Using tips and tricks from this thread and will try and take some picks of the process. Lots of photos are missing from original posts due to server change so some things I'm making up.

Any of the folks who have made the cameras used the ikelite push butoms or is it better just to hit record and go for it.

 

[Padipro]

Any of the folks who have made the cameras used the ikelite push butoms or is it better just to hit record and go for it.

Make your own control. See the post above and click on the link to see how their made.

Or you can just buy the ones from Ikelite, I've done both.

 

[The Horn]

I'll give a go at making the control. Just need a push button for my camera so that should be easy enough.

What paint have people used on the PVC casings??

 

[Bobby_M]

I used Krylon or Rustoleum spray paint but I don't think I'm going to paint my next one. Making them pretty is fun and all, but it really doesn't last. Scuba is really tough on painted surfaces and it gets nicked up pretty quickly. If you leave it white, a nick doesn't even show up.

I'll try to take a before/after pic of my housing with 10 dives in between them.

Bobby