Help with DIY Divelight

[dcahill129]

Santa left me a copy of Steve Lindblom's book "Divelight Companion" under my Christmas tree. After a quick read through it I realize that my ideas of building a canister dive light for each of my two boys and myself is not going to happen. I now realize that I am more of a "Assemble it Yourself" (AIS) type of guy rather than the "Do it Yourself" (DIY) type. So I am searching for the DIY guys that have completed this type of project with the hope that I might purchase some of the parts that require more skill to fabricate than this AIS Dad can muster.Can anyone help me?

 

[inotec]

I plan on building this: Dive Light - Diy underwater canister scuba torch.
It's still a bit of a challenge, but not quite as overwhelming as the others.

 

[do it easy]

Howard Sandroff offers a light head kit This might be what you are looking for.

 

[dcahill129]

Howard Sandroff offers a light head kit This might be what you are looking for.

Thanks for the info. Yes this is the type of stuff I am looking for. Unfortunately the price is out of the affordable range at $600 + for the lighthead. I am trying to find a true DIYer that is willing to fabricate a few parts for a some what more reasonable sum. My orginal goal was to build 3 lights, but at these prices I can't afford one.

 

[vshearer]

You might want to look at this

http://www.bnsengineering.com/Personal/articles/Homebuilt_Dive_Lights.pdf

 

[marchand]

there is a guy over on cavediver.net that will machine a lighthead with 3 3watt LEDs in it (660lm) for $275 if i remember correctly. His username is deepairmike. You might want to get in touch with him, he might even make a canister for you.

 

[daveg1]

If you want to find a local machine shop that can do the work for ya I have a design for a MR16 light head I can send ya.

 

[inotec]

Remember, we're trying to go cheap here. I looked at VSHEARER's ref, and I liked the maglite design that uses 2 lenses. The PCMUS ref that I gave requires that you custom cut one lens smaller and use an additional o-ring. It's much simpler to use 2 standard lenses (available from Batteries and Maglite Flashlights - Your Intelligent Battery Store). I haven't built anything myself yet, so I don't know which seals better etc. What I like most about PCMUS (Dive Light - Diy underwater canister scuba torch.) is that it uses an overdriven MR-16 which is supposed to give brightness comparable to HID at very low cost. Lifetime of the bulb is reduced, but it's still supposed to last 350 hours and the bulbs are only a few $. So, I'm sticking with the basic design from PCMUS, but looking for shortcuts on lighthead design. The "Divelight Companion" stuff requires machining. I wish that someone would supply just the lighthead body cheaply, but haven't seen one yet,so I'm going with the Maglite.

 

[marchand]

If you want I can probably make an extra head when I make can lights for me and my buddy. It will probably be about $100 - $150 for the complete light head, LEDs and everything; that is probably an over overestimation, and I would only charge you for materials. PM me if you are interested.

 

[inotec]

That sounds very reasonable for the LED light head. I actually started on the maglite mod today. I don't think that your LED head would accommodate the MR16 50W bulb, would it?
So far I've cut down the maglite, shortened it per PCMUS and added a "gland" or waterproof cable feedthrough to the end. I haven't dealt with the bulb end yet. If I do it according to his plans, I need to get a 49mm lens cut, which I might be able to do with a cheap diamond hole saw. I'm working in an unheated garage, so only make progress on mild days. Today was exceptional, can't last though.