More ?'s re: fiber optic cable to housing attachment

[phillybob]

I cut one of the oval holes in the hood to a rectangular hole. Cut a piece of DUAL-LOCK the same size as the hole in the hood, using a soldering iron to melt a hole about 2 and a half mm in diameter in it and stuck it on the strobe, lining the hole up over the sensor. Then I cut a piece of hard rubber about the same size as the piece of DUAL-LOCK and about a quarter inch thick, drilled a hole in it a hair smaller in diameter than the cable and pushed the fiber optic cable through the hole, leaving about two mm of bare cable protruding. It has a nice, tight friction fit. Then I put another piece of DUAL-LOCK, similar to the first, on the hard rubber. I line up the fiber optic 'tail' with the hole in the DUAL-LOCK on the strobe and BINGO !! I had it out and it's easy to set up, fires every time, won't shift and is simple and easily fixed in the field if need be. I'm getting another length of fiber optic cable to make another set up so I have a spare in my case. This all took about ten minutes to make once I decided that was the route I was going.

 

[Divernoob]

I just put my rig through some paces in a fresh water lake this weekend. The good news is that the strobe fired every time (woohoo!).

The bad news is that the vis sucked. As in, I was lucky to see the other side of my mask kinda suck. Here's a sucky foto to prove it:

 

[vimaldude]

I just bought the Ultramax strobe after reading the reviews here and I had the same problem with the strobe not firing because of poor fiber optic connector design.

Thanks to 'Divenoob' and 'phillybob' for good suggestions on how to fix this problem.
I took their suggestions and designed my own connectors slightly differently.

I used 1/4 x 20 nylon screw and a cap nut. I drilled a 3/32 hole straight through the screw and the cap nut. Then I uses my fine saw and cut a slit vertically down the screw where the cap nut would go. When I inserted the fiber optic through the screw and tighten the cap nut, the slitted halves of the screw would compress and hold the wire in place. It is so tight that I can't even pull it out!.

The screw was attached to a piece of PVC (saw'ed it off a PVC plumbing pipe) and then attached to the strobe with dual-lock. THe wire is very secure and doesn't shift at all. I tried the stobe (on land) and it fires everytime.!

I have attached some pictures of my jig. Send me PM if anyone needs more details.

 

[Divernoob]

I just bought the Ultramax strobe after reading the reviews here and I had the same problem with the strobe not firing because of poor fiber optic connector design.

Thanks to 'Divenoob' and 'phillybob' for good suggestions on how to fix this problem.
I took their suggestions and designed my own connectors slightly differently.

I used 1/4 x 20 nylon screw and a cap nut. I drilled a 3/32 hole straight through the screw and the cap nut. Then I uses my fine saw and cut a slit vertically down the screw where the cap nut would go. When I inserted the fiber optic through the screw and tighten the cap nut, the slitted halves of the screw would compress and hold the wire in place. It is so tight that I can't even pull it out!.

The screw was attached to a piece of PVC (saw'ed it off a PVC plumbing pipe) and then attached to the strobe with dual-lock. THe wire is very secure and doesn't shift at all. I tried the stobe (on land) and it fires everytime.!

I have attached some pictures of my jig. Send me PM if anyone needs more details.

Damn you, vimaldude. Now I gotta go back to Lowe's!

Seriously though, THAT is some awesome engineering.:cool3:

Will the rubber guard stretch over that mount? I guess you really don't need it -- just attach the diffuser with more dual lock.

 

[Didje]

vimaldude, that is awesome. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[inka]

Did you glue the screw to the PVC ?

 

[herbdb]

Great stuff guys. I leave for Roatan on Sunday, guess I need to get busy.

 

[vimaldude]

Did you glue the screw to the PVC ?

It is very simple.
Drill a 1/4" hole through the PVC. Insert the screw through it and screw on a hex nut on the other side (the same side that the cap nut goes on. I had to countersink the hole so that the screw head will sit a little more flush with the PVC piece.
So the head side of the screw sits against the strobe body. I had to cut a hole in the dual-lock strip to fit over the head.

There is no glue used whatsover. The best part is that I can just unscrew the 2 cap nuts and remove the wire for storage. Doesn't even have to wrestle with dual-lock each time.

The most difficult part in this whole project was to drill the hole through the screw. I have a small drill press (one where you attach your own drill) and it worked very well. Rest of the stuff is pretty simple.

Let me know if you want to see more details. I can send you more detail pictures.

 

[vimaldude]

Damn you, vimaldude. Now I gotta go back to Lowe's!

Seriously though, THAT is some awesome engineering.:cool3:

Will the rubber guard stretch over that mount? I guess you really don't need it -- just attach the diffuser with more dual lock.

I had to cut the rubberguard a little bit to fit over the dual-lock area. It is the same area where the ovel hole used to be so it doesn't really harm the purpose of the rubber-guard. The rubber-guard still fits well.

Thanks for the kind words. You were the inspiration though!

 

[inka]

It is very simple.
Drill a 1/4" hole through the PVC. Insert the screw through it and screw on a hex nut on the other side (the same side that the cap nut goes on. I had to countersink the hole so that the screw head will sit a little more flush with the PVC piece.
So the head side of the screw sits against the strobe body. I had to cut a hole in the dual-lock strip to fit over the head.

There is no glue used whatsover. The best part is that I can just unscrew the 2 cap nuts and remove the wire for storage. Doesn't even have to wrestle with dual-lock each time.

The most difficult part in this whole project was to drill the hole through the screw. I have a small drill press (one where you attach your own drill) and it worked very well. Rest of the stuff is pretty simple.

Let me know if you want to see more details. I can send you more detail pictures.

OK, thanks a lot