My Bouyancy solution

[Video rookie]

Teamcasa-
Looks good. I thought about attaching to the light arms, but wanted to maintain the flexibility of the lineloc arms.

How deep have you been with this set up? Are you close to neutral, or still slightly negative? I prefer just slightly negative myself, so I have the weights that came with my housing if I need to adjust it when I finally get back to some real salt water.

Vic

 

[Teamcasa]

Vic,
The lights are Nocturnal SL50’s and are too heavy for lineloc arms. The whole rig is still negative but not too much, maybe a pound or two. I have had the rig to 90 fsw with no problems. However, one of the ABS tubes leaked on its first dive (50fsw) and I had to make another one. Better glue techniques were used. No more leaks!
In addition, having the tubes above the lights seems to help in keeping the rig more stable.

Dave

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Mark-
The lights and power pack mount to the housing with thumb screws. The lineloc arms have a mount on the bottom which slides onto the housing, and I put a small piece of plexiglass in the notch on the housing where the screw tightens against.

What sort of lights are you trying to mount? Vic, Im using Nocturnal lights TL50 and LocLine for arms. I had to buy clips from Amphibico that wasn't cheep!!! Mark

 

[Video rookie]

Mark-
They are an older set from Amphibico with the VL135 power pack. Currently I have 42W bulbs, but I might get some other wattages to keep in the dive bag. The bulbs are Eiko style, which are Halogen unless I'm mistaken (a very likely possibility). I purchased them off ebay over a year ago (there is a similiar set for sell now if you search for Amphibico on ebay), and only tried using them once due to them being to heavy. I thought about selling them, and getting something else, but figured I try to fix the buoyancy problem first.

Where are you at in AZ? I spent several years out there while attending ASU.

Vic

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Im in Scottsdale or more like Rio verde. Out in the outback as it were. So ebay i'll have to try to take a look there. Right now Im having battery problems can get my battery to last longer then 5-10 min. Im going to try to order a new one and see if that works "I hope". Another problem is to find a place to mount my battery. What do you think of the wide angle lens Amphibico has 120'? Mark

 

[Video rookie]

Mark-

I just changed over to Li-ion batteries, and they last so much longer than the old NP-1B sony batteries, which would only last about 15 minutes. I tested the Li-ions for 1 hr, and still had remaining time, using the two 42W bulbs.

I've not looked at the 120 deg wide angle yet, the flat port sounds interesting and is much cheaper (and probably not as heavy), maybe a +2 Diopter and the 3"x4" blue water slate type filter for the front.... But not right now.

Vic

 

[dittohead]

I love some of the homebrew solutions. Nice work on the added buoyancy!

 

[Nocturnal Lights]

Teamcasa,

Nice setup! Based on everyone's feedback we decided to make some neoprene sleeves for the SL50 that will bring the lights to weigh about 1 lb underwater, which isn't too bad. Now i just need to take some pictures of it and get it posted on our site.

 

[Teamcasa]

Teamcasa,

Nice setup! Based on everyone's feedback we decided to make some neoprene sleeves for the SL50 that will bring the lights to weigh about 1 lb underwater, which isn't too bad. Now i just need to take some pictures of it and get it posted on our site.

Thanks Tim! The setup really worked great when I shot the mantas in Hawaii. Even the on-site pro's lights were not as bright as mine. The unit was easy to aim and hold in place. I would love to see your solution!

OT: The only downside was TSA security at the airport. The units looked a little too suspicious to them. I had to remove the lamps from the lights!

Dave

 

[Annie Crawley]

Dont wait for the ocean, get to a pool before your trip. I use this type of thing all the time and have had to jury rig almost every system because of either batteries or ports.

Good luck,

Annie