DIY thread

[H20doctor]

Looks like 350fox canister... ? Or did you tool it on your lathe.. ? Job well done !!

[Nwbrewer]

Looks like 350fox canister... ? Or did you tool it on your lathe.. ? Job well done !!

It's the OMS canister. Just tap a hole for the gland and another for the switch.

[airsix]

Been a while since I had a scuba-related DIY to share but I came up with one tonight. When I dropped off some bottles at the LDS yesterday the compressor was broken. Replacement parts come from England and aren't expected for a few weeks. Well that just won't do. They needed a new aluminum valve part (some kind of floating gasket - I didn't get to see the whole assembly) for one of the cylinders so I came back with calipers and mic and took measurements off the good one from the other cylinder. Tonight I made them a new one (and a spare). Shout-out to Dusty2 who gave me some advice on preparing my lathe parting tool for the wafer-thin cuts. It worked like a charm, thanks Rich. Lapped and cleaned, all dimensions within 0.002" and now I can get some bottles filled.

[Waynne Fowler]

Been a while since I had a scuba-related DIY to share but I came up with one tonight. When I dropped off some bottles at the LDS yesterday the compressor was broken. Replacement parts come from England and aren't expected for a few weeks. Well that just won't do. They needed a new aluminum valve part (some kind of floating gasket - I didn't get to see the whole assembly) for one of the cylinders so I came back with calipers and mic and took measurements off the good one from the other cylinder. Tonight I made them a new one (and a spare). Shout-out to Dusty2 who gave me some advice on preparing my lathe parting tool for the wafer-thin cuts. It worked like a charm, thanks Rich. Lapped and cleaned, all dimensions within 0.002" and now I can get some bottles filled.

It's a very lucky shop that has a customer like you airsix. Nice job!

[airsix]

It's a very lucky shop that has a customer like you airsix. Nice job!

Thanks, Waynne. The truth is I'm a terrible customer. All I do is buy gas. In 15 years I think the biggest ticket item I've bought there was a pair of rock boots. If all their customers were like me they'd be out of business by the end of the month! No big items, no trips, no classes... I'm just glad I found another way to help.

[guitarmaker]

Question for light builders -

I bought the divelight companion book and have started a can light but am now second guessing my project. The build I started is based on a halogen 50 watt bulb, maglite head, D cell NiMH's @ 10 wired in series for a 12 volt battery pack (wow the can is huge!) I'm now concerned that halogen is outdated and LED may be a better choice. Any suggestions? I would like to stick with the maglite head because I don't have a metal lathe; is there an LED that would work with the maglite? (BTW, I'm not opposed to building a head out of other material and I do have a wood lathe but I'm concerned with heat) Does anyone have a materials/parts list with where to source these parts they would be willing to share?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanx!

Ron

[Dashrynn]

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.35241

that should fit with minimal machining to your maglight head, drop a couple batteries out of your pack to become a 7.2 nimh battery pack since the max voltage is 8 volts (4.8 works too but it runs just a tad dimmer)

[airsix]

Ron, if you don't want to do any machining your best bet is one of the drop-in modules available for the C and D maglites. Buried in these pages you'll find some. Dusty2 and/or nwbrewer might have a better idea of which is best. Candelpowerforums is the best place to learn, see other people's work, and source parts.

Dash is on the right track, but be careful. The one he linked to has a max input of 8.4v.

Good on you for getting the book and building your own light. It's a lot of fun but I'll warn you that you won't have it finished long before you start planning your second build. And then your third...

[guitarmaker]

Thanks guy's for your input. I take it that overdriving LED's is a no-no and its better to be a bit more conservative and be under the maximum voltage: 7 cells @ 1.2 volts would be max @ 8.4 and 6 cells at 7.2 volts would be even better? I'm also wondering if I should use use D's or C's, something with a higher mAh to get longer battery life? Looking at the pics from Dusty2's light he must be using something considerably smaller but still has good battery life.

This is already fun - something new to learn and build - but I hear and understand your warning, after all, If I took all the money and time I've invested in building my own guitars I could have a house filled with Martins, Taylors, Paul Reed Smiths ... * sigh *

[Dashrynn]

Thanks guy's for your input. I take it that overdriving LED's is a no-no and its better to be a bit more conservative and be under the maximum voltage: 7 cells @ 1.2 volts would be max @ 8.4 and 6 cells at 7.2 volts would be even better? I'm also wondering if I should use use D's or C's, something with a higher mAh to get longer battery life? Looking at the pics from Dusty2's light he must be using something considerably smaller but still has good battery life.

This is already fun - something new to learn and build - but I hear and understand your warning, after all, If I took all the money and time I've invested in building my own guitars I could have a house filled with Martins, Taylors, Paul Reed Smiths ... * sigh *

you should definitely look on candlepower, I was ignorant of anything light related before that website (basic/intermediate dc/ac training and all that because of the navy though)

I would recommend using a 6 cell configuration because 1.2 volts is the nominal voltage (meaning your 7.2 volt battery will actually be around 7.8 to 8.2ish fresh off the charger)

[airsix]

Build a pack around your emitter/driver combo and your run-time needs.

For example:
If a bare LED is driven at 5amps @ 3.5 volts
And your current-regulating circuit has an input voltage of 12v
And the current-regulator is 80% efficient...

(5amps x 3.5v) / 80% = 22 watts.
22 watts / 12v = 1.8 amps.

Therefore, in theory this hypothetical light will draw 1.8amps from a 12v battery. Divide the amp-hour rating of the battery by this to estimate maximum theoretical burn-time. If it is a 7amp-hour battery it would have a max theoretical burn time of 3.8 hours (7/1.8). In reality, expect something like 80-90% of that number when the cells are new.

You can see that it's pretty straight forward to determine the necessary amp-hour capacity of your battery to get the burn-time you want based on the light-engine you are driving. When I come over to dive I try to get in 3-4 dives per day, so I want a light that has a minimum of 3 hours run-time plus some reserve. I designed my LED/driver/battery combination around that requirement. 6a@3.5v=21w. 20% losses = 26w. 26w/11.4v battery = 2.3amp. 9ah battery/2.3amp = 3.9 hour max run-time.

I hope that helps. You'll find a lot of good battery theory info in the book, but the examples are about direct driving halogen bulbs with SLA or NiCad batteries. The theory is the same when dealing with newer technology, you'll just have to add a few steps like I tried to show above. Keep us posted. Building lights is a lot of fun and sometimes the only way to get exactly what you want.

[Dashrynn]

airsix, any ideas for a "free magnetic motor" to power dive lights and dive related devices that could utilize this technology? Of course a small battery would be needed to sustain power, but ultimately.....it would revolutionize the dive industry (among other industries)

[Dashrynn]

remember that hunk of junk i bought? Yeah i did a dyi build on it....overall im pleased. Way more powerrrrrrrr.

the led module originally in it was rated to only 100ish lumens....by maglight...cuz thats where it was ripped out of....

The 5 led module requires very little trimming which i did with a dremel tool. 7.2 nimh battery pack. and instead of tamiya connectors i used a standard "n"sized charger. I pulled an old reg apart and used the adapter for the hose. Oms canister.

so if you bought one of these by mistake like i did heres a 150$ish fix. To push dang near 1200 lumens.

[H20doctor]

I wish I could learn how to build lights.. That would be cool

[Dashrynn]

I wish I could learn how to build lights.. That would be cool

I heard the lights you build contain uranium :P

[H20doctor]

If I did build lights...they would blind you

[spatman]

I wish I could learn how to build lights.. That would be cool

that made me LOL for real.

[H20doctor]

Oh Ok ... Here is a light i built

3 XPG at 1000Ma, = DAM !!!!!


Here is an SST90 chip mounted into a MAG Head

2400 Lumens

[Dashrynn]

how about a beam shot vs each other?

[Mongo]

A friend of mine built a light that worked really good as a flood.... and then the battery compartment....

[Rockfish]

For those of you building dive lights with the mag light head do you have any concerns with the aluminum and salt water?

Is the anodizing enough to prevent corrosion?

Thanks,

Mike

[airsix]

For those of you building dive lights with the mag light head do you have any concerns with the aluminum and salt water?

Is the anodizing enough to prevent corrosion?

Thanks,

Mike

One of my lights has a mag head and after several years of use there are no signs of corrosion at all even with plenty of scratches that go through the anodized layer. No signs of internal corrosion either. You could always clamp a piece of zinc against a bare spot for extra insurance but I haven't seen that anything like that is needed. There are plenty of anodized aluminum (commercially made) lights out there doing fine too.

[H20doctor]

Oh my .... look what the mail man brought .. some good light crack is in the works

[sitkadiver]

For those of you building dive lights with the mag light head do you have any concerns with the aluminum and salt water?

Is the anodizing enough to prevent corrosion?

Thanks,

Mike

I only have about 30 dives on my maglite head that H2O doc built for me and it looks new. I found a 4 cell maglite in the harbor a couple months ago and was planning to send it to doc as a joke - woops gave that away - and the aluminum is in great shape, even under the tube worms!

As far as Aluminum coroding. I also found Diver_Dave's lost bail out bottle that's been under water for about 3 or 4 years. The tank is intact and still has air in it, but the Aluminum is bubbling in a few places where the paint was worn off. I would not recommend re-filling that tank.

I think an aluminum light head will hold up as well if not better than just about anythnig else on the market. Our SpD video lights are many years old and they are still running without any corrosion on the AL, and they've been used enough to rub the anodizing completely off in places.

[sitkadiver]

Oh my .... look what the mail man brought .. some good light crack is in the works

IMG_6743.JPG

Are you going to be bringing some new toys with you next week for your friends to try out?????