Its finally finished and working, made a design change part way through. So now it uses a ULTRA bright LED instead of a halogen bulb. See the picture,also more details about it on my blog:
http://www.dolphinscuba.com.sg/blogs_wp/
Its finally finished and working, made a design change part way through. So now it uses a ULTRA bright LED instead of a halogen bulb. See the picture,also more details about it on my blog:
http://www.dolphinscuba.com.sg/blogs_wp/
I remember reading some discussions somewhere about DIY lights and the problem of gas buildup in the battery case, and installing a oneway valve to allow them to release. Is that really an issue to be concerned with? Did you install one? It was probably more to do with in the event of a leak?? Maybe??
I don`t believe it is an issue, as the commerical units you can buy don`t have them (or at least the ones i`ve seen!). Another way to look at it, does you normal underwater torch have a pressure release value?
When I charge it, I remove the bottom cover to get access to the connector; if any gasses where generated I`d assume its during charging and they can escape then!
I don't think the valve is necessary. I did notice that most dive lights have a small catalyst in them though. They are small pelets that cause a chemical reaction to take place. I am not sure exactly what happens, but I am sure it is important as all my dive lights have them. They also came with a warning sticker stating if the pelets were ever damaged to replace them promptly. I am sure you can just use some replacements from another light and plop them in your setup.
Nice job by the way! Can you post some additional photos. It is hard to see much in the one photo you have. Some inside views and some explanation on how you did it would be great.
acelockco,
My torch seems to be getting alot of interest from around the net, so I`ll publish more photo`s and details of how I made it soon. Thanks for your comments....
I'm no expert for sure, but if I understand it right I think the issue is if there were ever a leak and the batteries got wet, that is when there could be gas build up? Have you ever had a light flood and when you open it up and take the wet batteries out, they are like a million degrees . . .
I am no 'battery' expert either, but yeah I do know that if you get salt water on NiMH batteries some nasty gases come out and the get hot!
Then again, hopefully water doesn`t get inside; that isn`t part of my plan!
HAHA
Anyway, I`ve now written a set of intructions on how its built; check out my blog.
www.dolphinscuba.com.sg/blogs_wp/
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