When you get around to building this thing give me a shout, and then checkout my DIY Site for more information on how me and others have built our lights.Originally Posted by lars2923
When you get around to building this thing give me a shout, and then checkout my DIY Site for more information on how me and others have built our lights.
Buying a cheep pair of Rocket Fins on Ebay the first thing I did was bust a strap...Surf'in the web I found some articles on DIY Spring Straps. Havent made them yet but if I can get some stainless spring I'll try em.
The LDS has nice ones so I plucked the buck. They are nicely manufactured and not that expensive for the hastle...
Saving all my pennies for a good reg & BC...
Last edited by aerospot; 07-19-2007 at 11:21 PM. Reason: add link
This should probablly be in a different thread, but I am always breaking fin straps. New ones don't seem to even last a year either. I was also thinking about making some spring straps out of stainless steel spring and some silicone tube. The problem is finding and the cost of the stainless steel springs.
Anyway I was surfing ebay and found some spring straps for about $22 buy it now price plus reasonable shipping. I would think they are stainless steel, but a quick email could take care of that. They look just like the nice ones in the dive shop too, but are less than 1/2 the price.
Have you used the spring straps? I wonder how tight the get and how comfortable they are. I like the rubber straps because they get tight, but they don't last long enough.
You can get the springs at McMaster Carr.
Long Type 302 SS Extension Spring 11" Length, 1/2" OD, .062" Wire Diameter, $4.42 Each
Catalog # 3932K54
Also checkout this site Spring straps. I made a set of the Delrin straps. I've been using them for well over 2 years and they work perfect.
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 . . .
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