[Davey Willo]

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I'm seriously considering building a canister light for myself, has anyone done anything similar or has anyone read or seen the book by Steve Lindblom 'The Divelight Companion'

It sounds great, but I'm not sure if it's too American based and that maybe all info and links to places to buy the parts will be based in America, thereby reducing the books value.

I'm looking for any and all info to do with DIY lights, not necessarily HID, altho I don't see why not as I've found bulbs as cheap as &#3610 on the net...

Thanks in advance
Dave

 

[Jay]

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Good luck with this - you know what they say, its as cheap to build two as it is to build one so can you do me one too?

Cheers

 

[Ammers]

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I don't know if you've checked out airspeedpress, they have a great book, www.airspeedpress.com or join the yahoo group, hiddivelight, I'm about to build one too (once I get more time)but HID's the way to go.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hiddivelights/?yguid=82437615
not sure if the link will work, if not just shorten it to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group
and then search groups for hiddivelights
hope this helps

 

[Davey Willo]

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Cheers Ammers, I found that site last night by following a link from Divernet Tech forum, I've laready joined it... read yourself and Dom and a few others but only got into a couple of threads as it was getting late, but what I DID pickup was the link to airspeedpress and 'The Divelight Companion' :biggrin:

Do you know of anyone who has bought the book AnneMarie? and if so, is it worth it?

Jay... If I can make one my son, we'll all have one.... anything must be better than you and Andy swimming around with Cibies strapped to your nappers!!!

 

[Dominic]

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I bought the book. It's worth it.
The only catch is, most of the suppliers it helpfully lists are American, so I'm having to do a lot of searching around before I can put mine together.
Be prepared to put a lot of time into it. But certainly, it's a far cheaper way of doing it.

 

[Davey Willo]

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So how's the search going Dom, can I benefit from some of your research once I have the book in my sweaty palms?

Any help would be greatly appreciated mate.

Cheers and Beers
Dave

 

[parahandy]

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My Bike lamp in a polythene bag wont do then eh?

???
Or how about the other alternative sealed beam unit secured to 12v car battery. The latters been used the "Bredas" in Obans littered with them.

 

[Paxo]

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Good luck with the project. I posted a few weeks back to see if anyone had tackled a DIY divelight, but recieved no response.
I found a site a few months back which wetted my appetite, and being of a mechanical engineering back ground, I thought "I can do that!"
Have a look at http://insel.heim.at/malediven/350052/english.htm
Its not an "English" site and some of the translation means reading between the lines, but the general gist is there.
I am currently sourcing materials to have a dig myself.
My initial idea was to "bastardise" one of those El Cheapo 500,000 candle power rechargeable handlamps (Blackspur-£9.99) found in many car accessory emporiums. Then I saw those Dichroic (spelling?) lamp units in B&Q, 50mm dia units with a range of 2-pin halogen bulbs rated from 20W up to 75W with varying beam angles and thought of mounting one or two of those in some thick-walled plastic or Ali tube, reed switch/magnetic slider for on/off and lithium ion rechargeables.
As they say in management circles "Lets kick it around a little" and see if we can rattle up something useable for a cost of under, say, £100.

 

[Paxo]

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By the way, Jay.
Can I stop being a "Junior Member"? As you saw up in Largs, I'm a 14.5 stone, 44yr old and being called Junior is giving me a bit of an inferiority complex. (humour)

 

[Jay]

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Your wish is my command - remember the old saying

"Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it"

 

[Davey Willo]

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:lol: :rofl: :lol:

Jay, that was so cruel, but so incredibly funny.....

Oh the power of a moderator is an all consuming and evil thing to behold...

middle aged fat bastard... thats so funny...

 

[Davey Willo]

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Paxo.... sorry bud... I've stopped laffing now... honest... so back on a serious note, I musta missed your previous post about the lights I think, sorry about that mate.

I'm up for pooling ideas and materials links if we can....

I'm definitely  ordering 'The Divelight Companion' book so hopefully will be a little more informed about how to approach the subject sooner rather than later.

Anyone have any other good links, please post them all...

Regards
Dave

 

[Paxo]

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Now removing size 9 from facial orifice!
How many pints is it going to cost to have my besmirched character re-aligned??
Either you've mixed me up with someone else or you were so p*****d in Largs you've forgotten, I may be heavy for a 6 footer but I've only a 32" waist!

Anyway, dive lights, just been in Halfords for some bits of car and spotted a display of driving lights, all fairly small but powerful again with an array of beam angles (fog, driving etc), any thoughts on nicking the  gubbins out of one of those and inserting it in a sealed tube affair?

 

[divedog]

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:lol: :rofl:

 

[Jay]

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Hehe - sorry Paxo, I couldn't resist it! Will let you stew for a while and then I'll change it for something more appropriate!

Regards

 

[Paxo]

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Has anyone access to engineering paraphenalia, lathe, miller, drill etc? I do work in the trade, but will be applying for voluntary redundancy this week in an effort to get out of manufacturing, and so will lose the opportunity to machine my own bits for a dive light unless I invest in some hobbyist sized stuff. I was thinking of a billet aluminium head unit and umbilical battery pack and would certainly need to machine the head unit, thread and O-ring groove it etc.

By the way, Jay, if I had admin rights over a site, I don't think I could resist ripping it out of people occasionally, but have a penk at
http://www.networkingfiles.com/Download/BlackWidow.htm
Welcome to the Darker side of Paxo!!!!
We has it, and we knows how to use it!
Please, please don't let this Fat Middle Aged Bastard stew too long. (humour intended)

 

[Paxo]

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OOPS!! Should have looked before I leapt, now shouldn't I?
The man's done gone changed me back, cheers Jay!

 

[Jay]

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No problems Paxo - don't worry, the 'Junior Member' is a temporary thing and will automatically change when you have made 15 posts. Not long to go now!

Regards

 

[Dominic]

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Quote[/b] ]Quote: from Dave Williamson on 12:27 pm on May 24, 2002
So how's the search going Dom, can I benefit from some of your research once I have the book in my sweaty palms?

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Well, the thing is, I'm not going for the deluxe version just yet: I decided to take the book's advice and knock up a cheap & cheerful version before I went on to bigger and better things.

So when I went on my cannister parts shopping spree, I got everything I needed by calling in at Maplin, B&Q and Wickes.

I now have a length of sturdy drainpipe with some end-thingies that I drilled holes in, to take the switch and cable gland, and a maglite with a similarly drilled hole.

I'm hoping to get an hour or so of burn time out of it... It might just take bigger batteries, which would more than double the life, but I'm not sure yet.

I'll post a photo or two when I have time, just so everyone can have a good laugh at how primitive it is I'll also let you know how well it survives 35 meters at Stoney on Wednesday...

 

[Dominic]

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Update:
I would (This is humiliating) normally be in bed by now (Work does that to you).
However, I just wanted to log in and say:
The £100 worth of plumbing and electrical gear I bought and prepared over the weekend has now been assembled into a harmonious whole. I have built myself a cannister light. So Ner!
It looks exactly like what it is: A length of drainpipe blocked up at bothends. But it works. Hopefully, it'll be waterproof, too...