[PSUBS-MAILIST] Lights

Tue May 13 09:02:53 EDT 2014

I used Trustfire lights for a season on Snoopy but the experience was all
around bad. I bought two, one of which did not work due to a faulty
connection at the endcap (which acts like a switch). The factory shipped me
a new end-cap that fixed the problem. In fresh water they worked well, but
when I went to Islamorada last year they lasted less than a day in the salt
water. After just hours, one stopped working altogether and both lights
were very visibly corroded. Silly me, I hadn't thought this through. The
Trustfire lights close the circuit when you screw in the endcap on the
handle. They use the light body itself as a conductor, like a car uses its
chassis. I think the issue is that if you put two such lights in salt
water, you will get stray currents between them.

On next week's dive I'll be testing new lights, which are LED flood lights
intended for tractors or off road vehicles. I've been really impressed with
how solid these are. They are wired with two cables, rather than using the
light body as a ground. Second, they have a little screw that serves no
visible purpose, but which when removed allows you to fill them with
mineral oil. It took a while to get the last bubbles out, but with patience
you can fill these with oil and remove all bubbles in about an hour. The
front plastic has a little give to absorb the compression if I have any
bubbles left, but I think I have none. To fill them I used a syringe with a
"dispenser needle" which is a blunt syringe needle you use for filling
things rather than giving someone an injection. The lights are IP67, so
supposedly water-tight, but my only mod was to reinforce the cable gland
with some epoxy. We shall see how they work, but my hopes are up, I think
these might finally be the ideal sub lights and can be used virtually off
the shelf. I recommend not buying them until Snoopy returns from next
week's dive, but here is the link if you want to take a look in the
meantime.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/Electrical/Lights/DC-Mobile-Equipment-Lights/12-24-VDC-3120-LUMEN-16-LED-UTILITY-FLOOD-LIGHT-12-999-B.axd

Best,

Alec

On Tue, May 13, 2014 at 7:56 AM, swaters via Personal_Submersibles <
personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:

> Thanks Alan,
> I have been searching too for some kind of easy and cheap solution.
> Thanks,
> Scott Waters
>
>
>
>
> Sent from my U.S. Cellular© Smartphone
>
> Alan James via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
> wrote:
> Hi James,
> I bought 4 dive lights off deal extreme, but not a trustfire. This was in
> addition
> to 4 x 900 lumen torches I had bought previously.
> To date I have found them unreliable, mainly in the switching function.
> Most of them
> have 3 to 5 modes, which only complicates things. I have been doing
> searches for
> 12V torches or flood lights, to make things easy. My latest posting of  a
> link to a 12V flood light was
> the best I've found so far ($20-).
>
>
> http://www.dx.com/p/ip67-waterproof-10w-700lm-6500k-white-light-led-spotlight-underwater-lamp-silver-216504#.U2rDL_mSxLY
>
> There is room in it to put multiple high powered leds & it looks
>   like the thread in the back is compatible with a 12mm Blue Globe cable
> gland. There
> are a multitude of reflectors on the Deal extreme site to choose from.
> There is also space  at the front to put in an oring grove.
> I'm sure we could come up with some good cheap underwater lighting options
> under $100-
> Alan
>
>   ------------------------------
>  *From:* James Frankland via Personal_Submersibles <
> personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
> *To:* Personal Submersibles General Discussion <
> personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
> *Sent:* Monday, May 12, 2014 10:06 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Lights
>
> Hi Scott,
>
> I just bought a some trustfire diving lights (there was a discussion on
> them a while ago).  Drilled and tapped a hole in the base, screwed in a
> blue globe gland and they were good to go.  Very easy to make and they are
> super bright.
> Regards
> James
>
> On 9 May 2014 20:18, swaters via Personal_Submersibles <
> personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
>
>  Thanks Emile!
> -Scott Waters
>
>
>
>
>  Sent from my U.S. Cellular© Smartphone
>
>  Emile van Essen via Personal_Submersibles <
> personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
>  Scott,
>
> Attached the drawing how I made my lamps. It is open source now..
>
> I purchased the glass and reflectors from a German webshop .
> http://shop.dev-pein.de/Selbstbau/Glaeser/
>
> Regards, Emile
>
>  ------------------------------
>  *Van:* Personal_Submersibles [mailto:
> personal_submersibles-bounces at psubs.org] *Namens *via
> Personal_Submersibles
> *Verzonden:* donderdag 8 mei 2014 1:06
> *Aan:* Personal Submersibles General Discussion
> *Onderwerp:* Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Lights
>
>  Thanks Emile,
>
>  I have a lathe. Do you have any designs for light housings? Thank for
> the link. I may go that route if I can't get my housings to stop leaking.
>
>  Thanks,
>  Scott Waters
>
>
>  -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Lights
> From: Emile van Essen via Personal_Submersibles
> <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
> Date: Wed, May 07, 2014 11:24 am
> To: "'Personal Submersibles General Discussion'"
> <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
>  Scott,
>
>  I made lamp housings for a while. But now I think it is better to
> purchase lampheads for technical scuba diving.
>  *http://www.gralmarine.com/#!mainlightseng/cyrv*<http://www.gralmarine.com/#!mainlightseng/cyrv>
>   If you own a small lathe you can make them yourself.
>
>  Regards, Emile
>
>   ------------------------------
>  *Van:* Personal_Submersibles [
> *mailto:personal_submersibles-bounces at psubs.org*<personal_submersibles-bounces at psubs.org>]
> *Namens *swaters via Personal_Submersibles
> *Verzonden:* dinsdag 6 mei 2014 22:10
> *Aan:* *personal_submersibles at psubs.org* <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
> *Onderwerp:* [PSUBS-MAILIST] Lights
>
>   Does anyone have a source for underwater pressure rated "can" lights or
> light housings?
>   Mine took on some water during the test. Amount of light was great,
> just need better housings.
>   Thanks,
>   Scott Waters
>
>
>
>
>   Sent from my U.S. Cellular© Smartphone
>  ------------------------------
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