Out of all the DIY light designs out there ....

[EAN]

Which ones will not cost as much but still put plenty of LED lighting for cave or wreck diving? I currently have a SL4 modded over to a RC2 module for backup.

Thanks for any help you can give to steer me in the right direction.

EAN

 

[SUBjohan]

Please difine "will not cost as much".

And how do you combine will not cost much and cave diving??

Greetz Johan

 

[EAN]

Please difine "will not cost as much".

And how do you combine will not cost much and cave diving??

Greetz Johan

As in well under a grand. I guess I could have a cheaper DIY primary for now and worry about a more expensive cave light later. I'd need to decide on plans and costs for maybe two designs.

 

[Packhorse]

As far as light heads go for can lights its hard to beat a Maglite based one.
They are cheap to but, easily modified with basic tools and there are plenty of off the shelf parts that can be used in them.

 

[wquiles]

Which ones will not cost as much but still put plenty of LED lighting for cave or wreck diving? I currently have a SL4 modded over to a RC2 module for backup.

Thanks for any help you can give to steer me in the right direction.

EAN

As Packhorse notes something based on the Maglite should work well. If you are interested in making your own, then "The Divelight Companion" by Steve Lindblom's is a great reference to have. If you want something more custom, built by an experienced diver, look at the offerings from Packhorse and others in this sub-forum.

Will

 

[Klem]

Why limit yourself to LED?

For well "under a grand" (about $300) you can build a 35W HID with 100mm collimating reflector and Li-ion battery pack. It will be arguably brighter than any LED light featured on this forum.

 

[SmokedCPU]

Because HID dropped only once could break a costly bulb, just before entering water on a well paid charter, wich is bad for you and you'r buddy

Is there a way to argue that, other that HID output more lumens...

Im almost certain to hammer a nail with my SSR90 PackHorse fashion moded Mag, enter water, and enjoy my lesser Led light.

check up on this board, the number of HID to Led conversion, rather than the opposite. Pack has some made....

Anyway, ive never seen a poor man divin' plus you are used to wreck and cave, must be well geared and rich, or verry poor like me, so why led ?

Give us your expectations, $$ , runtime, possiblity to switch battery between dive, dive conditions, its helpfull

 

[Klem]

I don't particularly have a preference for HID with my preferred day-torch being a converted Maglite 3*Cree XR-E LED (nice and compact).

My brightest torches however, reserved for the darkest dives is a 35W HID...I've done my share of dropping torches and bashing about underwater; around reefs and in wrecks and I've never had a HID globe blow yet. My experience of torch building is more in the occassional accidental flooding. My advice to anyone worried about dropping their expensive torch is...don't drop it. Treat your torches like an underwater camera and it will be fine.

Yes, LED is an elegant, innovative and modular technology - and appears to be posted more on this forum...but HID is yet to be eclipsed by LED.

As for converting HID to LED...that does not make sense. Why would anyone build a 35W HID and later turn it into a less bright LED?

As for name-dropping someone who regularly posts on this forum. No offence to the person mentioned but I'm a poster who doesn't care for anything but the facts, and the polite nature of how we communicate with each other. There is no asymetry of status here...it's just a blog.

 

[Doh!Nut]

I have not seen anyone ripping apart a perfectly good 35W HID, that would be a little foolish, best to sell the complete working light if you dont like it.
But if you have a 10W HID with a blown bulb then I would be inclined to spend the $100 on an LED based replacement rather than a new bulb