My custom dive lights

[H20doctor]

It Happened .. Its Here !!!! For all of us scuba divers around the world.. And for all of us who make and build dive lights.. And for us divers who buy and use dive lights, this is a cool thing to have our thread..
With that said let's get to know who you are and what do you enjoy about your dive lights ?
I am a diver here in seattle wa.. And I dive 2 times a week... I have been making custom dive lights since 2003 .. I still have my original 35 watt solux canister light..

[300winmag]

Ya I was sure surprised to see it happen, last I heard it was a no and as time passed I checked in the proposal thread and Greta said "It is so". I'm like WTH... when did this happen? At any rate I'm sure happy this is so cause I need another dive light this summer

I dive around the lakes in Alberta and British Columbia, nothing to exciting but I sure do find some neat stuff.

[H20doctor]

here are some pics of my lights and custom fab work .... the first pic is a single cree XRE dive light.



This shot is a custom MCE light useing an optic from deal extreem , and a custom grind job to fit it in ...




I will try to post more of my work later as I just have a little time today ...

[Linger]

H2Odoctor,
I'd be interested to hear what you have to say about focus and beam width. A tight focus reduces back-scatter, reducing the halo around the diver and putting more lumens on target. You mentioned previously that your 3mce worked great with clouded water. What do you use? What optic did you put in that modified m*g?

Best,
L

[H20doctor]

In my 3 mce light I used the 35mm aluminum Reflector from deal... As for the beam on that light its more of a flood.. That covers.. Its not a sigle tight throw.. The other light pictured above has 2 lenses in it. I used the clear polimer lens and dropped it into a stock m#glight reflector.. To obtain a nice tight beam I will use 3 of the 18.5 mm alumin reflectors.. This give the long narrow throw beam under water..

[Linger]

use 3 of the 18.5 mm alumin reflectors.. This give the long narrow throw beam under water..

I don't know what this means. I'll think about it. Thanks.

L

[H20doctor]

It means milli meter... Aluminum reflectors come in many shapes and sizes.. All available at deal extreem..and K domain.. Take a look : )

[steve6690]

In my 3 mce light I used the 35mm aluminum Reflector from deal... As for the beam on that light its more of a flood.. That covers.. Its not a sigle tight throw.. The other light pictured above has 2 lenses in it. I used the clear polimer lens and dropped it into a stock m#glight reflector.. To obtain a nice tight beam I will use 3 of the 18.5 mm alumin reflectors.. This give the long narrow throw beam under water..

I recently got a couple of their 35mm OP reflectors, the ones that are actually 37mm . I filed one down to fit inside an MR11 dive light and used it with an MC-E. It gives a nice tight spot with a slight doughnut hole. It's the best beam I've got to date in that size..
I've used the dx 18.5mm reflectors with xr-e's in a dive light too. very nice beam with lots of spill though. I saw no real difference between the op and the smooth versions, the smooth was maybe a smidgin tighter

[DM51]

H20 doctor... I think you need to decide what this thread is about, before it goes off in different directions.

If it is to be about the new Dive Lighting sub-forum, as the title says, it could be a "welcome to..." or "here I am" type thread for divers who arrive here for the first time, perhaps from other forums. I actually think that might be quite useful, among other things as a thread for explaining to new members where to find different facilities on CPF.

If on the other hand it is for discussion of your own work and projects, then you should either change the thread title and make it clear that is the purpose of it, or start a new thread for that.

If you decide to start a new thread and would like some of the posts moved from this one to the new one, I can do that for you where it is appropriate.

[300winmag]

I think a "welcome all divers" thread would be a good idea no?
We could post where we dive and what we use and so forth, maybe it will even lead to finding some new dive buddies....

[Greta]

That sounds like a good idea... Why not go ahead and get it started!

BTW... this forum was created for those of you who want to specifically discuss lights designed for diving. The staff of CPF is not going to sit in this forum and monitor every single thread/post to make sure it "conforms". This is YOUR forum! I would imagine that you would like to keep it nice and tidy and on topic. So, for the most part, we are going to leave it up to you to keep it that way. If you want to muck it up with off topic and lights that have nothing to do with diving... then you risk having the forum shut down. It's in your hands. Remember that you all wanted a place where searching for dive lights would be easier. Likewise, other members would like to have their searches made easier as well. They shouldn't have to wade through this forum for threads/posts regarding non-dive lights.

[Linger]

thank-you!

sorry for jacking the thread, though I thought i was mostly appropriate at the time I can see how it lead off...

[H20doctor]

My dive Flag Light




Led's on custom heatsink, with Optics

[DM51]

Nice paint job! What head are you going to use for those 4x LEDs?

[H20doctor]

I only use Mag heads for my lights...because they are all aluminum , and they disapate the heat really well when diving here in 52 degree puget sound.

[DM51]

OK, got it. I just asked because the 4x assembly looked bigger than the 3x one in the photo above - optical illusion.

[Pin]

Love that paintjob, and the 4-emitter heads look pretty impressive. Looks similar to what I had in mind when I stumbled across CPF...man you could drop some cash in here! As if diving wasn't already expensive enough!

[H20doctor]

[H20doctor]

this is my triple MCE 2400 lumen Death Light ....






Back Beam Shot

[Johan_nilsson]

Hi
How do you get the mag heads water tight?

[H20doctor]

To water tight a mag head you use silicone , then for the lens you replace it with either a glass lens or an acrylic lens.. Then an oversized oring between the glass lens and the mag Head.

[gav6280]

My dive Flag Light




Led's on custom heatsink, with Optics

What are you using as a battery can?

[H20doctor]

Hey Gav , I am using PVC for the light canisters.. I am going to have a post soon on How to make canisters ...

[gav6280]

In another post you said you made lights for a living?

Have you had any official testing done on them?

I like your work Would you be interested in building me a cannister only, gland or switch not required?

PM,me please.

[gav6280]

Hey Gav , I am using PVC for the light canisters.. I am going to have a post soon on How to make canisters ...

Any updates?

[H20doctor]

just finished this 3 MCE monster


Here is the Beam Shot

[MrNaz]

just finished this 3 MCE monster

Here is the Beam Shot

That beam looks like it'd be *awful* for diving, it's got so much spill, plus the hotspot is large and has a very noticeable donut hole, which even shows up in the detail of the trees.

However, that's a *lot* of light

[H20doctor]

dont be deceived by the picture , although what appears above water is not the same when you get this light underwater... this lens throws a nice tight beam while diving.... i will post some underwater pics this week .. But yes this is too much light for a dive light, anything over a 21 watt HID or 2400 Lumens is too bright

[SUBjohan]

dont be deceived by the picture , although what appears above water is not the same when you get this light underwater... this lens throws a nice tight beam while diving.... i will post some underwater pics this week .. But yes this is too much light for a dive light, anything over a 21 watt HID or 2400 Lumens is too bright

Did you make some under water beamshots? I am curious about that tight beam

Greetz Johan

[H20doctor]

i can send you picture Via email..and a video link.. just give me a Pm.. thank you