Dive Light Components

Hi All,

I've been throwing around the idea of building my own canister light for a while. I am not new to DIY projects but am new to lighting. I was wondering if someone could break down the components of an LED canister light. Want to get an idea of what I would need. I am also open to suggestions as to what parts would be best for such a project. Thanks.

Basically, a canister dive light consists of:
- a battery pack with proper protection electronics in case you use Li-ion batteries
- a housing for the battery pack (cannister) , typically a cylindrical shape with end caps at top and bottom
- a cable gland to pass the cable throuhg one of the end caps of the canister
- a cable from the canister to the light head. depending on the electrical configuration this can be 2 wires (electronics and switch in light head) or more depending on how you wire the electronics, where you put them and how you switch the light
- a cable gland to get the cable inside the light head
- a driver to control the current through the LED(s)
- a heatsink to move the heat away from the LED and preverably to the housing so you can use the water as cooling
- Led(s)
- optics to focus the light of the LED
- a housing for the led, heatsink, electronics
- a flat lens in front of the optics
- o-ring(s) under/around the flat lens to keep the water out of the housing
- a switching mechanism, e.g. a toggle switch with rubber booth, a magnetic switch using hall effect sensor or read contact, piezo switch, mechanical switch by rotating 2 contacts away and against eachother.
- a proper battery charger compatible with the battery pack

there's a sticky thread in this section that has good links to several of the mentionned parts, I suggest you check this thread first for some suggestions of parts.
DX.com and kaidomain.com are popular for cheap electronics, leds and optics. taskled.com is known for powerfull quality electronics.
agro glands are more or less the standard for good glands due to the optional strain relief.
battery packs is a difficult issue depending on your location. the US websites have ridiculous shipping rates outside the US.

regarding housings, this depends on if you have a lathe or not, if you want to use an existing host or build your own from scratch,... maglites are popular for light heads.

regards,
Johan

jspeybro said:

Basically, a canister dive light consists of:..................
regards,
Johan

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Thanks a lot, pretty much covers it.

You can save effort by buying and LED module with integrated driver and reflector. Also using a modded Maglite head.

350xfire said:

You can save effort by buying and LED module with integrated driver and reflector. Also using a modded Maglite head.

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I like your light head in your Avatar. Also spoke to you about canisters. What are the specs on the light head?

newman_diver said:

I like your light head in your Avatar. Also spoke to you about canisters. What are the specs on the light head?

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That was an old head I made to house a 10W HID. Your best bet is to use a Maglite as they are fairly simple to mod and cheap to get.