Anybody had the X5 to depth?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

The X5 is such a wonderful compact little light that I intend to clip one in a pocket on my next dive trip. The beam pattern is beautiful under water! I know the drawbacks, but I am only considering it as a backup, initially in fresh water (cave diving) where it will see at least 100 ft.

Anybody experimented with this yet?


gerG

 

[McGizmo]

Gerg,

I took one to 30' on a dive in Maui and there was no problem. My gut feeling is that 100' won't blow the O-ring but who knows how well mechanically sealed the LED's are? Have you contacted Inova to see if they have any empirical data? Fresh water might not damage the electronics too much but if you blow the LED's loose, will you trust the light again?

On second thought, go for it and let us know

 

[brightnorm]

I would also be concerned that the Inova is turned on by UNscrewing the bezel, rather than tightening it as with nearly all other dive lights. On land this is no problem, but for diving perhaps shortening (filing down) the pin to reduce the counterclockwise turns
might be prudent.

Brightnorm

 

[Brock]

I have had mine to about 50 feet without a problem, but 100 would make me nervous with its switch setup. So you should take it and let us know

 

[McGizmo]

Dang, Brock beat me by 20'! I want you to understand that I wasn't scared of going deeper. It's just that there was this sand in the way. gerG, I think this is a test you were destined to perform. We'll put our concerns for the switch aside and let you do what needs to be done You can count on our support and your findings will be followed up with either "I told you so." or "Knew it all along". Be brave and please carry back up.

 

[Darell]

Yeah, take an Arc AAA down there with you too. You at least have a small amount of light for sure. And there won't be a Li battery to explode on you...

May the light be with you.

I get giddy when I think about multi-Luxeon dive lights that I'm sure are JUST round the corner.

 

[txwest]

I'm glad this came up about lights & depth. Maybe some of you divers out there can answer this. The PT Tec40, which is a plastic light with a plastic lens, is rated to 2,000 feet. I don't know the pressure @ 2,000', but I bet it's a lot. How does this light get rated for that depth? TX

 

[McGizmo]

TX,
As I understand it, they send test divers down to 2000 feet with the light and explicit instructions to come back and let them know if there are any problems with the light. Since they haven't had one diver return, they are confident in their claim.

And now, for the real answer.........See next post

 

[Mr Ted Bear]

Most of the dive equipment manfacures use a chamber to simulated depth. 2000 feet is appx 66 atm or 980 psi.

Every year, I have my video camera housings checked to 200 - 250' as a matter of routine.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Dang, I thought they used calibrated dive turtles...

I always get a bit skeptical when the depth rating gets silly. If they say "tested to 2000 ft" I am cool with that. Claiming "rated to 2000 ft" is a different matter. It is almost worth buying one of their lights just to call them up to claim that your light blew at 1500 ft and see what they do. For any non-divers that have followed our silliness this far, nitrogen narcosis starts about 150 ft. That is good, because you will barely notice the convulsions due to oxygen toxicity happening between 200 and 250.

There is no question that the X5 is going to depth with me, I was just curious whether there had been a failure yet. Guess I get to be the first!

Has anybody thrown a live lithium cell into the water yet? I am curious about this explosion potential. Sounds like a must try to me.

and another thing:
<begin Homer dream voice>
mmmmm....multi Luxeon dive light...kkkkkkkk...
(drools on keyboard)

gerG

 

[McGizmo]

gerG,
The lithium battery thing might be dangerous! Take a camera and get good shots I am also curious about it. I also understand that sodium is a bozo no no in water. I always wondered what would happen if a sodium filled valve (like Porsche and other HP cars use) were thrown in the ocean. When the valve rusts away, what happens?

Let us know how the Inova fairs and then of course you will need to retest the new version for us; auto on at 60'?

BTW, since TPA (Turtle Protection Act) our flippered friends have been very selective about certain assignments.

 

[Darell]

Wow. You mean nobody has tossed a Li into the bathtub yet? Stand by - I'm on it.... after I find my goggles and blast shield.

 

[Wits' End]

Has Darell posted since he went to throw the batteries in the tub?

 

[McGizmo]

Yeah, the cow showed up in another thread.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by McGizmo:
TX,
As I understand it, they send test divers down to 2000 feet with the light and explicit instructions to come back and let them know if there are any problems with the light. Since they haven't had one diver return, they are confident in their claim.

And now, for the real answer.........See next post

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Ha-Haw, Haw, Haowoooo! You KILL me, 'Giz!

 

[hotfoot]

For the heckofit, I threw 2 used Energizer CR123s into the can, fresh after I depleted them on an Arc LS. Left them to "react" for a coupla hours at about 12cm depth - nothing. No fizz, no bubbles, no nothing. I thought there was supposed to be this "white foam of death" phenomenon?

After that, I carefully picked them up with tongs and binned them. Has anyone had more dramatic results? Dead E2 CR123s don't seem very deviant when tossed in a little water like that - dunno if the pressures at deep diving have any sort of effect...

 

[txwest]

When I asked how this plastic light with it's plastic lens could be good to 2000', I didn't mean how do they test it. I meant how does it stand up to the presure. TX

 

[McGizmo]

TX,
It's a function of the tensile and comptession strength of the plastic and how the pressure load is distributed in the design. You could possibly drive your car over the light. Mr. Ted Bear calculated 980 PSI which can be handled by many synthetic materials of proper design and thickness. Again, hopefully a more enlightened and intelligent answer will follow.

 

[txwest]

I can see the body takeing the pressure, but not the lens. Maybe it's a lot tougher than I give it credit for. TX

 

[McGizmo]

TX,
Is the lens flat or domed? If it's domed the strength is increased a bunch.