Dive light by John Van de Broek and Mike Dolson
Email: Mike Dolson
We have recently finished making our own cannister lights. I have attached some photos and drawings for the mounting bracket. The bracket is secured to the side of a scuba tank, using a standard cam strap and the battery cannister is secured to the bracket by two SS hose clamps.
Complete Assembly (PDF) |
 |
Lighthead |
Switch and cable connection |
|
Inside the lead acid accumulators and the switch at the top cap |
 |
 |
 |
|
- The cam strap has a series of slots and an adjustment screw so it accommodates from a 70 to 120 cu ft tank range quite nicely. The SS metal band does not stretch like the nylon tank straps do. I have single 80's and twin 70's, so it works well for me. We tried the cannister in front, but didn't like it. We found it hung too low and bumped into things.
- We chose to put the switch in the cannister because there was lots of space. We found the small switches (compact) had too low horse power rating and would weld on from the in rush current. The unit I photographed has a 1 3/4 horse power DC rated switch, that work well. By placing the cannister switch down, I can reach back under the cannister and switch on/off easily. I will be changing the handle, to a larger SS model to act as a guard over the toggle switch.
- The batteries (accumulators) are 2x 6V 10Ah lead acid gel cells.
- 2 orings would be better, next generation we will have two.
The pictures are also available in larger size if necessary.