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Diy underwater lights
Ok so this is my first DIY write up, so please bear with me.
First off I dont know if I have formelly introduced myself. My name is George and I live in southern Oregon and first fell in love with ponds at a freinds house when I was about 9 and we played G.I. Joe around the pond. Anyways enough of that and on with the show!!
I got this design off the R.O.V forums for a simple underwater light.
first we need to gather parts. We need;
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...ightparts1.jpg
a 2" cleanout in your abs plumbing section this 2" cleanout needs to slip inside a 2" coupler. we also need an O-ring that will fit inside the 2" coupler. Next we need a plexiglass disc that will also fit inside the 2" coupler
when put together,
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...ginstalled.jpg
You should come up with this.
Next we will put it all together with abs glue ad you should have come out looking like this. http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...75/clamped.jpg
Now let that dry for around 2 hrs and move onto the socket side of things we need to have a 2" cleanout cap and run wires into it like so.http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...runthrough.jpg
I have tried several times to get these pictures resized to no avail...arghh
Onward, we need to solder on a socket, I believe it is a gu3 base?, onto the wires we just installed.
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...eredsocket.jpg
Now take a coke break and then take the finished peice out of your clamp, you should have something that resembles this.
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...dhousing-1.jpg
now back to the cap and socket, you will need to 5 min epoxy the socket into the cap. Make sure that you have the bulb pressed into the socket before you epoxy the socket into the cap for centering puposes, pour your mixed epoxy into the square part of the cap and then pull the wires so that the socket ends up encased in the epoxy and temporarily screw the finished housing onto the cap so the bulb stays somewhat centered.when the epoxy dries you should have this.
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...ketepoxied.jpg
now install your bulb, take teflon tape and tape up the threads of the cap. Screw the cap with the bulb installed into the housing and vualla you have a 12v 20 watt water tight underwater light.
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...ishedlight.jpg
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Hi George, nice work with the casing. Do you have any problem with running halogen light in the housing ? I though it would generate quite a bit of heat internally. LED light would be a good replacement.
I don't have any cable in the water with my pond lighting, however I notice the internal copper core changed to back when the light stop working. I use UV resistant garden cable and thought it would last more than 2 years.
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Issues of interest. Thanks for the info.
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Is that 12 volt? The housing looks very slick.
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Otter,
It states "12v 20 watt water tight underwater light" In answer to your question.
Oh and I agree, pretty slick.
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May I ask where you found the plexi-glass lenses? I have never had much luck cutting plexi-glass cleanly. It either melts or cracks around the edges and that is just doing straight cuts.
Thanks
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anytime you cut plexiglass you should put masking tape on it on both sides before cutting it.
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I have to admit I am a major diyer lol cause im 13 and i need to save as much money as i can but diy lights now that seems sketchy to me becuase if theres a leak zaaaaaaaaap
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:lalala::lalala::lalala::lalala::lalala::lalala:I think i will try my hand at these i suck at electric wire but oh well cant hear myself saying dont do it XD