Underwater Housing for miniDV

Step 6 Getting there.

The attached image shows what the housing should look like just after gluing the stationary cap to the housing body (simple PVC cement just as if you were doing some plumbing in the house).

I'm attaching a repeat graphic here for emphasis and so I can talk about mounting the latches. I went a little overboard and routed some flats on the couplings in the locations of the latches so they would sit flat. I'm not sure if this was all that necessary but it adds a fine detail. If you don't have a router, you could probably do it with a rough file or a belt sander. Just make sure you clamp the cap to the housing so you're flattening the same spot between the cap and clamping ring in all three clamping locations.

Notice that in all cases, the mounting screws for the latches do not penatrate into the sealed housing. They are always backed by another layer. The 3/8" long screws will just barely get through the first 1/4" pipe layer.

I specified 6/32 x 3/8" machine screws but you could use sheet metal screws. It really shouldn't matter. Just make sure you pre-drill with a bit just barely big enough to get the threads started. WATCH the depth. I put a 1/4" depth stop on my bit to make sure I didn't ruin the whole project with one slip. It's a good idea to put a drop of epoxy in the holes and on the threads just before final assembly in case water makes it in.

I don't recall why I mounted the latches to the cap and the catches to the housing. I'd probably do it the other way around because I have to hold all three latches wide open as I'm putting the cap down.

Comments

[Pcolaboy]

I'm going to have to build with a 6" diameter tube unfortunately. Will the latches that you suggested work with this size pipe? I'm having an extraordinarily difficult time in finding a length of this less than 20'. I guess I need to cruise around for some construction sites and ask for the leftovers? Thanks very much for your blog and awesome information!!! Pcolaboy

[Bobby_M]

Sorry, I didn't see this.. 6" is pretty hard to find because typical home owners have no use for this stuff. It's going to be more expensive to build and bulky to dive with. I'd start looking around for a smaller camera maybe on the used market. If you really want to build it, I'd suggest using 4 latches instead of 3. Good luck!

[kurtck]

Pcolaboy, I am also building a 6" PVC version. I found a local plumbing supply store that sold me 1 foot of 6" SCD 40 PVC for $8. Perhaps you could search locally for plumbing supply stores and find a shorter length. Best, Kurtck