How to make a waterproof cable for a custom monitor housing?

Hi,

I am planning to build in the future a custom monitor/recorder housing and I need help in making the cable connecting the monitor housing to the camera housing.

I need to be able to connect/disconnect the cable from the camera housing easily. I mean don't want the cable to be permanently attached & glued between the two housings. The cable could be an HDMI or BNC.

Any ideas?

Why not buy something pre-made by the housing manufactuer of your camera?

Nauticam sell (for example) their HDMI cable set, I think its a M16 thread.

Hi Richard,

The camera housing is a custom one & I can make the required thread but I was wondering if any one has attempted DIY cable to connect a video monitor/recorder to a camera housing.

I am attaching a simple sketch (drawn on my iPad) to explain the options.

Have you thought about using EO connectors?

http://wet-connect.com/pages/hm/hm_all.html

These guys will cover just about any underwater connector you may want http://seaconworldwide.com/products/electrical-wet-mate/wet-con/

I used an old Ikelite bulkhead and strobe connector to connect a monitor to my camera housing. You'll need to carefully cut away the plastic/rubber protector sheath from the micro HDMI plug and enlarge the bores of both the bulkhead and male plug slightly so the plug can pass through. The plug and cable pass right throught the housing, and when removed can be sealed using an Iklelite bulkhead plug. You might need an HDMI adapter inside the housing to connect the micro lead to your camera.

I know this is an old post but i was wondering if lionfish could tell me how you got the connector past the seal at the top of the cable side of the bulkead (labelled as ikelite male strobe plug). I have looked at one and it doesn't look like the micro plug will push through.

also, has this connection worked out well in the long term?

thanks for any input you can give.

Reading the notes on the picture he enlarged the hole to make the plug fit through the part. So some grinding drilling and or filing I guess.

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I should have been more specific. I understand that the metal portion of the connector might have to be drilled out. I am talking about the small rubber seal at the end of the cable as it enters the metal portion. That seal is about the size of the cable and not anywhere close to the size of the hdmi connector. The seal is what makes the entire cable waterproof.

I am trying to understand if the seal was stretched, cut and pushed back together, or even removed completely and sealed with a sealant or potting material.

I'm trying to not reinvent the wheel. Any ideas are appreciated..

BTW, I trying to go from an ikelite d7000 housing to a diy monitor case.

Thanks

O i understand. Wouldn't know. When i resealed diving light cables I would just roll the oring up. There are also cable glands without orings. Check Dev Pein in Germany. Last idea: Can you not pass the cable through and solder the connector?

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it is possible to pass through and resolder but the hdmi micro cable has something like 19 connections in a plug that is 6.4 mm wide. Really hard to do properly and not destroy the signal.

I'm hoping casbba will respond so I can see how he did it.

I just realised then you would have a fixed connection as well. You can also try a pm (personal message) the link is found in his user profile or name

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My apologies for the very slow reply to your query, I've only just revisited this post. Hopefully I can answer your question by explaining via the attached photo.

Yes, the internal diameters of 1 and 2 need to be enlarged to allow the (pared down) micro HDMI plug to pass through them. However, the hole at the end of 2 needs to be kept small enough to retain the s/s washer 3.

Washer 3 is cut and twisted to allow it to be placed over the cable, then twisted back into shape.

I was able to stretch the rubber seal (4) over the micro HDMI plug, once the plastic sheathing on the plug had been carefully pared away. A little soapy water on the seal probably helped.

I've never had any leaks with it, the cap (2) can be screwed down quite tightly onto seal (4) to ensure it's waterproof.

The only problem I've had was where the cable emerged from the cap (2). It's a flex point and the wiring eventually failed. I addressed this by adding a piece of rigid 90 degree plastic tubing (from a garden irrigation system).

I hope this helps but let me know if you need more info.