Date: 1/28/03
Words and Photos: Andy Zarlengo

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Waterproof Camera Housing Photo Gallery

DISCLAIMER: The camcorder housing described below is a homemade device that may or may not keep your camcorder dry. Improper construction may cause the device to leak and damage or destroy the camcorder inside. Build and use this device at your own risk. This article is offered for informational purposes only and eWake, Inc. is not responsible for any damages occurring as a result of following any instructions herein.

Here is what you'll need to put together your video housing and where you're likely to find everything. All of these items shouldn't cost more than about $60.

Hardware Store

• 6-inch diameter PVC pipe, 12 inches longer than camcorder
• Two 6-inch diameter PVC pipe couplers
• Clear double-thick Plexiglas, four inches wide and two inches longer than camcorder
• Single or double strength piece of Plexiglas at least 7" x 7"
• Single or double strength piece of glass at least 7" x 7"
• Plastic Welder two-part epoxy
• PVC cement
• J.B. Weld
• Three hasp-style clamps
• Two standard drawer handles
• Silicone sealer
• 7/32-inch wooden dowel
• Threaded rod at least six inches long
• Two nuts and extra wide washers to fit threaded rod
• Six inches of 3/8-inch PVC

Hobby Shop

• Two 5/16-inch diameter plastic rods, two inches longer than camcorder
• Two push rods
• Push rod connector
• Ball link assembly

Seal/gasket Shop

• Rubber O-ring, approximately 6 1/2" inner diameter

Home Brewing Shop

• Two water-tight spigots

Wakeboard Shop

• Binding thumb bolt

Start by cutting the 6-inch piece of PVC down to a length that is about 12 inches longer than your camcorder. You can use a smaller diameter pipe if your camcorder is small. Cut both ends of the pipe so they are as square as possible. A table saw, hacksaw, Dremel tool or band saw would work.

The camcorder will sit on a sliding tray. The sliding camera tray is made out of double thick Plexiglas. Clear is the best choice and it can be painted later. The mounting tray is four inches wide and will be as long as the camcorder plus an inch or two. The length will be trimmed further later. If necessary, cut the Plexiglas to size and set it inside the PVC.

Once cut, wrap the tray in saran wrap or aluminum foil. This will keep the glue from sticking to it. Use the 5/16-inch diameter plastic rods for the guide rails, which will go on top of the tray. For glue, use Plastic Welder two-part epoxy or something similar that sets in about 15 minutes and has a huge PSI rating since you don't want any parts to come unglued. Set the tray in the housing and epoxy the rods in place on top of the tray securing them to the PVC walls. Try not to glue the rods to the tray.

After drying, carefully slide out the tray, making sure not to disturb the position of the rods. Now you can glop on the epoxy to further secure the rods in place. It helps to rough up the surface of the rods and housing beforehand to get a super tight bond. Allow the epoxy to completely dry before test fitting your tray. If the tray fit is too tight, sand away the sides of the tray a little at a time. If it is too loose, add some epoxy to the bottom of the rods.

The end caps of the housing are made from couplers used to connect pieces of PVC pipe. For the front one, cut about 1/2 inch off one end. This is the end that will eventually fit onto the housing. Cut about 1 1/4 inches off of the other end. If you prefer to make a visor on this end, simply cut away at the PVC with a Dremel tool rather than cutting the entire 1 1/4 inches off.

For the rear end cap, cut one end just enough to leave a 1/2-inch flange. Make sure you cleanly cut this piece off because you'll hang on to it to use later as a clamping ring. Do not cut the other end of the rear end cap or sand it in any way. You need this edge to be perfect. Sand all cut areas smooth with an electric sander or by hand. These cut ends do not have to be square.

The front lens is made of glass. Single or double strength glass will work. Single is easier to cut at home. If your local glass shop will cut the circle for you, it's highly recommended that you have that done. I cut it myself, but it took a lot of luck.

To cut it yourself, use the housing for the template. Trace around the outside edge of the housing PVC using a glasscutter, etching the glass. Score the glass from the circle to the outside of the glass piece, as shown in the picture, to make it easy to break off. Use a pair of pliers to snap the sections away. If your circle breaks, start over. This is a trial and error deal.

Check the fit of the glass by placing it into the front end cap. It should rest on the inside of the cap against the flange inside the cap piece. If it is too tight or won't slip in at all, grind away some of the glass with a Dremel tool or sand the inside of the PVC cap to get it to fit.

For the rear lens, the process is the same except you will be using Plexiglas. Single or double strength is fine. Trace the PVC with a razor blade or Exacto knife and score it with the blade or knife in the same pattern as you did with the glass lens. It helps to start with a piece of Plexiglas that is close to being the same size as the circle. You can also cut the Plexiglas with a jigsaw, which is much easier. Once again, make sure it fits inside your rear cap, trimming it where needed.

Use silicone adhesive to secure the glass lens into the front end cap. Marine silicone adhesive or aquarium adhesive works great. Apply a bead of silicone on the inside flange of the cap and secure the glass in place.

Secure the cap to the housing using PVC cement. Push the two pieces together until the housing hits the glass and flange. Do not hammer on it or you will break the glass. When dry, apply a bead of silicone to the inside and outside edges where the glass and PVC meet. This assures a watertight seal. Allow this assembly to completely set and cure.

Now you need to cut the PVC housing and Plexiglas tray to fit the camcorder. Slide in your tray and place your camcorder on it until the camcorder hits the glass. From the rearmost part of the camcorder, measure back 1 1/4 inches and mark the housing. This is where you will cut it down to size. Do the same with the Plexiglas tray. The tray and housing should be flush when the tray is fully installed.

The rear lens requires a retainer ring made out of a piece of the 6-inch PVC. It only needs to be about 1/4 inch in length. Cut it and make sure at least one end is squared off. Use silicone to secure the Plexiglas on the inside of the long end of the rear end cap. Glue the retainer ring against the Plexiglas using Plastic Welder two-part epoxy. Add a bead of silicone on the inside and outside as you did with the front lens. Allow this assembly to dry and cure.

The rear cap needs something to which it can be clamped, which is the clamping ring. The clamping ring is made from the piece you cut off the front cap earlier (remember, I told you to save that). The uncut, factory end of this ring will go toward the rear to match up with the rear end cap. This will ensure you get a perfectly square fit. Do not sand this end of the ring or you may compromise the sealing surfaces.

Slide the rear end cap onto the housing until the housing is about one inch from hitting the Plexiglas retainer ring. Mark this position on the outside of the housing. If you are going to use an extra rear LCD screen, the internal gap needed will be larger than one inch in order to accommodate it. Secure the clamping ring to the housing with the uncut, factory end of the ring set to the depth of the mark you made on the housing. Make sure the factory edge of the ring is facing the rear of the housing.

In order to seal the rear end cap, fit an O-ring on the outside of the housing right next to the clamping ring. It is best to take the housing PVC to the store and get them to fit it correctly. You should not stretch an O-ring more than 5% of its original size or it may not work properly. The O-ring should be available from any company that sells seals or gaskets. I could not find a hardware store that had one this large.

The clamps for holding the rear end cap in place are a hasp style available at a hardware store. The ones I used were 4 1/4 inch x 1 1/4 inch, but you could probably use smaller ones.

Using the cut scraps from the end caps, make three square blocks. These will be glued to the housing providing the extra surface area needed to mount the clamps in a level position. In order to evenly space them around the housing, take the outer circumference of the housing, divide it by three and mark each block position so they are that far apart.

Mount the blocks to the housing next to the clamping ring using PVC cement and let them dry. Mount the clamps following the instructions that came with them. Make sure the screws are short enough that they do not pop through to the inside of the housing. If your screws are too long, buy smaller ones or use washers to take up the extra space. If they do pop through, silicone the inside where the screw came through.

For the handles, I used plastic drawer handles available at any hardware store. Mount the handles to the outside of the housing by drilling through the housing and running the screws from the inside out. Apply silicone to the screw threads before installing them. Once installed, silicone the inside and outside where the screws go through.

While that's drying, mount the camera on the tray by positioning it in the center of the installed tray. Slide the camera forward until it hits the glass. Carefully slide out the camera and tray making sure that they don't move. Turn them over and mark on the Plexiglas tray where the tripod-mounting socket is on the camcorder (this is why we used clear Plexiglas). Drill a hole through the tray at this spot.

To secure the camera to the tray, use a binding or fin thumb bolt. The threads should be the same and you'll be able to easily remove and install the camera without tools. However, you may have to cut the bolt to size. The camcorder and tray need to have a snug fit to each other.

There is an additional hole under the camera just forward of the tripod-mounting socket. Mark on the tray where this hole is and drill. Put a piece of 7/32-inch dowel through the hole and into the camcorder. You will probably have to sand the dowel to get it to fit, but this works out well because a snug fit will keep the camera steady.

I fabricated two switches to control the camcorder's power and record buttons. The controls were fabricated out of plastic spigots that I found at a home brewing store. I turned them into levers by cementing threaded rods inside each spigot. Use J.B. Weld two-part adhesive for cementing the studs into the spigots.

Slide a piece of 3/8-inch PVC onto the spigot. The PVC pipe should be just slightly longer than the spigot itself so that you can eventually tighten a nut and washer onto the threaded rod and tighten the levers. The lever may need to be sanded down in order to fit into the 3/8-inch PVC. If so, make sure not to rough up the part of the lever where the O-ring is seated. The O-ring at the end is what makes it waterproof.

Solder each of the nuts to a washer. Thread the nut/washer combination onto the threaded rods. Tighten it to set the tension on the lever. You don't want it too tight, just tight enough to be waterproof. Test the tightness by trying to suck air through the fitting. Once set, drill a hole through the nut and stud. This hole will eventually be occupied by a cotter pin in order to keep the lever from loosening. You'll need to take the nut/washer off in order to install each lever assembly into the housing.

Drill holes in the housing for the lever assemblies and cement them in at an angle that will allow the lever to work the desired controls. Be sure the levers themselves clear the housing when turned. Use Plastic Welder two-part adhesive to secure the levers in place.

Each lever will have a push rod connected to it with appropriate bends and tweaks to fit the particular camcorder model in use. This is where you'll have to do some customization on your own. Be sure the internal control arm assemblies don't get in the way of the camcorder as it slides in and out of the housing. Here is what worked for my particular situation.

The upper control arm assembly controls the record/pause button, which just needs to be depressed. I drilled a hole through the PVC as well as the plastic lever and threaded bar (which both go through the middle of the PVC) to hold one end of the push rod. Once I had the hole drilled, I simply added a 90-degree bend to that end of the push rod and slid it into the hole. It was tight enough that I was confident that it would hold. I also had to cut away some of the PVC so that the push rod would be able to move back and forth when the lever was turned.

Another 90-degree bend at the other end of the push rod gives it what it needs to depress the record/pause button when the lever is turned. Finally, since the push rod is essentially just hanging from the lever, I had to add something that would keep it from swinging from side to side and coming off of the button. Therefore, I glued a piece of plastic on the underside of the PVC right next to the push rod. This still allows the arm to swing out of the way in order to remove the camcorder, but when the housing is set level, the arm swings into place. I also added a spring to the control arm to pull it back into place after pushing the button.

The lower control arm assembly controls the camcorder power switch, which needs to be moved up and down. The control arm assembly consists of four pieces; the ball link male end (black), the ball link female end (white), the push rod arm and the push rod connector. To attach the assembly to the camcorder, drill a small hole in the camcorder power switch and screw the ball link male end into it. I added some J.B. Weld to make sure it wouldn't come apart. The ball link female end is epoxied to the push rod, which is bent to fit the lever position in regard to the camera button. The push rod is attached to the lever washer using a pushrod connector. The ball link female end snaps right onto the male ball, which is sticking out of the camcorder power switch.

Most camcorders do not have rear LCD screens. Therefore, in order to point the camera at your subject, you'll be looking through the camera housing at your subject. This won't be super precise, but, with practice, you'll figure out how to keep the camera pointed where you want it.

If you want to take the extra step of installing an LCD screen in the back of the housing, that can be done too. It will need to be affixed inside the rear end cap and will most likely require an additional lever to work the power switch. Before you invest in an LCD screen, make sure it's going to work by testing it behind the Plexiglas in bright sunlight. It may be tough to find a reasonably priced screen that will be bright enough to work in normal conditions.

You can paint the housing however you please. Sanding the housing with 220-grit sandpaper is recommended to get the paint to stick. Don't paint or sand where the two ends clamp together. Be sure to keep it clean and free of nicks and scratches.

I tested the housing by submerging it for six hours and working all the controls underwater for an hour. The controls worked perfectly and the housing remained watertight. I recommend you do the same before taking it out to the lake.

I would like to thank Dave Williams for his website and the opportunity for me to share my ideas with the rest of the WakeWorld community. I would also like to thank Todd Kennel for giving me some ideas and supplying me with the PVC materials for this project. And last, thanks to my wife, Tracey, for letting me vanish in my workshop every night and filling the room with plastic dust and stinky epoxy.

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