VITROVEX Instrument Spheres
VITROVEX instrument spheres are composed of two mated hemispheres that are evacuated and locked into position by a sealant and a protective tape. Once the spheres are sealed, the two hemispheres are kept together by the atmospheric pressure on land and the pressure of the water column when deployed. Instrument housings usually incorporate a vacuum port to facilitate repeated sealing and unsealing actions.
Parting plane sealing faces and ground flats around drill holes are honed to a precise flatness and finished by means of a triple grinding process including milling with the diamond tool, manual smoothing, and polishing where appropriate.
Precision molding of the highest quality glass, skilled craftsmanship, and strict quality control ensure that VITROVEX spheres show very little deviation in shape even under high pressure. VITROVEX spheres are to a very large degree free of imperfections, and hemispheres of the same outside diameter and wall thickness are completely interchangeable, individually replaceable, and require no special alignment during assembly.
Overview
The table below shows the characteristics of the most common floatation spheres and their configuration options. This list shall be regarded as a selection guide rather than a definitive list.
If your preferred glass enclosure is not listed, please get in touch with us.
| Model series | depth rating | outer diameter | wall size | approx. net buoyancy |
approx. weight in air |
protective shell options | vacuum port options | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m | inch | mm | inch | mm | kg | lbs | kg | lbs | |||
| NMS-IS-6700-17 | 6700 | 17 | 432 | 0.55 | 14 | 26 | 57 | 23 | 51 | none, S, RO | VP, VPL, VPS, VPR |
| NMS-IS-7000-13 | 7000 | 13 | 330 | 0.47 | 12 | 11 | 24 | 11 | 24 | none, RO | VP, VPL, VPS, VPR |
| NMS-IS-8000-4.5 | 8000 | 4.5 | 114 | 0.28 | 7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 2 | none | VP, VPL, VPS, VPR |
| NMS-IS-9000-17 | 9000 | 17 | 432 | 0.71 | 18 | 21 | 46 | 27 | 60 | none, S, RO | VPL, VPS, VPR |
| NMS-IS-10000-10 | 10000 | 10 | 250 | 0.35 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 11 | none, RO | VP, VPL, VPS, VPR |
| NMS-IS-12000-7.5 | 12000 | 7.5 | 187 | 0.55 | 14 | 0.5 | 1 | 3 | 7 | none | VPL, VPS, VPR |
| NMS-IS-12000-17 | 12000 | 17 | 432 | 0.83 | 21 | 18 | 40 | 30 | 66 | none, S, RO | VPL, VPS, VPR |
| NMS-IS-12000-3 | 12000 | 3 | 80 | 0.4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 | 1 | none | VP, VPL, VPS, VPR |
| NMS-IS-12000-13 | 12000 | 13 | 330 | 0.63 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 11 | 24 | none, RO | VPL, VPS, VPR |
| NMS-IS-6000-20 | 6000 | 20 | 508 | 0.63 | 16 | 41 | 90 | 28 | 62 | none | VPL, VPS, VPR |
Data Sheets
- VITROVEX & Nautilus Marine Service
- VITROVEX Introduction
- VITROVEX Instrumentation housings
- VITROVEX Floatation housings
- VITROVEX Pressure test
- VITROVEX Services & Accessories
- VITROVEX Battery Module
- VITROVEX through wall solution
Product information
- Mirror quality nonconformities for VITROVEX glass
- Drill hole specification for Spheres (Letter format)
- Handling procedures for VITROVEX glass spheres enclosures
- Safety Information for VITROVEX glass material
- Mounting equipment insite VITROVEX glass enclosures
- VITROVEX spectral transmission properties
