Power Snorkel 12vdc Electric Floating Hookah

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Is that poetic license or an actual 20,000 times? 20,000 = 5 times per day, 5 days per week, 50 weeks per year (assume you do take weekends off and an occasional holiday, probably to go diving ) for 16 years. That's a lot of marina diving.

He's gone through the numbers before. Simply put, the dude spends a lot of time in the water. And to a poster above, it's manageable by unplugging the boat you're working on from the dock (freshwater). If you want to be extremely paranoid unplug the neighbor boats too.

If you don't like that, pay someone like fastbottoms to do it for you. If you don't like having your AC yanked, do it yourself or just get it hauled all the time.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

How often do you go to work? This is how I make my living. I don't understand what's so remarkable about it. There are a thousand others just like me doing it in California alone.

To be honest, 20,000 is a conservative estimate.

Hey, don't take it as an insult, just observing that 20,000 is a lot of dives. Not many people stick with a job like that for 15-20 years and to be honest, I have no idea how long an in the water bottom job takes but figured 5 a day would be a lot. My trips to CA I have spend hours driving from one side of town to the other so if you are working different marinas you could spend a lot of your work day just driving.

Assume it depends a lot on the condition of the bottom. I do my own and after a summer in a foul harbor took me most of a day to get the bottom of my Pearson half way decent. Probably could have done it in a lot less time but didn't have any gear with me so did it free diving.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Hey, don't take it as an insult, just observing that 20,000 is a lot of dives. Not many people stick with a job like that for 15-20 years and to be honest, I have no idea how long an in the water bottom job takes but figured 5 a day would be a lot. My trips to CA I have spend hours driving from one side of town to the other so if you are working different marinas you could spend a lot of your work day just driving.

No offense taken. 5 boats a day is not a lot and I actually consider 8 boats to be a full day's work. I suppose some divers do spend a lot of time on the road, but I work out of a boat and the dozen or so marinas I service most frequently are with a few minutes of each other by water. I've been in this business a long time and have a fairly large clientele. It is not unusual for me to spend an entire day in a single marina. Travel time is minimal.

[hoopdog]

if your in warm waters(10'c +) just stick to snorkeling

mask and snorkel $20

mite take you awile but its free
and the more you do it the better you will get

[mbianka]

I originally started out with a Brownies hookah system with a Dive tank on the surface. It worked well. I mostly used it for checking the bottom of the boat. The tank lasted for years but, was heavy and took a lot of room. Then dive shops wanted to inspect the tank $ yearly before refilling the tank. So I switched to a Hookah Max system. It took up less room was lighter than carrying around the dive tank that I rarely used. It works well to clean and check the bottom or pick up a dropped item on the bottom. Since I already had a Honda 2000 generator on board to charge my electric propulsion batteries it powers it with no problem. They do make a battery system too.

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by hoopdog

if your in warm waters(10'c +) just stick to snorkeling

mask and snorkel $20

mite take you awile but its free
and the more you do it the better you will get

In 10C hypothermia can set in in as little as 30 minutes. The older you are the more quickly it occurs so you will need to invest substantially in a good diving suit for temperatures anywhere near that.

[Seadaddler]

I have two used dive tanks regulator and 40' hose which I do everything you want to do and find this type setup for diving under my sailboat for cleaning the hull and prop and replacing Zincs so much easy than carrying tank on my back.
I also dive on my anchor and also do regular diving with my complete diving equipment and much less than a hooka setup for sure.

[CRM]

I've never used a hookah, but from the adverts it appears that the hookahs supply only breathing air to the regulator. Some jobs, such as replacing a zinc, go easier if you can establish neutral buoyancy, which means a BCD and weight belt. Is there a way to connect the BCD to the hookah also?

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by CRM

I've never used a hookah, but from the adverts it appears that the hookahs supply only breathing air to the regulator. Some jobs, such as replacing a zinc, go easier if you can establish neutral buoyancy, which means a BCD and weight belt. Is there a way to connect the BCD to the hookah also?

Maintaining buoyancy at zinc depth is easy, it's a fixed amount of weight. BCDs are adjustable because during the course of a normal dive the depths and therefore buoyancy varies greatly.

But, to answer your question, a BCD requires the same pressure that your 2nd stage requires, put a tee in the hose and hook it up.

[Seadaddler]

I wear weight belt only when diving under my boat for cleaning,I have a scuba tank up in boat hooked to 40' hose and regulator,this allows so much freedom from bulky BCD when changing zincs also just use proper weight to keep you under while working under boat,I hardly ever wear more than swim trunks here in Florida.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by CRM

Is there a way to connect the BCD to the hookah also?

Yes there is as noted in the reply from DotDun, but why bother. Just manually inflate and keep the number of hoses and connectors down. Under a boat cleaning the fewer you have the less chance of entanglement.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by CRM
Is there a way to connect the BCD to the hookah also?

As said manually inflate. Blow.

[Greg4cocokai]

I also puchased a 40'hose/ reg to do my bottom cleaning as I already had tanks/ compressor on board. Just lay the bottle on deck, and all you need is a little weight and snorkel gear. I've been doing it for yrs!

[Matt sachs]

Good thread here. I'm not a fan of the hookas but what ever floats y'r boat. I teach open water, nitrox and technical diving with SSI so I like tanks -- Lots of tanks....Last time I dove with students we each took 300 cubic feet of gas with us....but i digress....(focus Matt) An aulminum 80 will last a very long time, and has a lot fewer moving parts to fail than a hooka and you can rent a tank and reg for about 20 bucks a weekend.

[osirissail]

Besides the other outfits making hookahs, my favorite is the Airline by J-Sink. Look at their 12VDC model. See: Hookah direct drive scuba diving equipment sales. Hose diving hookah
- - Battery life is going to be a major issue as the ampere draw varies from 26 amps up to almost 50 amps. That is a lot to ask from a 12VDC battery especially if you are going to be down there over an hour cleaning the bottom, etc.