Scuba Compressor Rental?

[glocklt4]

Planning some charters in the future around the Caribbean and French Polynesia. I've been diving around both of these areas quite a bit with typical dive shops, but when we do some longer charters in the areas it would be really helpful to have a compressor on board instead of having to go back to the dive shop for fills or carry multiple tanks. Chances of finding a bareboat rental with a built in compressor are probably zilch, so wondering if anyone has seen compressors for rent before.

[Emmalina]

An expensive bit of gear to leave in the hands of someone you don't know and they do take a lot of maintenance so I would be surprised if someone would !

[glocklt4]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

An expensive bit of gear to leave in the hands of someone you don't know and they do take a lot of maintenance so I would be surprised if someone would !

That's what I was thinking as well haha, but they rent us their boats, so .

[rcontrera]

I tried renting compressors a few years back and it flopped because nobody wanted to place a security deposit. And there was no way that I was going to let about $3500 go out the door with no security if it didn't come back. One additional problem was that shipping was a killer so I only had local boaters that actually could afford it.


If you find someone that does it, list them and I will see what their secret is.

[glocklt4]

Originally Posted by rcontrera

I tried renting compressors a few years back and it flopped because nobody wanted to place a security deposit. And there was no way that I was going to let about $3500 go out the door with no security if it didn't come back. One additional problem was that shipping was a killer so I only had local boaters that actually could afford it.


If you find someone that does it, list them and I will see what their secret is.

Ah man, well at least you tried. Crazy that people weren't willing to offer a deposit. I'm definitely willing if someone rents near a place we're going to bareboat charter!

[Lepke]

The small compressors that run on a 3-5hp gas engine take what seems like forever to fill a standard dive tank. I took one on a trip with about 6 people, but not all making every dive. Someone had to babysit the compressor about 8 hours a day.

[glocklt4]

Originally Posted by Lepke

The small compressors that run on a 3-5hp gas engine take what seems like forever to fill a standard dive tank. I took one on a trip with about 6 people, but not all making every dive. Someone had to babysit the compressor about 8 hours a day.

yeah, that's pretty slow! For a trip to French Polynesia, we were thinking of 8 people on a cat, probably 4-5 divers. Sounds like we need to figure out our stops where they have tank refills for this reason and lack of compressors to rent.

[rcontrera]

Originally Posted by Lepke

The small compressors that run on a 3-5hp gas engine take what seems like forever to fill a standard dive tank. I took one on a trip with about 6 people, but not all making every dive. Someone had to babysit the compressor about 8 hours a day.

One of the things you give up for portability is filling capacity. Our little MCH6 may only cost $2700 but can only fill a standard 80 scuba tank in about 15-20 minutes. So, with having to fill six tanks, you are looking at 3 hours minimum.

[glocklt4]

I just noticed this company lists "small compressors" as part of their rental equipment:

https://www.tahitidivemanagement.com/dive-equipement

Reaching out to them to find out specifics!

[rcontrera]

Sorry ... I meant two hours minimum for filling six tanks. My high school math failed me.