Hookah snorkeling / diving

[rogerthebodger]

I use a swimming pool cleaning brush and one of these to see what I have cleaned if I don't wish to dive under my boat and clean from a walk on jetty

 

[Sea Change]

made a HOOKAH dive compressor from a oilless spray compressed I had in my garage.

I have a similar setup, put together by an ex RN diver. Little oil-free compressor which runs off 18v tool batteries, through an inline filter to a regulator/mouthpiece.
It has got a lot of use. My boat has very elderly Coppercoat and in warm waters I am scrubbing the hull every week or two. I don't always bother with the hookah, but it's invaluable for the deeper sections. I've also used it when replacing the shaft anode.
The cordless feature is actually a bit of a pain. I need a second person to be ready to swap the batteries over every 10-20mins and I can't charge them as fast as I'm using them, which limits my dive time. A 240v system error actually be much better because then I'd just run it off the inverter.

When the battery runs out, you get several more breaths at decreasing pressure as the compressor tank empties. Plenty of time to finish the section of hull I'm working on and slowly ascend. I've never attempted to go below keel depth (about 1.7m) with this system.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I have a similar setup, put together by an ex RN diver. Little oil-free compressor which runs off 18v tool batteries, through an inline filter to a regulator/mouthpiece.
It has got a lot of use. My boat has very elderly Coppercoat and in warm waters I am scrubbing the hull every week or two. I don't always bother with the hookah, but it's invaluable for the deeper sections. I've also used it when replacing the shaft anode.
The cordless feature is actually a bit of a pain. I need a second person to be ready to swap the batteries over every 10-20mins and I can't charge them as fast as I'm using them, which limits my dive time. A 240v system error actually be much better because then I'd just run it off the inverter.

When the battery runs out, you get several more breaths at decreasing pressure as the compressor tank empties. Plenty of time to finish the section of hull I'm working on and slowly ascend. I've never attempted to go below keel depth (about 1.7m) with this system.

My original hookah setup was mains driven but my OZ setup has a small 12 vdc battery but as I said not used it in anger

 

[Metalicmike]

I have visions of that pressure washer propelling me backwards at 30 knots till it gets dragged into the see, how shocking would that be

 

[srm]

I have visions of that pressure washer propelling me backwards at 30 knots till it gets dragged into the see, how shocking would that be

Not 30 knots, or one of those water jets that allow someone to fly. There is some thrust though, I used to run a line from a "U" bolt on the trailing edge of the rudder to deck for a handhold. Otherwise, I could easily fin against the thrust if cleaning the hull anode. I also had an extension hose on the pressure side to increase the length to reach around the boat.
The "U" bolt was fitted so that, in the event of a rudder shaft or linkage failure the blade could be controlled with a pair of lines to the deck.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Not 30 knots, or one of those water jets that allow someone to fly. There is some thrust though, I used to run a line from a "U" bolt on the trailing edge of the rudder to deck for a handhold. Otherwise, I could easily fin against the thrust if cleaning the hull anode. I also had an extension hose on the pressure side to increase the length to reach around the boat.
The "U" bolt was fitted so that, in the event of a rudder shaft or linkage failure the blade could be controlled with a pair of lines to the deck.

Pressure washers are high pressure but low water flow volume and as such have very effective thrust as was found in the design of bow thrusters which are all high flow low pressure devices.

There was a discussion some time ago about using high pressure pumps as a bow thruster which were not
effective at all

For a high pressure to be effective at cleaning under water the nozzle needs to be close to the hull otherwise the water resistance will reduce the impact thus the cleaning effect

 

[Graham376]

Pressure washers are high pressure but low water flow volume and as such have very effective thrust as was found in the design of bow thrusters which are all high flow low pressure devices.

There was a discussion some time ago about using high pressure pumps as a bow thruster which were not
effective at all

For a high pressure to be effective at cleaning under water the nozzle needs to be close to the hull otherwise the water resistance will reduce the impact thus the cleaning effect

Why? Lots of boats small and large are powered by water jets.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Why? Lots of boats small and large are powered by water jets.

Not high-pressure low water volume

Those jet boats have low-pressure high-water flow volume.

I have a small jet boat when I lived in the UK, and it was a very low power engine but had a 8-to-10-inch impeller and a very large water flow. That is quite different to a pressure washer that has a high pressure with a low water flow volume

A jet boat is more like an axial flow water turbine very different to a Pelton wheel turbine which is high pressure low flow volume very different animal from an Engineering point of view

 

[Karnic]

As an ex-club diver who also dived on a part time commercial basis I understand where you are coming from, and agree that for anyone wanting to dive recreationally training is the only safe way to go. Also, anyone wanting to use a shallow water surface demand, commercial or DIY, needs to be confident and competent underwater which requires training.

From time to time I have looked at commercially produced surface demand kits just for cleaning and checking my boat's hull, but the price did not justify the two or three hours a year use they would get. SCUBA gear with cylinders to fill and service would have been heavy overkill. I suspect that is where the interest in DIY aids for reaching one to two metres below the surface comes from.

very well said

 

[wonkywinch]

Been following this thread and had a long chat with Andark at the boat show. As a consequence, I decided my life was too important to risk amateur use of a hookah device and booked myself onto a PADI open water course. They sell a boat kit (slimmed down scuba kit) which looks useful.

Going to do the course and see whether investing in wet/dry suit and more substantial equipment will be worthwhile.

Beuchat Boat Kit Set - Andark Diving & Watersports

 

[rogerthebodger]

Been following this thread and had a long chat with Andark at the boat show. As a consequence, I decided my life was too important to risk amateur use of a hookah device and booked myself onto a PADI open water course. They sell a boat kit (slimmed down scuba kit) which looks useful.

Going to do the course and see whether investing in wet/dry suit and more substantial equipment will be worthwhile.

Beuchat Boat Kit Set - Andark Diving & Watersports

That is an intersecting bit of kit, but you still need to have somewhere to fill the tank with good clean air up to 200bar

I have a 12 lit steel tank that I can get filled but I do have a dive compressor that I need to change the filter and change the oil to the special oil needed for dive compressors

In the UK you will need at least a 5 mm wet suit

 

[Graham376]

The boat kit seems very expensive for what it is and if you get the scuba bug, you'll want far better gear so maybe look around for some good second hand stuff to start with.

 

[DinghyMan]

The boat kit seems very expensive for what it is and if you get the scuba bug, you'll want far better gear so maybe look around for some good second hand stuff to start with.

Agree, it looks very expensive for what it is

Best bet is probably to do the training with a Shop or Club that will lend or hire you the kit whilst you are training - you can then try lots of different kit and then decide what you actually need

I used to use one of my 3L stages for boat work, and always dive in a dry suit as I dive all year around