Miniature dive compressor, anyone used one?

FullCircle

FullCircle

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Tripped over a mini dive compressor that Mailspeed is flogging currently. This is apparently for 5 or 10 litre tanks, but would take time to fill them.
As this is 2100 quid and you still need a dive suit kit for a further 500 quid, has anyone used one?
 
At that price, I would rather pay the extra and go for a Bauer Junior 2 - or even buy one from ebay [urk]http://sports.search.ebay.co.uk/compressor_SCUBA-Snorkelling_W0QQloglZ0QQsacatZ16052[/url]
 
Unless you know what you're doing, forget it. Go to the dive shop. It's far cheaper.

Dive compressors are not like your average windy-tool compressor. What they are compressing is what you're going to breath to keep you alive so it has to be clean. The air needs to be filtered for oil and water. The filters need to be maintained properly to a schedule as does the compressor itself. The compressor oil costs a fortune too.

Compressors are rated in 2 ways: at pressure or free air. If the unit is rated for free air it's not easy to work out how long it will take to pump a cylinder. Don't just do the sum as it takes longer to pump 1l at 200bar than it does at 10bar.

If it's rated at pressure you can do a quick sum: to take a 10l cylinder from 50bar to 232 bar, it goes like this. You need to raise the pressure by 232-50 = 182bar. The cylinder is 10l so it'll need 10 * 182 = 1820 litres. If the pump is rated at 3cfm (cubic foot per minute), 3cfm = 3*28 = 84l/minute. So we have 1820 / 82 = 22 minutes. It's likely to take a little longer though as nothing's ever perfect.

Now assume, you have decided that you're far enough from civilisation to use a portable compressor, you still need to plug it in to the mains. So, you can't be that far away. The only option if you are, is petrol or diesel version. They are more expensive and now you need to keep the engine in good shape too.
 
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you still need a dive suit kit for a further 500 quid,

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If you mean dive suit and kit, you won't get anything worth having for 500.
 
So we have 1820 / 82 = 22 minutes.
It's likely to take a little longer though as nothing's ever perfect.

Too right! The heat generated in compressing the air both in the compressor and in the cylinder decreases its efficiency so increases the fill time.
To my mind the biggest problems are monitoring air purity and maintenance - air filter and compressor oil change. The driving engine maintenance is the easy bit!

Get a bad fill - engine exhaust up wind of compressor air intake, and you could end up dead.
 
\"Freedive\"?

there's a thing called a "Freedive" which is essentially a small 12v compressor with rechargeable battery all in a box floating on the surface,and a long snorkelpipe to normal dive mouthpiece BCD and jacket.

This is low dive, low pressure stuff, probably limited to 5 metres. The pipe from compressor to mouth is wide, like a snorkel pipe, and connections are similar to plastic plumbing connexions. I inherited the thing, and it should be ok for tooling round under the boat. I suppose ican use it for gawping at nice coral things or fish as well, or picking up keys from the bottom ofa marina (if ot a very deep marina..)

It overcomes the disdvantages of dive gear for numptie-divers like me in that
a) no heavy tanks to store and strap on
b) no heavy tanks to drag round finding a recharge
c) avoids having the potentially dangerous 200bar airtanks around. There again, this means attacking a Great White Shark by stuffing an air tankintoit's mouth not possible, ahem...

There's still some recharging to do - the battery only lasts 30 mins.

This isn't suitable gear for people who want to Go Diving - but it's fine as up-market snorkel, poking around under the boat, imho.
 
Re: \"Freedive\"?

.....which, as I am world class sporting numbnuts, is zakkerly what I think I am looking for.
Has this thing got a makers name on the side?

I don't intend getting my face wet usually, so this is for poking around assessing level of prop fouling after running over summat, and mebbe messing about in shallow coral reefs n simlar. Also cool gadget for kids to coo over.

As you point out, not intended to supplement steel cage for annoying Great Whites in.
I don't even want one of those harpoon affairs although I am quite keen on the uprated Bosuns knife, though not strapped to leg with yellow rubber holster.
 
Re: \"Freedive\"?

here is another site giving info on equipment for hookah diving.

I have both a small 200 bar compressor engine griven italian made and a hookah diving setup based on an oil less air compressor I used some years ago for paint spraying. The important point is OILESS compressor nit the type yoy get today with oil lubricated compressor
 
Re: \"Freedive\"?

That's just answered my next question! Not a bad price either, I wonder if they are available in UK/Spain? anybody know? The brownie snorkle type one, perefect for cleaning the underwater of the boat and props etc.
 
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