Homemade compressor breather for bottom cleaning???

[Ken13559]

A simple snuba to make is use a say 5-11psi (depends on depth) 12V dinghy pump. feed to a flexible plastic conduit (use for sleeving cables), the other end goes to a t-piece. 1 end of T piece goes to your snorkle and the other end goes to a throttling valve/tap that vent to atmosphere (may be 15ft length). Your snorkle should have a blow out valve below the mouth piece. The higher pump pressure would be balance by water pressure and any excess would come out from the blow out valve and if those bubbles is too much the vent valve/tap can be crack open to vent excess pressure. There's no chance of over pressuring your lung with this setup. cheap and simple.

 

[KD3PC]

Come on now, is it really worth the penny pinching to save your self a few bucks?? There is way more to diving safely than your rube goldberg contraptions. Even if you are vying for Darwin Awards, what about your family and loved ones? Insurance will likely not pay out either.

How Ken can say "there is no chance of over pressuring your lungs with this (see above) set" and still sleep at night is beyond me. How does he know? What if someone dies from using one of your contraptions? There is always the chance the idiot who uses your contraption will simply hold his breath from 12+ feet or god forbid the dinghy pump quits - god knows mine does from time to time, doing what it is supposed to be doing, or the battery dies while this same idiot is below or gets tangled in his hose or the boat bottom or gear.

I give up, trying to help people is getting more and more difficult every day, what with all the "experts" out there. Most of whom have never done a dern thing similar to what they suggest others do. I guess you can not protect people from their own ignorance. For sure - read a book by a reliable author or get some training, at least then you would have the facts, not some internet hearsay by an armchair moron.

And yes I am certified PADI, but that certainly does not make me an expert in any way.

Oh well,

dave

 

[Ross]

5 PSI will blow bubbles at 10 feet of depth. I can't blow bubbles with a 3 foot pipe in the water. so 1.5 PSI is the limit of the pressure that my lungs can produce. My boat draws only about 4.5 feet so I wouldn't plan on going much deeper than that.
The old fashioned diving bell adjusted the air pressure for the people inside, and the divers had limited outside the bell freedom.

 

[MoonSailer]

The original set up used a second stage scuba regulator. Normally the hose is about 100PSI and the regulator is a demand type that reduced the pressure to just above ambiant pressure....the same as scuba. Scuba has a 3000PSI tank and the first regulator adjusts the pressure to 100 PSI above ambient . This way you don't have to suck to get air. I know of no one using an open flow system.
For me snorkling is a little more dangerous than scuba for hull cleaning. I tend to get on the bottom part of the keel scrubing away and stay down to long so that I have to rush to the surface. With scuba it is normal breathing and no rush to surface. Shallow water blackout is another problem with snorkeling. As you get more comfortable in the water it is possible to hold your breath until you actuially pass out without warning as you head to the surface. IMHO a Hookah rig is a little safer than snorkeling. I my younger days I sometimes went 60' deep while snorkeling and could stay down 2-3 minutes. It is a scarey feeling to be 50' deep and want to breath. Working underwater has it's dangers...it definately is not for idiots. http://www.scuba-instructors.com/me...s_death_during_snorkeling_or_skin_diving.html

 

[garylinger]

I AM a SCUBA instructor and while I won't go into every aspect of this foolishness that could be dangerous lets just say that I think it is a good way to collect (for the heirs) on any life insurance policy. There are concerns about air pressure (from the pump), water pressure (sure, it is shallow but there is pressure nontheless), quality of air being breathed, especially under increased pressure, and then there is the training aspect - people even drown in bath tubs! How many other water related deaths do you hear about.....

 

[Gary_H]

If you think thats bad try inspecting the hull of a 250 ft Tanker in the Cape fear River at the State Ports...In February now thats dark scary and Cold! I've been diving since I was 16 but I'm not sure I want to trust home made equipment. I've had failures of certified equipment before at least in those cases you have a certain amount of recourse. Besides who is your widow going to sue when your home made rig fails? That being said I saw a dock diver the other day with a hookah rig that looked pretty cool>it was on a dolly that he just rolled down to the pier. It would sure beat having to deal with scuba rig.

 

[MoonSailer]

http://www.vintagedoublehose.com/downloads/BuildYourOwnHookah.pdf

Here is a link to a hookah rig design and disscusion. Gary I agree that I would not do any technical diving using questionable home made equipment. But of course a simple certification course is not enough training for technical diving!!!! This discussion is about simply cleaning your hull ..assuming warm clear water free of entanglements and a person who is comfortable in the water using a snorkle. I am actually considering a hookah for me and my wife as scuba tanks etc are a PITA on a sailboat. But we have been diving for years and are both certified. Me as a rescue diver and my wife advanced open water.

 

[Bob S]

When you dive with a scuba tank you bring your air supply with you. Consequently, you are breathing air equal to the ambient pressure around you. If your 30' down, that is equivalent to one atmosphere. As Hermit said, equal to half the volume as at the surface. When the air is being pumped down from the surface I don't believe the same rules apply. There are other issues with breathing compressed air but they aren't relevant to this post. Either way there are risks involved. Why not get SCUBA certified. It adds another dimension to boating.

 

[Gary_H]

Bob the demand regulator has to supply you with air equal to your surrounding pressure otherwise you couldn't expand your lungs, so regarless of your source it will supplly based on your at depth pressure. But you are right..get certified and enjoy the experience of diving as well as sailling.

Moonsailer you are right in that scuba is a PITA on a sailboat esp a small one and Hookah seems the answer I'm just saying that I might rather use a certified commercail one rather than one home made. I'll read your link though and see.

 

[Tim R.]

I am not sure this has been mentioned but cleaning the bottom of a boat is rigorous exercise and can make a homemade device even more dangerous.

 

[Hermit Scott]

This is one of those "know thyself" things. Some people can physically take it and some can't. If you use a home made hookah, expect it to fail. If you can't get to the surface at any point of this thing failing, don't use it.
I'm renting a tank and octo this saturday to clean the bottom of my boat. I think last time I did it, it cost like $20 or $25.
It is a bit of a hassel renting the gear, it would be nice just to fire up a hookah and jump in.

 

[Maldonia]

Thanks all. looks like ill be taking scuba lessons 1st before i try this.

 

[MoonSailer]

Hermit you should scrub Maldonia's bottom.

 

[Bad Obsession]

Why all this mess about getting diving gear to clean your hull?

I dive on my hull every so often with a mask and fins. I can change zincs without scuba gear also. I am in okay shape. I have never been certified in scuba (though I would like to do that at some point) but I was a collegic swimmer and diver and did distance swims. I am also not too old so that helps as well.

If you train yourself and you can see what you are doing, changing a zinc under water is not that hard. I have done this several times with no lost zincs (knock on wood).

Cleaning the bottom is child's play when comparing that to changing a zinc.

 

[Hermit Scott]

Moonsailer-it depends on what maladonia looks like before I start scrubbing bottoms. lol
Bad-The biggest problem I have while under the boat is I float too well. I expend most of my breath/energy fighting to stay down. When you free dive do you use any weight?
Thiking about this thread, I have to say that I build prototype machines for a living. And I am somewhat of a maniac that some times look like I have a death wish, I gave up thinking that my life was in my own hands long ago. So doing something like building a home made hookah is no big deal to me. However as Tim R. said it is rigorous work scrubbing a bottom. You will be breathing pretty hard and when your air suddenly stops it can be pretty intense. It would be very easy to black out when you are burning that much oxygen. I ran a scuba tank out last time and I couldn't get to the surface fast enough.

 

[seadaddler]

Shallow

When talking about cleaning the hull and other parts of the boat it is not very deep water that we are in when doing so and don't need to go very far to surface for air.
Some people are in really great shape and maybe half fish, so some it's easy as a walk in a park and others it real work.
I find the tanks are a pain and just going under with the tank top side and a 40 ft Hookah hose works so much better.
I watch the divers at the marina use a Hookah system plugged into 110 to clean boats all the time but the guy with the tank on dock seems to do as good.
I Have tanks that I use but I will be buying a Hookah 40 ft hose at the dive shop to use when cleaning under the boat,maybe make a home made unit just for clean the boat in shallow water and use my tanks and scuba when going deeper,I am certified but have not done any real diving in years.
Getting certified is a good idea if you have no clue what your doing,its just over kill I think if your not going to do any diving,I have so many friends who spent all the $$$$$ to be certified and equipment and now never dive,good idea to take the class room and pool part to learn what your doing any way.
I have equipment from those friends who don't use it.
Nick

 

[MoonSailer]

Bad I am impressed with the Zinc changing while free diving!!!

Hermit in my youth I did not use any weights while scuba or free diving. Now I need some weight. 5#s or so is enough. The weight is a mixed blessing in that it helps you get down but slows your ascent. When wearing a wet suit I usually like to be a little positive at the surface so that I will be a little heavy at 30-40 '. Without a wetsuit I try to be neutral at the surface or very slightly positive. Depth makes a difference. As noted air compresses at depth so that you naturally get heavier as you go deeper.

 

[Tim R.]

Why all this mess about getting diving gear to clean your hull?

I dive on my hull every so often with a mask and fins. I can change zincs without scuba gear also. I am in okay shape. I have never been certified in scuba (though I would like to do that at some point) but I was a collegic swimmer and diver and did distance swims. I am also not too old so that helps as well.

If you train yourself and you can see what you are doing, changing a zinc under water is not that hard. I have done this several times with no lost zincs (knock on wood).

Cleaning the bottom is child's play when comparing that to changing a zinc.

I actually found changing the zinc to be easier than cleaning the hull. I never swam competitively but grew up on a lake and was part fish then. Spent hours at a time snorkeling and free diving for stuff and when I was younger. Could hold my breath a lot longer then. But using scuba gear on a boat that is 35x11x6 is a definite plus compared to free diving. I would not necessarily get certified just for this but I already had my PADI cert so why not use it.

 

[tsmwebb]

Hermit in my youth I did not use any weights while scuba or free diving. Now I need some weight. 5#s or so is enough. The weight is a mixed blessing in that it helps you get down but slows your ascent. When wearing a wet suit I usually like to be a little positive at the surface so that I will be a little heavy at 30-40 '. Without a wetsuit I try to be neutral at the surface or very slightly positive. Depth makes a difference. As noted air compresses at depth so that you naturally get heavier as you go deeper.

In salt water I need weight free diving now that I'm into dotage, too. For hull cleaning I like to be just about neutral on the surface (float mid mask with full lungs). That way I can easily push myself down the hull. With weights I can assume a more or less upright position while scrubbing and not fight to say down. It does make the task a lot easier. Doing the bottom is still a big job for me -- I give it a couple of hours and I'm pretty wasted when I'm done. A 42' cat has a lot of surface area!

-- Tom.

 

[Bob S]

As noted air compresses at depth so that you naturally get heavier as you go deeper.

Up here in the northeast we use a 1/4 wet suite. Without weights you bob atop the water out of control. I use 23# to get to the bottom in salt water. The wet suit compresses too. I got certified in 1980 but haven't dove in ten years. I was going to break out my equipment and see if that wet suit still fits !