Hello Bruce
Bert has covered hookahs, and Iain has alluded to most of the compressor options. Bear in mind that Iain is a dealer or distributor or something for Rix. I like the Rix machines, but there are other good choices also.
You could also look at the Bauer Oceanus, which is marinized and, like the RIx, will operate safely and reliably when tilted. They can be permanently installed or used as a portable machine, and can run off electric power or a small gasoline or diesel engine. Choice will be driven by the amount of electrical power you have available on board.
The filling operation really does have to be attended with these smaller machines, with water separators drained every 15 minutes, attention paid to pressures, and so on. Systems with automated drains, automated start and stop, storage bottles, and an output pressure regulator are larger and more costly than what you probably want. Figure 20 minutes per fill, ballpark, for a typical machine.
On a pure technical note your statement that the Bauer Oceanus will operate safely and reliably when tilted (
like the Rix) needs some clarification.
Bauer state what is known as an oblique tilt angle (up to 30 degrees) for the Oceanus that is it is a static tilt angle.
Although we could argue that oblique tilt angle shares some similarity to heel angle on a yacht this is not the same for a moving compressor platform where pitch and roll as well as heel angles also need consideration as to the dynamic and changing angles creating slop inside the crankcase oil bath and a well knows cause of premature crankcase bearing and lower piston failures that needs us to discuss in greater detail for a yacht application.
The Rix by contrast being oil less has no such limitation and one could suggest a 360 degrees for the oblique hence my suggestion pointing to it.
Tilt angle on a yacht is a mostly overlooked consideration but non the less a small point, critical we don’t get confused.
Also as per your comments on the Bauer Oceanus regarding marinized (
like the Rix) again I think a number of differences need to be made clear to avoid confusion. On the one hand taking a standard build and adding a stainless base plate is not marinized.
Each of the components of the compressor needs to be discussed with the client from material choice to coatings from aluminium heads to 316 stainless heads, from steel plated crankshafts to stainless ones, from aluminium cooling coils to stainless ones etc etc.
The list of difference from a Bauer Oceanus to a Rix 1S3B6 or any other compressor needs careful consideration and the various version of "marinized" from a standard version need detailed discussion. This is much greater a task than what we have discussed so far but in order to make the statement
"like a" we need first to know the design aspects and difference before any of us can make that claim.
This could be a long and interesting subject I look forward also to suggestions of this hookah option and how they avoid CO from the petrol engine being entrained into the breathing air.
So much so that I wish we could discuss Hookah systems on a separate post from a divers breathing air purity perspective than from a Yachtsman's. Iain
