$50 Harbor Freight hookah system testing

[A.S.H.]

which compressor are you looking at getting?

no need to actually test though. I wouldn't use any truck starter battery, that's a bad idea. They don't like this kind of draw.

this compressor is 1.5cfm and should be good for one diver to about 33ft and will draw about 600 watts to do it. Add in the loses from an inverter which are usually around 85%, so a 700w draw, or around 60amps on the 12v battery. The high end, big deep cycle batteries are around 100ah and you only want to use about 60% of their capacity so you're looking at an hour of run time. It will actually run an hour and a half, but that's bad for the battery.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-QUI...ctric-Hot-Dog-Quiet-Air-Compressor/1000405185

This guy is 2.3cfm so is good for 1 diver to about 70ft, or a pair of divers to 33ft. It draws about 750w and about 900w/75amp@12v with inverter losses. Good for about an hour on a single group 31 deep cycle battery
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Qui...ic-Twin-Stack-Quiet-Air-Compressor/1000125721

The first compressor you listed is the one I'm looking to get, the OP tested 2 , one form Harbor Feight and the other from Lowe's, the Kobalt seemed to me to be the better when he tested them. Someone else suggested that Kobalt as well, still this system works better for me, saves some driving ,which for me is 60 mile round trip @ 12.00 per tank fill, and a I'll save my tanks for deeper dives. My pony will be with me as always on any dive at any depth.

 

[JamesBon92007]

BTW, my dock-neighbor cleans his boat every week using an ordinary Home Depot pancake compressor. Seems like I hear it cycle two or three times during the job.

He cleans his hull every week?

 

[tbone1004]

@A.S.H. just make sure you don't go too terribly deep on it. 30ft is really as deep as you should be going on one that small due to the CFM.

Also, please make sure that you are adjusting the pressure switch to cut on and off at a much narrower band than it is going to expect to see. You want to keep the pressure as close to stable as possible.

Please use balanced second stages for the best work of breathing possible. You'll lose 15psi/ata and the balanced second stages will not notice that nearly as bad as an unbalanced second stage. I think I remember @herman doing a WoB experiment a few years back and it was something like a half inch of water per 15psi which to me is a bit much, so balanced will help minimize that delta. One with adjustable cracking effort certainly won't hurt.

If you're going to do it, which for the record I don't really have any issues with, I would certainly use the Kobalt.

The intake on that is itty bitty and I doubt filtering much of anything since the pollen got past it. I would recommend upgrading that one as well as having an inline particulate filter before the second stage.

If using standard shop type air hoses, expect them to taste like plastic. I would consider running some dawn dish soap through them, then a LOT of hot water. Like hook it up to the shower and let it fill up the bathtub a couple times when your wife takes a bath kind of volume to get the taste out of it. If you are going to do a lot of diving on this, I would recommend shelling out for the Bullard V10 hose. A lot more expensive than the cheap stuff, but isn't offgasing....

 

[A.S.H.]

I'm going to use I think 3/8 ID braided vinyl non toxic ( food grade ) hose rated at 225 psi, which is per 50ft around 25.00 or so, and use an inline filter like the OP has, but near the regulator, and an carbon intake filter on the compressor. I have some older Sherwood Bruts that I'm going the use, no adjustments, but what I have in my scuba ( hording )crate. It should be a robust system for shallow diving only, unless I get the second one you mentioned.

I agree no more than 33ft on the small Kobalt.
I do alot of solo diving as is, so diving with this really doesn't change much as far as safety goes. All rules of solo diving applys regardless.

 

[toddster541]

He cleans his hull every week?

Yeah, just before the Wednesday night race.
Hey, at least I clean mine every year.

 

[lucca brassi]

Looking for first time DIY hookah with electromotor and battery pack any suggestions ?

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[Steve Adams]

Has anyone just bought a cheap generator to run the pump ? I mean you would just have to keep the engine away from the pump

 

[kelemvor]

I'm going to use I think 3/8 ID braided vinyl non toxic ( food grade ) hose rated at 225 psi, which is per 50ft around 25.00 or so, and use an inline filter like the OP has, but near the regulator, and an carbon intake filter on the compressor. I have some older Sherwood Bruts that I'm going the use, no adjustments, but what I have in my scuba ( hording )crate. It should be a robust system for shallow diving only, unless I get the second one you mentioned.

I agree no more than 33ft on the small Kobalt.
I do alot of solo diving as is, so diving with this really doesn't change much as far as safety goes. All rules of solo diving applys regardless.

Did you ever build it? If so, how did it work out?

 

[Jim Reece]

The one thing I did not see information on is the air filter. Can anyone provide some specs or links to acceptable air filter units that would work with the Kobalt QUIET TECH 2-Gallon Portable Electric Hot Dog Air Compressor.

 

[tbone1004]

The one thing I did not see information on is the air filter. Can anyone provide some specs or links to acceptable air filter units that would work with the Kobalt QUIET TECH 2-Gallon Portable Electric Hot Dog Air Compressor.

for hookah use based on the air tests done you don't need it. There's particulate that it isn't filtering out, but it's not generating anything else. Normal hookah's only have intake filters as well, no outlet filters