Air supplied diving compressors... anybody have experience with these?

[JagsFan74]

Thinking of getting one of those air-supplied dive compressors and going down to the keys to lobster this year. Any one have experience with these? BROWNIE'S Hookah Diving Systems For Sale | Brownie's Third Lung

They look quick and easy to use, just wonder about safety as I'll be going down there with my son.

 

[tbone1004]

@JagsFan74 they are used in commercial and scientific diving all the time. No issues, just expensive. Not a huge fan of the gas powered ones because of the potential for CO poisoning, but the Li-Ion ones are expensive and have limited burn time

 

[kelemvor]

Most of the dive shops in my area sell the brownies hookah systems. You might want to bring some kind of pony bottle, as I'm not sure you get any warning if the thing shuts off. For example if it runs out of gas or battery while using it.

I'm sure you could CESA if you had to, but I'd much rather have a pony.

I have to agree with @tbone1004, I wouldn't want to risk CO contamination from the gas powered one.

 

[tbone1004]

@kelemvor we use the gas powered ones for scientific diving still and the snorkel is long enough that with the combo of a light breeze I'm not terribly worried, but it's something to think about.
On the bailout, it depends on depth and your comfort doing CESA's. If I'm lobstering at 30ft? I'm not carrying a bailout system. If I'm scientific diving or going deeper? I have a bailout system on me.

 

[2airishuman]

I've asked about these before, both here and on other boards.

Brownie's is the established maker and provides a turn key system, a training program, and a track record. There are other makers, and there are homemade systems. The systems are fairly bulky, and it takes some doing to deploy them from a boat or from the shore. They have advantages in particular use cases:

• Long (hours) shallow (<30') dives, as for boat maintenance or swimming pool cleaning. Eliminates the cylinder handling.
  
• Dives in remote areas where air fills are not available and it is impractical to ship cylinders. e.g. cabin on an island
• People living aboard their own boat, as a less fiddly alternative to building an on-board fill station.
• Diving in locations where SCUBA diving is not allowed, since surface-supplied systems are not SCUBA

An alternative to consider is surface supply using an air cylinder, by using a suitably longer (50-100') hose between the first and second stage. Some people use these for situations where the main goal is to reduce the weight of worn gear making it easier to enter and exit the water -- as when visiting a dozen locations for only a few minutes each.

I don't know what safety problems and skills are specific to these configurations.

 

[JagsFan74]

Thank you for the feedback @tbone1004 , @kelemvor , and @2airishuman. Much appreciated. If I move forward, will probably go with an electric model rather than gas, due to the risk mentioned.

 

[tekkydiver]

They are fine, pros and cons, but somewhat inconvenient. I'll take a tank over one any day.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

We used our Brownies third lung hookah so much that we needed to replace two if them. Not because they failed but started to look a bit ragged and didn't want to chance a failure. Used them almost every day for two years.

They are great for diving in remote locations where you can't get air fills. With two people on the hookah you can't easily lose your dive buddy because you are connected by a hose.

I prefer tanks but have no worries about using a hookah. My wife uses the hookah with a 13 cubic foot pony bottle on her back for safety and to easily control her bouyancy. See the video on YouTube "Diving on a hookah at the Poor Knights"

 

[Magnus Lundstedt]

@kelemvor we use the gas powered ones for scientific diving still and the snorkel is long enough that with the combo of a light breeze I'm not terribly worried, but it's something to think about.
On the bailout, it depends on depth and your comfort doing CESA's. If I'm lobstering at 30ft? I'm not carrying a bailout system. If I'm scientific diving or going deeper? I have a bailout system on me.

On the subject of bailout.

On of my old Poseidon first stages have one extra LP port intended to be used for surface supply. I have seen some old description where the diver had a tiny double (AGA 324) and the surface supply hose connected to the regulators first stage.

I think the idea is that if you have the tank-valve closed, the only think you have to do if the surface supply fails, is to open the tank valve and you are good to go.

 

[tbone1004]

@Magnus Lundstedt that is usually done with IP balancing. If the first stage is set with a lower IP than whatever else is plugged into it, then the second stage will draw from the other gas supply first. The first stage will only active when it has a higher IP than the rest of the system, i.e. when a compressor shuts off etc.
works very well, but a switch block is a bit better IMO