Canister advice

[Snusmumrik]

Cannot point to exact canister to buy, but me prefers separate canisters for light and heater.
Small 9A*h in dry suit right pocket to power heater and whatever-sized for main light attached to backplate.
Main idea was that when you wear off your gear - you still being connected to heater battery in your pocket. Much prefers this when doing winter diving as you can still run your heater independent.

 

[rjack321]

I’m wondering which canister can be use for heating gear if I need it later, and primary light? Also which canister do you recommend that is bright? I don’t want to have to buy twice… also if possible something under $1700…. Hope it’s reasonable. Are the diverite good?

MANY of us have repurposed old light canisters into suit heaters. I'd suggest just getting the light you prefer for now. Down the road if you want suit heat you can get a 2nd canister - possibly used and get it refurbished for suit heat.

 

[johnydive]

For heat you will need atleast a 15 amp hour battery pack any less and you wont have the burn time you need for extended deco

You l can order a 15 amp hr can with a heater controler in the lid and a separate lid for running a light without the heater.


Most people up in the lakes run a can for heat and a handheld light as the bottom times do not require the long light burn time.

I ran 2 cans on my right hip for years and only recently switched to a 20 amp hr double output can.

I do like the double can .

the double (exit) can gives you enough burn time for you light and your heating gear? Also which can do you use?

 

[SpeedyJ]

I was using the UWLD 40 + heat controller with a Santi vest and BZ400. It was great to only have one canister on my hip, and truly the UWLD is a beautiful piece of engineering. It throws a gorgeous beam of light, but in the end I am one of those people who prefers an adjustable light beam, so it was sitting in my closet not getting used.

The battery and heat controller are pending sale, but the light head is still available in the classifieds. Add a new battery and you've got a great light.

 

[Wibble]

I’m wondering which canister can be use for heating gear if I need it later, and primary light? Also which canister do you recommend that is bright? I don’t want to have to buy twice… also if possible something under $1700…. Hope it’s reasonable. Are the diverite good?

Whenever you use heating, you need a lot of AH (Amp Hours). Heating's (virtually) always 12v and consumes from 55W (Santi vest) through to 110W (Santi BZ400 suit) and you can add heated gloves, socks, jockstrap...

Lamps use less wattage unless you've a really bright one.

Maffs: 60W is 60/12=5 amps. A 15AH battery (expensive) would in theory last 3 hours. But batteries don't like being flattened, so it'll be less. If you're driving your torch off of it, then that'll shorten the battery life.


Personally I like to have separate batteries for torches and heating. I much prefer an umbilical light especially in the sea as you can drop it and it can't fall off. In caves the cable can be a bit of a nuisance if it's not tucked up.

You can get some very bright torches which aren't umbilicals. Those can clip on a glove or even have a hard Goodman handle -- with the risk of dropping it, especially if clipped off on deco/getting back on the boat/crawling back up the beach.

There's lots of choices but quality costs. Heater batteries are expensive. So are the undersuits. And the through-suit connectors. And the regular replacement of the E/O cables...

 

[Richard Dayan]

If you want some light and some heat while scuba diving, you can try a $100 solution first. Maybe it's enough for you, before going too high tech. Princeton tec has some good lights for $55.

TechNiche Heating Fleece Vest Softshell, Powered by Heat Pax​

This is an air activated chemical heat vest, it uses hand warmers for power instead of electricity. Everything has pros and cons.

You cannot adjust the temperature or turn it off while using it, also you should never use it with enriched air just normal air or it can get too hot and burn you.

the hand warmers do consume the oxygen in the air inside your dry suit, but that shouldn't affect your amount of breathing air by much. This type of vest can put out a lot of heat and last for hours as long as it has 21 percent air and doesn't get wet. I use an electronic system (big money), and do not have personal experience with this but I think it could work. Another thing to consider is that it cost around 5 dollars' worth of hand warmer every time you use it.

 

[Richard Dayan]

I'm not sure if the increased air density at depth would cause the hand warmers to overheat, maybe someone knows more about this or tried it before and can give further information on this idea.

 

[SpeedyJ]

Don’t use chemical hand warmers in drysuits. The increased partial pressure accelerates the reaction.

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Our consultation with Duke Dive Medicine agrees that these should not be used in drysuits.

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[Tracy]

I'm not sure if the increased air density at depth would cause the hand warmers to overheat, maybe someone knows more about this or tried it before and can give further information on this idea.

Yeah, you are going to get somebody hurt with this advice.

 

[flymolo]

What’s the beef with the LM dual output can? Burn time?