Question DiveX BlackTip Questions

[Dann-Oh]

I'm looking to buy either the travel or the tech version. And I have a few questions about which one to go with. I will be diving in saltwater (Southern California USA).

1) Is the vacuum system worth it?

2) My max planned depth to dive to is 200ft (60m) but this won't be for a few years. I'm currently still at recreational depth limits.

3) Does anyone use batteries other than DeWalt?
Why couldn't I use the Hercules battery with an adapter plate? Other than Hercules is a harbor freight brand.

4) DiveX says the tech can only use 9 or 12ah batteries. Why is that? Why can I use a pair of 6ah for shorter dives?

5) is there anything else I should be considering between the travel and the tech?

 

[Whitrzac]

1, no
2, yes
3, no, dewalts are a much higher quality than anything from hobofreight, and that still have issues
4, 9/12 are the same weight. Others are different weights
5, the tech is easier to manage underwater, the travel is easier on land.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Does anyone use batteries other than DeWalt?

These batteries came with my BT Tech 18 months ago or so and work ok for me. No issues at all. I do expect the DeWalts are the better choice, but that's an educated guess only.

I routinely get about 5000 feet of run time on these batteries with somewhere around 20% reserve remaining.

See my Blacktip DPV page

 

[stuartv]

3) The Dewalts are a bit of a tight fit.

A non-Dewalt battery that needs an adapter probably won't fit in the tube. Even the new Dewalt 15 Ah batteries won't fit in there.

You could probably use Dewalt 5 or 6 Ah batteries, but you would want to add weight to the batteries to make it where ALL the batteries you use in that scooter are the same weight. So when you change batteries, you don't have to adjust the weight of the scooter to keep it neutral in the water.

You can definitely use aftermarket batteries that are compatible with the Dewalt socket. Many people are using relatively cheap 9 Ah knockoffs. As long as you weight the batteries (e.g. with stick-on tire balancing weights) and you recognize that they are not going to give you as much runtime as genuine Dewalt 9 Ah batteries, they're fine.