Sea-Doo VS Supercharged and Explorer experiences

[ProfessorAronnax]

The Sea-Doo Seascooter VS Supercharged is an excellent scooter for the price but it does require some TLC to keep water out of the battery compartment e.g. use apply silicone lube to clean seals, replace O-rings annually etc. Good thing is it's pretty easy to fix and there are plenty of Sea Doo Seascooter Parts available

 

[deeper thoughts]

The Sea-Doo Seascooter VS Supercharged is an excellent scooter for the price but it does require some TLC to keep water out of the battery compartment e.g. use apply silicone lube to clean seals, replace O-rings annually etc. Good thing is it's pretty easy to fix and there are plenty of Sea Doo Seascooter Parts available

I would agree at one time but now I disagree. Both of my units crapped out in about a year. I sent them back for repair which was a waste of money. I CANNOT recommend these scooters anymore

Dont buy these scooters!. I have the newer Explorer and the Bladefish5000 and am very happy with both of these.

My 2cents
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[ProfessorAronnax]

I would agree at one time but now I disagree. Both of my units crapped out in about a year. I sent them back for repair which was a waste of money. I CANNOT recommend these scooters anymore

Dont buy these scooters!. I have the newer Explorer and the Bladefish5000 and am very happy with both of these.

My 2cents
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The updated Sea Doo Seascooter Explorer and BladeFish 5000 are big upgrades from the [URL="http://www.seascooterexpress.com/store/sea_doo_vs_supercharged.html"]VS Supercharged[/URL] but I still think it's a great value in the under $500 price range.

 

[VGdiver]

I have 4 of the Explorer units, since DEMA last year. I've probably got 20 dives on each one. Good luck so far in our salty environment. I teach DPV specialties on them so that they get rode hard and put up wet.

We wash them down and get them on the charger that day to top up the batteries. I'm impressed with them so far but in talking with the reps at the show, they have a beefier unit coming out this year at some point. Same style but more hardy and resilient than the Explorer.

Jeff

 

[rickdean]

I have a Sea Doo supercharged VS. I had trouble with the trigger pooping out on me during a shallow dive, but it's been repaired. Haven't used it since then.

An important thing I would mention about ANY scooter is to not dive too deep or too far from your boat/shore, that you could not make it back without use of the scooter, if your scooter, whatever brand, bit the dust on you in the middle of a dive.

 

[Md Spear]

when your not using your scooter for a bit, take out the O rings and store them in a ziplock bag. this way, they wont take an oval set as they will, being compressed in place in the unit.

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

I have a Sea Doo supercharged VS. I had trouble with the trigger pooping out on me during a shallow dive, but it's been repaired. Haven't used it since then.

An important thing I would mention about ANY scooter is to not dive too deep or too far from your boat/shore, that you could not make it back without use of the scooter, if your scooter, whatever brand, bit the dust on you in the middle of a dive.

I had a similar problem on a 3 year old Sea Doo VS Supercharged though I don't think the trigger was actually the culprit. I replaced the VS Supercharged PC Board (easy) and now it works like new.

 

[Uzbeckin]

So I have two "less than" scooters - a bladefish 5000 and a Sea-doo Explorer X. I seriously wanted a Mako as a beginner scooter but I'm in Hawaii so even when I found a decent deal - shipping was the achilles heel that made it overpriced. I bought the bladefish becuase of its unique qualities for what I do in aquarium fishing. (small, light, long run time) All for $700.

I was very happy but I have to say the deal I saw on amazon over the last couple of months caused me to buy the sea doo explorer x when it is only $500! I have looked at nearly every scooter on the market and taken a few out on test dives... I would love a $4000 scooter but I really love being married more. In the end I went with the bladefish because it is very small - super easy for snorkeling or shore diving - about the speed of a decent kick on high and lasts really long. I bought the sea doo on impulse... well... because I couldn't believe the $900 model was only $500 on Amazon. (and Amazon is the Walmart of the internet gladly accepting returns so I figured I'd run it hard quickly to test)

As for the bladefish - my impressions are - It is so light - only 10llbs - you hardly notice it and it simply does what it says - saves air and runs for a very good 1 hour plus under continuous use. When I'm hunting down some fish it is awesome because I can flick it to the side and it just floats on the line beside me while I work.There is literally very little maintenance with it - simply replace the double o-rings every year. Other than that - battery doesn't remove and I'm assuming after 2 years I'll need to return it to get a battery fix. (at that point I'll probably just get a new one!) What a great accessory for my dives.

The sea doo explorer X actually has a good margin more torque although I'd imagine it is by far less than half of the mako that I took out. (I'm guessing somewhere in the low teens for torque if that) I've heard horror stories of Sea Doo scooters but for $500 I had to give it a try. (its like going to vegas but your life is on the line in the middle of the ocean - awesome!)

First tests are that it is more powerful than the bladefish by some margin. I love the torpedo-one-handed-weighs-the-same-as-an-air-tank quality. The possibility of engine flood scares me since you don't have easy access to the compartment. I've heard a lot of people cry about these things leaking after a year or so - in my mind is - of course they will if you don't replace the o-rings. My friend has 6 or so Makos and he checks for bubbles every dive and if one bubbles a bit he tosses it on the boat and grabs another. (later he replaces the o-rings and checks for debris - if you don't have 6 sea-doo's -why not replace o-rings regularly?) I figure the sea-doo have a lot more error - such as bad batteries or DOA or issues with the flood sensors but I'm hoping if I treat it well - it will do the job.I've heard of several users keeping them running well for years. I figure in two years I'll be moving to a X-scooter anyways!

In my opinion if you can afford the big purchase - go big. If you can't and need a stepping stone so you don't have to be left finning it - sea doo is a risk since their production has had issues - but people keep taking that risk because for $500 to get a scooter that can haul me and my gear for around 50 minutes - I can see why they take the risk.

Bladefish is really a niche market - snorkelers - this thing rocks. Scuba people - it's a bit slow but very small - great for what I do to save air - and I can flick it in the water or my car one handed. (in fact i've asked my petite wife to "hand it to me" which I would never do with any normal sized scooter that would be one third her weight!)

If I had it to do all over again I would probably have been more patient and gotten a rewound mako but where is the fun in waiting?

 

[Uzbeckin]

Dove the explorer - X on Saturday and loved it. Best scooter you can get for $500 new! Hope it holds up as far as reliability. Took it out and faced it off against the bladefish 5000 - see my review on the bladefish 5000 forum.

 

[Uzbeckin]

Just found out that Amazon stopped their $500 sale on the explorer X but Leisurepro just started one so if you're looking for one - I can't promise long term reliability because I've only tried mine on one dive - but so far so good for a $500 scooter that is actually not to shabby! I will keep you posted as I'm doing a shore dive with it this friday. Yeah - finally ala moana if the weather holds up.