Seadoo Seascooter Explorer Z57A

[Conchchowder]

I stopped by the LDS to pick up my Seadoo Explorer. I'm hoping to hear some good things from other owners, especially in the SoFla beach diving community. I'm extremely happy with the styling and ease of assembly. It is easy to handle and has an impressive 2 hour battery life.

I will be posting my stats along with a link to my online dive log at Suunto through my D-9...one of the benefits of the D-9 is bookmarking so I will use that and make notes.

I hope all are happy with theirs as I am with mine.

 

[Conchchowder]

I took the Explorer out last night and realized why divers love scooters so much. I made it to the reef in no time. You have to remember to turn the unit off if you are not going to use it. It is possible to bump the on switch and have it "fly off the handle". The speed is fine for me. I'm 6' and 290. I had some other gear with me so there was a bit of drag. I bought an XK2020 diveyak as well but I didn't want to inflate it at midnight. I tooks some shots and video during the dive. the video is at youtube.com user tubeaholic. The pics are at greatestjournal.com user conchchowder I hope you enjoy them. The camera battery gave out before the scooter did. I made it to shore and the scooter still showed a full charge after an hour of diving.

I'll have more, soon.

 

[Conchchowder]

This is really, really important!
If you buy the Explorer, YOU MUST STORE THE BATTERY IN A HORIZONTAL POSITION! (With the printed circuit board UP) This has a wet cell battery. If you store the battery in a vertical position (as I did) the top cell will dry out and the battery will not charge.

I was told that my battery was out of warranty and I was SOL...I persisted and talked to a tech months after I was rejected. He told me that there was a design flaw and that the instructions erred in not telling the consumer how to store the battery and that the charging base was designed to charge the battery in a vertical position (wrong!) You have to attach it to the base and then prop up the battery with a bath towel or the like to keep it from rolling. (kinda like having rabbit ears on an old TV and rigging it so you could get decent reception). I was sent a second battery...and that one was dead as well. I'm still waiting for problem resolution.

As far as when I DID use it. It hauled me AND my buddy (holding on to my fin-tips) for about 90 minutes in a good current. I love this unit...as far as comparing it to the other units...they aren't rated to the depth that this one is, and changing out the battery is easy on this one.