Can you elaborate on the problem(s)? I've had one for over a year now and no issues other than somewhat shorter battery life than I'd hoped when diving fully rigged.
Which DPV?
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Can you elaborate on the problem(s)? I've had one for over a year now and no issues other than somewhat shorter battery life than I'd hoped when diving fully rigged.
I received my P2 on November 12th, 2016. At first, I loved it and used it on every dive. On December 30th, I lent it to a friend who was teaching a DPV course. I am not sure exactly what happened, but it had a battery fire. I think there was a crack in one of the o-rings, which then failed and flooded the DPV. Either way, I can not fault Dive Xtras for this initial problem. We gutted the battery and sent everything else back to Dive Xtras to see if they could salvage any of it. They were helpful and covered some of the repairs under warranty. My portion of the bill came to about $2200. The DPV was returned on March 30th, 2017. So, for the first five months that I owned my Piranha, I was able to use it for 6 weeks. Again, I don’t know what happened, so I am not blaming Dive Xtras for this. However, after paying $2200 for the repair I think they are responsible for the subsequent problems.
On May 29th, it died while I was diving. Luckily, I was near the boat. The propeller was turning slowly, but not enough to provide any useful propulsion. I contacted Dive Xtra by email and was told to mail it back for repair. Since I live in Hawaii and the batteries are hazardous material, it took me a while to figure out how to ship them back. The DPV reached the factory on June 16th. They determined that it was the belt drive. Dive Xtras replaced the belt drive under warranty and shipped it back to me on June 21st. I was frustrated that I had a second issue, but happy with the prompt turn around.
On September 10th, it died again. It appeared to be the same problem. This time I found what looked like small pieces of rubber inside the DPV. Despite my email sent on 10 September, and a few other emails, I did not hear back from Dive Xtras until I reached someone by phone on September 18th. After receiving a repair authorization number, I again shipped it back. They received it on September This time the entire motor assembly was replaced. The installed an entirely new motor, electronics, belt, heat-sink, mounting plate, and motor pulley, again under warranty. It was returned to me on September 22nd. Although I was very frustrated at this point, especially about it taking over a week to get any response to my email, I was impressed with the quick turnaround.
On November 11th, it died for the fourth time. Someone must have been watching out for me because it died within 10 feet of the mooring line at the end of a great dive. This time, Dive Xtras responded quickly to my email. (Unfortunately, we are getting to know each other fairly well.) The DPV arrived at the factory on November 17th, where it is now.
I am glad that your experience has been positive. I like the DPV, when it works.
bamafan
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If I was in the market for a scooter in this size range I would look at this one and pocket some $$$. Disclaimer I don't know anything about it I just saw the ad.
FS: Silent Submersion Minnus 1.5 DPV w/EXTRAS!!
FS: Silent Submersion Minnus 1.5 DPV w/EXTRAS!!
jblack
Contributor
bonex ofer piranha..... suex over all
Texasguy
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Does anyone ever consider genisis? They seem to have an innovative drive/prop and top torque. Thoughts?
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Haha, that's funny.
The Genesis is awesome. I have two if you'd like to borrow one next time you're in Florida. The motor, nozzle battery and prop were all designed together to give you the longest run times at the fastest speeds. Limited hull penetrations mean less chance of leaks and there's no way that prop is coming off unless you make it. It's magnetically coupled for removal in case of line fouling, but unless the laws of physics suddenly fail or you pull on the prop with a great deal of force, it's not coming off.
The throttle is a dream. I can literally set the speed of the scooter to exactly match the flow of the cave while a buddy is tying in a reel. Then, no need to reach up, just whack the throttle with my thumb already on the handle and away I go.
Oh, and I never have to open the unit to charge it. So, less chance of mistakes or failures due to grit getting on an o-ring.
Did I mention that it's faster than all the scooters mentioned? How old is the prop and nozzle design that the minnus uses?
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what is service like in Florida though? how does it ride when you want to or have to use it left handed? I'm not saying it's a bad scooter, as an engineer it's one that I really want to get behind because it has some incredible things going on, but there is no support for it in Florida, and there have been too many instances of that trigger jamming with silt that it's not something I can really recommend. It's close with huge potential and if Jon had done any sort of improvements since 2007, they probably would be on top, but similar to Revo and Paul, he thinks his dpv is perfect with no room for any improvement so after a decade of real world use, there are still essentially no Genesis DPV's in cave country. That should say something...
the props were pulled out after some sort of jam. I'll try to find the reports of it, but they weren't happy when they found the cost of replacement.
He fixed that trigger two years ago. Do a Google search and you'll see the threads where I blasted him on the few issues I had after borrowing his scooter for more than a month. He fixed them all.
As far as support, he takes as good of care of you as Shearwater does. FYI, Shearwater has no support in Florida either, but if one breaks, they resolve it immediately. So does Jon.
No changes since 2007? Is that the last time you rode one? Have you ever rode one? I can think of at least 6 things that are new in the last three years.
The reason there aren't more in Florida is because Jon is a brilliant engineer, but a terrible marketing person. Like I said, I have a few Genesis scooters here. You're welcome to borrow one. They really can't be beat.
That trigger really did suck in a cave. Glad it got fixed.
As far as support, he takes as good of care of you as Shearwater does. FYI, Shearwater has no support in Florida either, but if one breaks, they resolve it immediately. So does Jon.
No changes since 2007? Is that the last time you rode one? Have you ever rode one? I can think of at least 6 things that are new in the last three years.
The reason there aren't more in Florida is because Jon is a brilliant engineer, but a terrible marketing person. Like I said, I have a few Genesis scooters here. You're welcome to borrow one. They really can't be beat.
That trigger really did suck in a cave. Glad it got fixed.
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So wait! They pulled the prop to clear a foul and dropped the prop in the ocean and are upset? That's a design flaw? No, that's an idiot's mistake.
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