Used Mako Review

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Rick Inman

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Spokane, WA
This past summer, my two tech buddies took off on dives without me, leaving me standing on shore, or sitting on the boat, because they both had scooters and I didn’t.

Selfish.

So I finally bought a scooter. I did a side job, which gave me a little cash – not enough for a real scooter like an X or an SS, but enough for a used Mako.

I did the usual internet research here on SB, on TDS and on RW. So when then money came in, I posted a WTB here and on TDS. In just a few minutes, I got a PM from a guy with his phone number. So I called him.

His Mako had the motor rewound to about 1200RPMs :D, the face-plate replaced with the metal one, and some other upgrades by Steve Gamble. Zero dives since the upgrades. The seller said, “I don’t know what these go for used. What do you think?” I told him, according to my research, between $600 and $1200, depending on condition, etc. He suggested a selling price of $800, and we made the deal. But he didn’t want the money until I got the scooter and gave it approval. He said he knew me from the boards, and that tech divers have always been good to their word on any deals he’s made with them.

Nice.

Cory, from Salvo, being a friend of the seller, shipped me the scooter. Shipping cost $45.00. We had already discussed the fact that the scooter would arrive sans batteries, but with a charger. It arrived with no batteries, and also no charger. No big deal. I called the seller, and based on his recommendation, I bought a Deltran Waterproof 24v Battery Tender. Cost 89.00.

Then I bought 2 Powersonic PS-12180NB - 12 Volt/18 Amp Hour SLA for 95.00, including shipping.

The scooter also came without the battery wiring, so I spent another $10.00 for wire and connecters.

I wired together the batteries, installed them into the scooter and pulled the trigger. And the prop flew off.

Humm. Well, I figured I could repair it myself with the prop chart referenced in this great thread.
scooter_prop_small.jpg

But instead of just going at it myself, I called Steve Gamble and he walked me, step by step, through the disassembly, repair and reassembly of the prop. What a great guy! In 15 minutes I had the prop reassembled and working like new. And now that Steve had talked me through the disassembly and reassembly of the prop, including tips and warnings he had learned through experience over the years, I now feel confident that I can make any prop repairs necessary in the future.

Next I made the tow rope, X style.

Turns out that this Mako has a minor issue with the battery lights. The light is not supposed to activate until you pull the trigger for the first time. But on this unit, the battery light comes on as soon as you plug in the battery. Steve Gamble told me he wouldn’t sweat it, that those lights are junk anyway, fail often, and he would just ignore it.

Okay.

Time for the Mako’s test dive!

I wanted to make sure I would get the weighting and buoyancy right, so I attached an X-pocket to the front handle, and brought with me some one 1# and 2# weights for the test dive.

I got to the lake, and my first challenge was finding a place that wasn’t iced over. After finding an open launch site, I took the scooter into the water. Adding 2#’s seemed to make it neutral. I descended and pulled the trigger and took off!

Oh, oh! The dry suit I had borrowed (mine is at Superior for a new zipper) started to flood in the right arm. And in 38 degree water, this is no joke. The scooter seemed to work great, but my total dive time was only 12 minutes, and my hand was so numb I couldn’t feel the trigger.

Back at the truck, after reviving my hand, I opened up the batter compartment to unplug the battery and saw that there was about ½ cup of water in the compartment. I went home and examined the O-rings up close and discovered that they both looked rough.

I called Steve Gamble again and ordered new O-rings. $21.00. I installed the O-rings and made a Velcro strap inside the battery compartment to hold the 2# weight.

I put the scooter into my hot tub, tossed a weight belt over it to secure it to the bottom and did a burn/leak test. At prop pitch 9, I got 20 minutes on green, 20 minutes on yellow and 5 minutes on solid red before it started flashing and I shut it down. The battery compartment was dry.

I bought the thing used, and I expected to put some money and time into it to get it up to my liking. In fact, I enjoy tinkering with my gear, learning about it, improving it, and making it mine. So the batteries, the charger, the wiring, the O-rings… all part of the deal when you buy used. Totally expected.

Yesterday, I gave it another test dive.

As I dressed at the dive site, I realized that I’d forgotten the rock boots that came with this loaner drysuit (my suit has the built-in boots). Augh!! I shoved my feet into my hiking shoes and pressed on, knowing that those dogs would be hurting before long.

The air temp was 26 degrees, the water temp 36 degrees, we had to trek through 2 feet of snow down the hill to the lake, and we had to push through broken ice and slush in the water.

We got under the broken ice, and off we went.

My buddy’s scooter is an Apollo, and with his at full speed, I had to dial my prop pitch down to 4 to not race off ahead of him. Even at 4, I had to release the trigger now and then to let him keep up. Man, that Mako will move with the 1200rpm motor!

The vis was good, about 25’, and we headed under the docks and over to the tug boat. The usual 15 minute swim took us about 3 minutes. I clipped off my scooter at the wreck and swam inside the tug for a bit, then clipped the scooter back on, and off we went.

My only prior scooter experience is four dives with an X-Scooter, and one with an Apollo. One thing is for sure, my scooter skills suck. I kept waving my HID light every time I’d clear my ears or push my drysuit inflator, and my buddy would automatically reach for his reg, look over at me, realize it was nothing, and shake his head in disgust at me. A couple of times when we stopped, my scooter touched the bottom. I guess the 2 pounds was about one pound too much, and the scooter was a bit negative. Also, it seems that getting neutral while on the move is a guesstimate that I’m not so good at yet.

The trigger on the Mako is not comfortable with one hand, and in the 36 degree water my hand was cramping up pretty good. My squished-up feet were killing me and my right (trigger) hand was frozen from washing through the freezing water. Even with all that, I was sure having a blast! It’s hard while scooter-ing not to shout, “Wheeeeeeee!!”

About 40 minutes into the dive, my buddy’s battery crapped out. I moved my prop pitch to 9 and towed him back to shore. Even with both of us in doubles and his scooter dragging behind him, we really moved!

It was a 45 minute dive and the battery indicator light never left green. Max depth was 62’. The compartment stayed totally dry.

I was extremely happy with the Mako’s performance. :) It’s no X-Scooter, but for the price, it is closer to a “real” scooter than I had hoped. I expect to get over an hour of burn time at the 4 to 6 setting, and especially as my technique improves. With the front plate reinforcement, Steve tells me I can easily take the thing to 200’ without fear of implosion.

We are going to have some fun this summer!! :D

My total cost:
$845.00 Scooter & Shipping
$ 89.00 Charger
$ 95.00 Batteries
$ 21.00 O-Rings
$ 10.00 Wiring
TOTAL: $1060.00

Still have stuff to do, like compass mount, and change the handle, but it never really ends, does it? :wink:
MAKO1.jpg
 
I have come to believe scooters require a lot of tinkering.

The gell batteries you can get at local stores, made in China, 18 ah work fine for under 40 dollars.

Be wary of overheating using high prop settings, especially on hot wound motors--I know this due to a underwater flame out---lol--on mne. The only way the motor can cool is via conduction to the water from the metal tail cone that the motor is mounted into. The motor relay can over heat as well with high amp draw.

Make sure the rear bulkhead is sealed from the batteries or there could be an explosion.

I prefer a negative scooter or neutral so I can park it on the bottom.

I have rebuilt three Teknas now which for all practical purposes are identical to the Makos and a friend of mine has a Mako. The Tekna is IMO a little faster but it is hard to say. Once you begin hot winding the motor that all goes out the window.


Enjoy your scooter, carry an extra suasage for it so you can mark it's grave to recover later. Don't let it take you further than you can swim back.

Scooters spend more time looking like this than they do together.

DSCF0268.jpg


Yes the Tekna/Makos will easily pull two divers at good speed.

I am planning to tear mine down again and maybe install a Hero video camera in the front lens (or on top) with a trigger on the left handle (if internal), metal prop blades, new hydrogen absorber pellets, small LED head lights to prevent explosion in place of the filiment bulb/headlamp. Notice mine has a compass and depth module, pretty cool.

N
 
Be wary of overheating using high prop settings, especially on hot wound motors--
Good advice.
Make sure the rear bulkhead is sealed from the batteries or there could be an explosion.
It is....
carry an extra suasage for it so you can mark it's grave to recover later. Don't let it take you further than you can swim back.
No kidding! Especially in the freezing winter. I can see how you could easily get too far away before you know it.
Notice mine has a compass and depth module, pretty cool.
I need a compass mount, asap.
 
I run one pound in the nose of mine, in salt water, but I may have different batteries. It is negative ever so slightly even at the surface. Mine also has another clip on the front handle so that I can clip it off like a stage bottle. So far it works pretty well being slightly negative and letting it just rest under me like a torpedo under an airplane.

Mine needs the clutch changed as we dive in the kelp, and...well things get into the prop too easily. The front bulkhead would be a nice addition too, as would a hot motor rebuild and solid state relays. Oh the money you can spend on... diving.

The handle does suck and replacement is a nice upgrade. I did mine and am happy with the Tekna handle, although not perfect. One trick with the stock handle is to hold it between the fingers, not gripping the handle like you normally would. Doesn't take much to squeeze the trigger and typically you are going straightish.

Compass mount is definitely in order and I already bought the stainless plate, and have a compass to use too. Just need to bust out the plasma and sanders/grinders to build it. Basically I will just replace the wimpy harness brackets with a flat piece of stainless that is a hair thicker. Should also make the Tekna handle a little more stable.

My buddy has a Gavin and it smokes my Mako. I run full pitch and he runs about 4 and is on and off the trigger. At least I know if my scooter dies his beast can tow us all back in (Always plan on a double failure though).
 
Rick - first off, many congrats! You're gonna love scooting. All of your fav dive sites are about to get very, very small.

"Lots of tinkering?"

"Looks like a science project most of the time?"

"Over heating, replacing parts, working on the thing all the time?"

Wow.

I have over 125 dives on my X since late june, and all I've ever done to it is charge the batts and replace the zinc.

Running it over with my truck and re-building it doesn't count...

Zoom Zoom, Rick!!!!


---
Ken
 
Rick - first off, many congrats! You're gonna love scooting. All of your fav dive sites are about to get very, very small.

"Lots of tinkering?"

"Looks like a science project most of the time?"

"Over heating, replacing parts, working on the thing all the time?"

Wow.

I have over 125 dives on my X since late june, and all I've ever done to it is charge the batts and replace the zinc.

Running it over with my truck and re-building it doesn't count...

Zoom Zoom, Rick!!!!


---
Ken

I have about 800 dollars in mine, third one I have rebuilt and sold. It was made in 1984, per the decal on the bulkhead, give that X a few decades and I imagine it will need some tinkering. Besdies, those are to slow:wink:. Good luck, adios.

N
 
I have about 800 dollars in mine, third one I have rebuilt and sold. It was made in 1984, per the decal on the bulkhead, give that X a few decades and I imagine it will need some tinkering. Besdies, those are to slow:wink:. Good luck, adios.

N

But my X requires less maintenance than just about any other piece of dive gear I have except my Apollo Bio Seal for my neck (I only have to rinse that, not lube its Orings...)

Speed is overrated. Reliability, turn-around and, you know, the ability to work dive after dive - those are the things I hold in the highest esteem with the X.

---
Ken
 
I have toyed with the idea of having my motor rewound, but I have declined so far as the additional power is not much use if you leave your buddy in your wake and I prefer the reported greater reliability of the stock motor. My Mako has an AJ clutch and dual relays so I'll probably stick with the improved reliability theme.
 
DA, you are wise. The problemwith hot winding the motors is that thye draw more amps to make more power. As you increase the blade pitch amps increase. The original relay that came with the Tekna and the Mako works OK but for whatever reason mine arced and burned a hole thriugh the aft bulkhead after a long,sustained high power run. I knew something was amiss when the motor went t o low output and would not turn off and then slowly died over about a minute. I swamit part way back and then was rescued by a boater. When on shore I pulled the charge plug and smoke came out. That is usually a bad sign. I rewired the motor with heavier wire an a homemade relay board usuing dual relays in paralllel. I have had no further issues but I caution anyone who has really added significant turns to the motor to be wary of long full power runs.

The pic in the post above is after pulling the melted stock bulkhead and replacing it with a heavy duty version and a heavy duty forward bulkhead and a number of other reliability mods. I am afraid I have given an overly dreary view on reliability. Aside from a teething period after a fresh rebuild on all three scooters and aside from my own experimental mods and the one melted relay I have suffered no other explosions or failures. The thing will run continuous on pitch number 7 for over and hour. The light works, the batteris hold charge, both triggers function reliably and it does not leak anywhere. I also replaced the clutch after wrapping some line and got the new seal kit for the motor. I estimate max thrust over 75 pounds. The Mako I hear was tuned down a bit but since both Rick's and my motor are rewound who knows how they really compare originally.

I post this pic but I am going to take it down later, it is me and a friend but I do not own the pic.



The X is a great scooter, no doubt the very best, time and salt water will test it over years to come, here is what I want:

80364995_o.jpg


Rick, you may be able to fashion a compass console from stainless and secure it to the top mount screws on the duct assembly. Every now and then the Tekna modules show up on ebay, that is where I got mine. Take care and enjoy the Mako and the X and whatever you got.

N
 

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