dpv

[westcoastdiver]

looking for plans

[Scubaroo]

westcoastdiver once bubbled...
looking for plans There's some pop up on eBay every now and again. Who knows if they're any good though.

[westcoastdiver]

I have herd diffrent stories on them i am also looking for any diy scooters to get ideas from

[DIR Tec Diver]

Hello

Building a scooter is an act of art not putting some pieces together. This is one serious piece of life support equipment. If you know how much time, money and effort goes into making a scooter then you will be surprised. It is cheaper, safer and more realistic to just buy one. If you plan a dive with the home made scooter, and you have a failure, problem or other issue what could be a minor inconvenience could become a fatality. Just buy one that suits your type of diving or needs. For shallow rec stuff a Mako or Apollo should do just fine. For tech diving there is no substitute for the Gavin.

David

[pcscuba]

Why do you even bother coming in the diy threads. All you seem to do is bash everyone for wanting to build their own gear. Get off your DIR soapbox and quit preaching!

[Uncle Pug]

pcscuba once bubbled...
Get off your DIR soapbox and quit preaching!
...don't swallow the bait hook, line and sinker... DTD is just a anti-DIR troll trying to stir folks up against DIR... seems to be doing a good job of it too.:rolleyes:

[westcoastdiver]

Thank-you uncle pug and pcscuba
the fact of it all is that I make quite a bit of gear its all to order and i was just looking for ideas so if any one has any please let me know.:mean:
come on over to Vancouver island its great diving here
PS David how do you manage to dive when you seem to walk on water so well????? :devil:

[Uncle Pug]

westcoastdiver once bubbled...
come on over to Vancouver island its great diving here

Discovery passage is one of my favorite places! I also plan on getting back to the broken group one of these days.

We spend a week in Victoria every summer on our non-dive boat and this year I hope I can hook up with a local who will haul me to a dive site... interested?

BTW... if you have your scooter built by then I'll bring my Gavin.

[westcoastdiver]

You name the time ill make time ill pm you my #

[Uncle Pug]

I don't know for sure which week yet but I'll let you know.

[jonnythan]

DIR Tec Diver once bubbled...
Hello

Building a scooter is an act of art not putting some pieces together. This is one serious piece of life support equipment. If you know how much time, money and effort goes into making a scooter then you will be surprised. It is cheaper, safer and more realistic to just buy one. If you plan a dive with the home made scooter, and you have a failure, problem or other issue what could be a minor inconvenience could become a fatality. Just buy one that suits your type of diving or needs. For shallow rec stuff a Mako or Apollo should do just fine. For tech diving there is no substitute for the Gavin.

David

If you're not getting paid by Halcyon and Gavin, you should be.

[rmediver2002]

Kind of interesting information here considering how the Gavin scooters were developed...

For that matter SCUBA gear in general, this "sport" is only 50 years old and many of the pioneers both at the start and today were the ones building thier own systems.

Now if there is something out there cheaper or signifigantly safer or more efficient than my time I might make the purchase... But most of the folks here are talking about DIY for the joy of it, diving is all about ingenuity, its part of the thrill.

westcoastdiver:

Have you looked around some of the smaller ROV and AUV sites for ideas?

Kirby Morgan is testing a unit at the Dive Lab, it is designed for military applications though I believe. I remember reading somewere about this Naval proposal for insertion units... Kind of between a scooter and a SEAL delivery vehicle...

Keep us posted on your research, and keep tinkering!!

Jeff Lane

[scottk]

westcoastdiver once bubbled...
looking for plans

If you dont already know them, you need to know two people in your area:

Digital Dave: http://www.deepgreen.ca/dive/dive.htm

Gordon Smith: http://www.jetsam.ca/

Scott

[Doc Intrepid]

but at the risk of spinning up any DIR Tech Diver(s) out there, here is a site with an interesting FAQ section:

http://www.silent-submersion.com/

While perhaps not as well known as the Gavin product, this product appears to provide equivalent performance. The description of production and design variations in the FAQ section is informative.

If you desire to build your own, it may provide food for thought.

Regards,

Doc

[Scuba_Vixen]

Building a scooter for recreational diving is not that daunting a task if you have good tool skills, access to tools and a workshop, a PVC pipe supply, and a decent electric trolling motor. So far I've built 2, one very simple one based on 6" pvc pipe and parts from an old scooter that used to attatch to the bottom of your tank. The battery is too smal to have sufficient run time for my liking, but it works fine. The other is 8" pvc, larger battery capacity, and has the motor situated concentric with the main body tube. The motor fits nicely into a piece of 4" schedule 80 pvc. (use some strips of 1/4" vinyl tubing to make it snug, and allow water to circulate around it for cooling) and a hase clamp to hold it tight. Slide the 4" into a 6" to 4" reducer with the shoulder removed. (so the 4" slide all the way in thru) Cap the 4" on the inside. Cut a 6" dia short nipple (about 6" long) and connect the 4" to 6" reducer to a 6" to 8" reducer. Now add a piece of 8" pvc pipe as the body and use a 8" cap. You'll need to have a machine shop put O-Ring grooves on the body and make some O-rings. You'll need to get the battery out to charge it. Use a Gel cell. You'll need to do some math to see how long to make the main tube. You need enough flotation to maintain neutral bouyancy for the weight of everything, and to get the fore/aft balance point near the center. If you're savvy enough to actually build one, this should be enough info. All the details would take a lot more space. Hope this helps and good luck!

Darlene

[mdemon]

S_V,
Do you have any pictures at all?

Will any trolling motor do, and do they need any extra work to cope with extra pressure?

Thanks,

John

[greedo73]

Hi i just purchased a farallon mk1 dpv in the flea market just 30dlls, seems fine to me, its the aluminum body. my question is wich type of batteries i can use to make it run again, and where to buy it, and if someone knows links about tips on this dpv. i cant wait to play james bond using it. thanks for your help!!! and excuse mi english

[Tagerisatroll]

Hi i just purchased a farallon mk1 dpv in the flea market just 30dlls, seems fine to me, its the aluminum body. my question is wich type of batteries i can use to make it run again, and where to buy it, and if someone knows links about tips on this dpv. i cant wait to play james bond using it. thanks for your help!!! and excuse mi english

you might try

http://www.farallonusa.com/product.html

They might be able to help you out. even thought they don't have the mark one listed on the web page anymore.

[Jurrasicdiver]

The best damb scooter ever made was the Farallon MK 5. faster than any scooter made today.

[JahJahwarrior]

What about using a bilge pump? Make a simple two tube design: top tube has battery installed in it, and you could make a simple magnetic switch. Basically, make a paperclip switch, just use a magnetic metal instead of a paper clip and then strap a magnet on your hand :) You'd put handles on the bottom tube, since it doens't have to be watertight. In this second, bottom tube, you insert a bilgepump. Connect wires and boom you have a DPV.


Might not work at all, I really have no clue. I have a small bilge pump though, that's not in use right now :)