Waterproof Cordless Drill?

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Ted55

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Location
St. Lawrence River, Ontario, Canada (summer) and V
# of dives
I like to fan the bottom looking for artifacts, bottles and fossils buried a few inches below the surface. I have had good luck doing this in areas that other divers consider "picked clean". Fanning by hand is tedious and tiring. I am aware that some divers use DPV's for fanning, but that seems a bit awkward. I'm thinking a good quality 18v drill/driver with a small propellor (such as a prop from a small electric trolling motor) would be perfect. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any reference to a waterproof cordless drill. Any thoughts for waterproofing a regular drill such as a DeWalt? Bag it? Build a housing? Can it be potted? How about sealing the shaft? Perhaps a trolling motor seal could be incorporated into a solid housing. In my case it would only used to about 30 ft., so pressure would not be as significant as something built for depth. Any other thoughts for accomplishing the same thing? I have seen small ROV's built from bilge pumps, they would produce some wash, but perhaps not enough. It would have to be self contained, not surface supplied, and as small as possible. Any thoughts, comments or suggestions appreciated.
 
Just some thoughts. Aquarium pumps that use an impeller have a sealed motor unit which turns a magnet and a prop shaft with a magnet on one end and a prop on the other. About a week ago Leisure Pro was selling a cheap bladefish-type DPV for about $40. Why not try one of those as is or rewire the motor for a higher speed?
 
Wear doubles. Use one to breath from, use the other to run a air drill. They do work underwater. Use a paint stirrer as a little propeller. Ace hardware has a thousand of them, including the ones with a nozzle around the perimeter. But a $12 bathroom fan at home depot. Use the drill but you drilled the stainless steel plate at high speed and burned up the bit as a shaft, put the fan blade on the shaft. This might be a bit big. You will get salt water in the air drill, so when the evolution is over, put plenty of Marvel Mystery Oil on the air chuck and hook it up to air and pull the trigger. Beware, it will make a mess all over your hands.

I do this btw.
 
Bilge pump.
 
Cordless drill? Something like this? (Sorry...couldn't resist. :D)

dit326_2fd_lg.jpg
 
love the idea of doubles..and air drill.

i use air tools underwater a lot... we do pool repairs.

we always use a compressor... never thought of an air tank... how do you deal with the pressure.... standard regulator?
 
I have an older mk5 that I have dedicated use for my air tools and put a quick disconnect on the first stage. The first stage will drop the pressure to about 125psi, I then use a cheap air regulator from Home Depot to adjust it to the desired pressure. I use this setup to fill tires, impact wrench, air nailers and other tools. Works great, portable, and very quit. Good for quick jobs without having to dig out the compressor. I also keep a blow nozzle to act to relieve pressure hooked to an old bc inflator hose.
 
Could you take a stage tank with a first stage reg,and a low pressure hose, but no second stage. Just open the valve and blast the bottom with air at ~ 140 psi above ambient.
 

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