Low Tech DIY diving setup

[tjschultz2011]

Hi everyone,

I'm very new to diving and I'm in search of a low cost, low tech, shallow diving set up to use for fresh water panfish spearing. I've done a ton of research on hookah set ups and I consider myself pretty handy so I think I could build my own (with proper safety in mind) for around $300 bucks. However, before I attempt this, I have a question regarding an even less expensive set up that I've designed in my head. I don't have hardly any experience diving other than snorkeling with the occasional dive down to spear a fish but rest assured that I plan to take a diving course before I do anything just to obtain all safety info I would need. BUT, I wanted to run this idea past some people who would know more about it and if it would be possible. Since I'm only going to be diving in water less than 20', and more likely less than 10' feet deep (and I'm not that great at holding my breath), I was wondering if it would be possible to use a system that consists of two 20' lengths of hookah food safe hose both connected to a simple mouth piece. Just off of the mouth piece, on both hoses, would be a check valve (one pointing up and one pointing down). One tube would be full of fresh air from above and the other full of exhaust air at all times. The hoses would be bound to each other to reduce tangling and they would both run to a big floating intertube and attach to ridgid plastic "snorkels" on the top of the intertube (the same type of intertube used by some hookah companies). On my end, they would run to a hookah type harness on my back and then to the mouth piece that I wear. The check valves would prevent me from breathing in CO2 and would keep a steady supply of fresh oxygen right there for me to breath.

Does this logic seem flawed in any way? Like I said, I don't know much about diving and pressure differences yet but I will take a diving course in the near future. Would some sort of pressure difference prevent me from being able to breath in fresh air? Or might this idea work as a really low cost solution to shallow diving? Thanks in advance for your help

-TJ

 

[flots am]

Does this logic seem flawed in any way?

Yes.

Your chest muscles aren't strong enough to counteract the water pressure even just a couple of feet underwater.

The water will compress your chest, force all the air out through the hose, you'll be unable to inhale and if you can't ditch your weights quickly, will pass out and die.

flots

 

[ams511]

I would look at a Brownies third lung and try to copy that as close as possible. Hookah rigs use a second stage regulator rather than check valves and just exhaust into the water.

You may be better off just floating a scuba tank on the surface and use a conventional regulator and a long hose. I never fully trusted using a commercial air compressor because of oil contamination and lack of filtration. You need a true oil-less compressor and something to purify the air.

 

[jimbeeler]

I'd suggest that you go ahead and take an Open Water Scuba class. You'll learn a lot and will be taught the physics of what you can and can't do underwater. If you decide to pursue your invention, you'll have a lot more knowledge to hopefully make it safe.

Jim

 

[fbk]

When I was about 10 I tried to build a 6 foot snorkel out of PVC pipe so I could swim underwater at the bottom of the pool.. try it yourself and see how far you get before you can't breath against the pressure. Hint... there's a reason snorkels are only about a foot long.

For what you describe I would use a small pony bottle and reg.

 

[Damselfish]

Physics isn't going to let you get around the need for pressurized air. So start by taking that scuba class, which teaches lots about the dangers and behavior of compressed air, and of course many other things. (Like why it's a bad idea to do any form of diving alone, at least without further training, experience & equipment.) Then you can decide whether floating a tank with a long hose and reg makes sense, or if you would be better off just wearing the tank and scuba diving in the more usual way. Pros and cons to each, but either is likely going to be cheaper for you than buying or DIYing a safe hookah rig with a compressor.

Or if you could do what you want if you could just hold your breath longer, consider taking a free diving class.

 

[tjschultz2011]

Ok, thank you all for the advice and info. I figured if such a device were possible then it would probably exist already. I will definitely take a diving class soon and I will most likely build my own hookah set up for my purpose of shallow panfish spearing. I've done a considerable amount of research on them and I think that it will fit my needs well. Here's what I'm figuring:

A lot of the helpful info I got came directly from Keene engineering's website: Intro to Hooka!

For a compressor, I was looking at a few on amazon that are oiless and designed for airbrushing but they still appear to be able to build up adequate pressure for even two divers at shallow depths (according to Keene's info). Here's one that has the tank built into it and can build up to 60 psi that sells for $90. I'm not completly sure if I'm going to go this route or if I'm going to buy a tank made specifically for this but it seems like something like this may work just fine

http://www.amazon.com/Airbrush-TC-2...01720956&sr=8-8&keywords=airbrush+compressors

Amazon also carries a few second stage regulators. One person reviewed this one and says he uses it for hookah diving

http://www.amazon.com/Promate-WIZAR...d=1401750443&sr=8-5&keywords=hookah+regulator

I found the best price on breathing hose on ebay (this would be enough to make two set ups if I wanted to):

Divers Air Breathing Diving Hookah Hose 8mm x 20M Coil Australian Dive | eBay

And the harness and check valve system I would probably order right from keene:

Harness: Keene Engineering Online


So all of this plus the fittings and misc. stuff should come to around $300 dollars if I've figured everything correctly. Ill just use a big intertube to house everything and a deepcycle marine battery with a converter (which I already have) to power the pump. Thoughts?

 

[OtherHalf]

You're missing out on the refill rate, and the appropriate pressure. Most second stages operate at between 110 and 150psi. Youre also missing out on the refill rate. IIRC my SAC rate is around .85 cfm. So you'd need a pump that could maintain no less than 150psi at 1cfm. Just to breathe on the surface safely. And even at that you'd need almost 100% duty cycle. At 30ft you'd need double that rate. And without a tank youre going to need even higher pressure. Presure at 30' is twice that of surface, so you're going to need to counteract that pressure to keep the IP up at depth.

And it'd need to be oil free. And clean. Last thing you want is your lungs coated with a microfilm of oil.

And I know I'm forgetting something.

 

[Rich Keller]

You might be better off just splicing a long hose between your 1st & 2nd stage and diving off of a scuba tank floating on the surface. I do this when I kayak dive in shallow water, 50' of hose is enough to make dives in the 30' range.

 

[ams511]

Thoughts?

How much your life is worth? A few panfish?

Two of us already mentioned just to float a tank but I guess you don't want to because you need to spend money to become certified. You have poor reading comprehension. The brief description tells you point blank that you cannot use an unconverted scuba regulator for hookah, I don't care what the guy said on Amazon. Scuba regulators are made to operate at a pressure of around 120-150 PSI, you will need to respring any scuba regulator. You have no filter so you will breath oil, rust, etc. The compressor you are using is not powerful enough to drive air to a reasonable depth. There is a reason that hookah rigs are not cheap, the compressor from Keene is $300 alone. HINT: You may want to look at the specs of their products and find something similar.

Also what are you going to do for redundancy if the compressor quits? What about weights? a wetsuit?