Shallow Water Scooter Use

[DeepSeaDan]

Greetings,

I just received my Black Tip Travel Scooter, and am in the market for batteries. I search for old glass and crockery, mostly in shallow rivers ( ave. 10', but some of the larger ones reach 40' - 50' in places ). I plan to use the scooter to reach areas of rivers too far to swim to, and to blow sand / silt away in search of buried items. I'm thinking the 9Ah size will be sufficient, though many of the rivers have steady currents, with speeds varying with the season.

Questions: I plan to recharge these batteries in my vehicle, using a power inverter - any problems with that idea? Also, am I risking the drive mechanism by using the scooter as an excavator? I plan to angle the scooter prop, so I'm blowing sediment downstream.

Thanks in advance,
DSD

 

[tbone1004]

i wouldn't put the prop in the silt, but using the prop wash to blow sediment out is not an uncommon use for them.

Only you can decide how much burn time you need out of the batteries

I'd look at a second set of batteries before I went to the hassle of using inverters to charge batteries since you'll either need a massive battery bank or will need to leave the engine running. Very inefficient way of doing it and the batteries aren't all that expensive. Rapid charging like that also isn't really good for them due to the heat, so keep that in mind as well.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

i wouldn't put the prop in the silt, but using the prop wash to blow sediment out is not an uncommon use for them.

Only you can decide how much burn time you need out of the batteries

I'd look at a second set of batteries before I went to the hassle of using inverters to charge batteries since you'll either need a massive battery bank or will need to leave the engine running. Very inefficient way of doing it and the batteries aren't all that expensive. Rapid charging like that also isn't really good for them due to the heat, so keep that in mind as well.

Thanks for that, TBone1004.

Would you recommend this charger, or would a slower-acting charger be better for prolonging battery life?

DEWALT DCB118X1 20/60V MAX FLEXVOLT Lithium-Ion 9.0Ah Battery Pack with Fan-Cooled Charger

 

[broncobowsher]

It's not the temperature of the battery charger. It is the core temperature of the battery that is the issue. They heat up when you use them, they heat more when you charge them, heat even more when you fast charge them.

How long of a surface interval are you planning? If you just plan on sitting out for an hour, you are going to eat 20 minutes of that pulling batteries out, plugging the charger in and getting it running, and putting batteries back in the scooter. You are not going to get squat for a charge in the 40 minutes time. High capacity battery packs give a lot of run time, but they also take a long time to recharge again.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

It's not the temperature of the battery charger. It is the core temperature of the battery that is the issue. They heat up when you use them, they heat more when you charge them, heat even more when you fast charge them.

How long of a surface interval are you planning? If you just plan on sitting out for an hour, you are going to eat 20 minutes of that pulling batteries out, plugging the charger in and getting it running, and putting batteries back in the scooter. You are not going to get squat for a charge in the 40 minutes time. High capacity battery packs give a lot of run time, but they also take a long time to recharge again.

My s.i.'s are quite short due to the shallow nature of the diving.

In any event, I just ordered 4 12Ah batteries & a fast charger, so I'll see how things work out.

Does running the scooter in ice water affect the battery charge?

Thanks for your help,
DSD

 

[Gareth J]

Any time you put batteries into a cold environment it effects the battery 'runtime'. It doesn't matter if it is torch batteries, heated vest batteries, camera or strobe batteries, the run time will drop in cold water.

I have batteries that I use in the water for the camera, the ones that don't last long are relegated to the camera I use on the surface.

 

[NothingClever]

I think you made a good choice with four 12Ah batteries since you will be dealing with river currents, tend towards short SIs and don't have shore power. I think you can confidently head to the dive site with four charged 12Ah batteries.

Let us know how you get along.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Thank you Gareth & NC.

I'll report back at the conclusion of river trials.

DSD

 

[tbone1004]

My s.i.'s are quite short due to the shallow nature of the diving.

In any event, I just ordered 4 12Ah batteries & a fast charger, so I'll see how things work out.

Does running the scooter in ice water affect the battery charge?

Thanks for your help,
DSD

you made the right choice with multiple batteries if you're doing short SIT's. I probably would have bit the extra money and got the 4-gang charger so they all charge together, since series charging can get really annoying if you get busy and it also lets them sit on the charger longer to balance all the way out, but there is no way you were going to do what you wanted to do with recharging mid-day.

Running in the cold affects the burn time of the batteries, but they will still throw off a good bit of heat and I think you'll be surprised how not-cold they are when you pop them out

 

[Andy in Gap]

Be careful when you’re running in shallow water, aquatic vegetation will foul the prop and render the blacktip inoperable.