DIY scuba Hookah

[DennisS]

I used to have a hookah mounted in my 12 ft inflatable. I used a keene compressor and reserve tank, hose I bought from Amazon hose in Miami, regulators were old aqualungs set up for hookah, fittings I got from keene. There is no safe, cheap hookah rig

I was doing a shore entry with scuba one day and the seas were 2-3 ft. I watched two guys start up a new Brownies rig and enter the ocean holding the handles with the unit between them. They got about 50 ft out and a wave picked it up and flipped the running unit. Salt water compressed in the engine and compressor proabably twisted rods and did lots of expensive damage. It's just something to think about if you're planning a comressor running on a float.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

There are fairly inexpensive hookah units that show up on e-bay from time to time. That would be potentially less expensive and a lot more idiot proof than a DIY project.

Whether you go gas (mechanical relaibility is key and fumes are a potential issue if you do not properly locate the intake) or electric (relaibility issues with electical contacts and salt water, battery issues) you will want a small pony as a bailout. This could take the form of a slung pony that you switch to, or could take the form of a back mounted pony feeding a common gas block also fed by the hookah and leading to a single second stage.

Fume issues aside, I'd consider sticking with gas as it is more portable. Even if it gets flipped, a 5.0 HP Honda engine is very reliable and lightweight but is also inexpensive and designed as a repalcement part so if you flipped the float say once every two years, the cost is still low - no more than the cost of a set of good quality deep cycle marine batteries. Plus with the air coming in through the carburator, it is really unlikely that you would get water into the single piston and if that occurred it is unlikely the motor would still have enough power to bend a rod.

Reg wise, most hookah units operate at an Intermediate Pressure around 60 psi rather than the 120-145 common to scuba regulators. That means that at a max depth of 30 ft, a 75 psi supply pressure would be ample and most small compressors can maintain a lot more flow at 75psi than they can at 135 to 160 psi, so the lower IP makes a successful Hookah rig far easier to achieve than if you attempt to do it at 135-160 psi using a scuba second stage.

To adapt a scuba second stage to Hookah use (ie: lowering the IP it operates at) you would want a model that is a dual adjustment design where you could adjust both the orifice and the lever height with separate adjustments. And you'd need one that is fairly high performance as the lower IP means you need a larger orifice to get the same flow rate, although if you limit the depth to 30' that is not so much of an issue.

The USD double hose regs with hookah ports (DA Aquamaster and Royal Aquamaster) operated at 110 psi, but the second stage could easily be adjusted for a lower IP by just backing off the second stage body and reducing the spring pressure slightly. Reproduction hookah harnesses are availble from Alan Klauda through vintagedoublehose.com and that would be a fun alternative for a hookah reg.

 

[corey24]

well thanks for the info at this point i think i may just have to bite the bullet and but a new one i dont want to have to run the risk of me making the rig wrong and somthing bad happen. can anyone tell me if these are any good?



HOOKAMAX hookah, two diver Scuba Diving System 2X100' - eBay (item 270347032582 end time Mar-22-09 10:00:00 PDT)



Ultralight


or if you no of another on that inexpensive

 

[corey24]

i already have a electric porter cable 6 gallon 150psi compressor oil free 1.5 hp 3.5scfm @90psi i dont un derstand why i cant put a micron filter on it and attach a regulator?

 

[simcoediver]

What are you plugging your compressor into? do you have a boat with 120 volt power?

 

[rustyshakelford]

no offense but this just sounds like a train wreck.

it seems the general feeling is to pony up the money and do it right. buy the system designed for what your wanting. Im my opinion i would not want to dive with the same thing i use to run my nail gun.

for spear fishing, i would also want to be more mobile instead of teathered to a short hose

brett

 

[Sailor's Hookah]

Wow, loads of info here...and I will admit I just skimmed all the post ...but please allow me to change the question just a bit.

I own a 30 foot sailboat that I keep on a mooring hook. I'd like to build myself a hookah to keep the bottom clean with the possibility for snagging me some lobsters and conks from time to time (once I learn the proper hunting sessions and other important info like that).

I have around 20 tank dives under my belt but dont really care for the sport. Love the "water world" but diving is hard on my ears. And I haven't been under water in 20+ years. I doubt very seriously I would venture beyond 20 feet. Mainly I want it to maintain my boat.

I'd like the unit to be electric, 12v. Tank-less. Safe. .....oh...and cheap. I know, I know ... I can buy a unit for $300 - $500 but I could build one for seriously less. I have massive amounts of spare parts at my disposal and very little cash.

Many said that Cory shouldn't attempt this. But for someone that isn't likely to get below 10 feet, it should be easy. Right?

 

[porbeagle]

Right. I did it with a little info from Keene eng., An oil-less compressor (2.5 cfm) from home
depot a 2nd stage hookah reg from e-bay, a 40 micron filter,and food grade beverage hose.
If you want it to work safely,pay heed to DA's post.Especially about the 2nd stage reg.
I would advise sticking with scuba or go with a tank on a kayak or boat with an extended
hose. I think it is called snuba? There are lots of posts about this issue out there,but for
the savings and peace of mind I think I would listen to thalassamania and DA on this one.
Just my 2cents. Porbeagle

 

[hullscrubber]

Porbeagle nailed it, if you want a safe and reliable hookah use a scuba tank and reg. combo with a 50 ft. hose. I clean boat bottoms for a living in Sarasota, Fl, and for all of us bottom scrubbers it's the standard. No tank on your back, but if the rig rolls of the dock/boat it's no big deal. Plus it's cheaper than a compressor and you should have no air quality issues.

 

[sjensenpiper]

I would like to hear what you want to use this for. If you are doing any diving that will require any labor intensive work you need to be careful about your set up even at 30ft. I have looked at most of the hookah set up on the internet and they are not safe for any real diving you will out run the cfm produced by this. First off the you need to have a regulator that can handle varying out put pressures. I use the kirby morgan EXO-26 this full face mask with a manifold block that include a one way valve never dive surface supplied with out it. Also most regulator need to have at least 90psi over bottom pressure to operate properly but optimal is 150psi over bottom pressure. When I scuba you don't have to worry about that at depth.

Also the type of hose is very important you want a hose that dose not kink and can take some abuse 3/8" id min or you will be breathing through a straw. Most hookah systems have cheap glorified garden hose. I use Gates 33hb witch is the commercial diving standard. As for using a cylinder hooked to a first stage on the surface is ok but you cant very the out put pressure. If you want a save money from buying a commercial compressor you can purchase an air control manifold with hp regulator for about 2800 from divers supply inc. This hooks up to two scuba cylenders and you can adjust the pressure on the surface and swich out cylenders with out losing air.