Scooter reliability?

[Captain Bil]

Yea, I have to agree with Forrest- I have two N-19s, and two makos- For shallow, I almost prefer the makos only because you can tell when they are going to die. The sudden quit at the end of the burn life of an N-19 is pretty crappy. I've been on dives with 2 N-19s per person plus a UV-26- after the 26s died early, (one died really early, the other was accelerated by towing two long distance- we swam to the first 19s' which had been pulled in further than they were ridden, just in case this happened- this longer ride out took both of those N19s to their battery life- we swam to the next set and scootered out. One more major failure and we might have had issues. I know for a fact part of this was inadequate burn testing, and not cycling the batteries, but it is sort of unnnerving to know that once it quits, you're done, you cant swim for a while and then start it back up again. (Well, you can, but is a LONG while.) On the upside, I've never flooded an SS, the makos all the time. Also had a Tekna implosion, only at Beacon Woods- the guy riding (he can speak up if he wants) was at 170 or so when it collapsed- Boom! we all heard it- it stunned him so badly he didn't react for 3-4 minutes- it just drug him to the dirt. Once he started reacting to our lights we towed him back out. The scooter was recovered the following day with a spare backmount wing wrapped around it- that was a show.

Actually, you can with the V3 electronics module. It changed the way the cut off id handled and it will allow cycling on and off after only a short rest. Not sure what the long term battery affect is to this, but it will allow you to "limp" the scooter out. I've only done it for a short distance, so I don't know how long this last either. Talk to Suzy about it, she can give you better info.

[alanf]

I was given great advice about this when I asked the same question. The answer was simply, "A scooter is more likely to fail than a primary light". Nice and simple and when taken onboard stops you from fooling yourself and playing Russian roulette in a cave.

[Sludge]

"A scooter is more likely to fail than a primary light".

In fourteen years of cave diving I've had three primary light failures. In six years of cave scootering I've had two scooter failures.

Sounds about right.

[phillip1]

Just completed a DPV course today and I look forward to a lot of practice before we actually use scooters for the real dive we are planning. Have a dumb question how likely is a runaway scooter with an N19? has it happened often?

[FW]

Just completed a DPV course today and I look forward to a lot of practice before we actually use scooters for the real dive we are planning. Have a dumb question how likely is a runaway scooter with an N19? has it happened often?

Not real likely, just check the little cable that connects the throttle to the switch. If it gets debris and jams, it could run away.

I only had one scooter run away, and it was a Farallon. I just turned it into the cave wall, until I un-jammed the trigger.

[jj1987]

Not real likely, just check the little cable that connects the throttle to the switch. If it gets debris and jams, it could run away.

I only had one scooter run away, and it was a Farallon. I just turned it into the cave wall, until I un-jammed the trigger.

I've never seen a n19 in person...do they not have the magnetic reed switch?

I was coming back from Mainland one day and had my Gavin stick on because the magnet was screwed too far down into the body. Needless to say...I don't "eyeball" it anymore

Just to be clear...this wasn't a scooter failure, this was user error (IE my own darn fault), like most dpv failures I hear about

[FW]

Yep, they use the same system, just a different trigger.

[phillip1]

I can't believe how far and how fast you get in a cave with a scooter. But really I would only use a scooter for long penetration exploration needs, other than that i would rather swim, you don't get to see any of the cave it goes by so fast.

As part of the course we scootered Chac mol to the monster room and it went by so fast we did not even see the worlds biggest stalactite, how stupid is that!!!!!!
I definitely will do that dive swimming next time i come back, i mean that as idiotic as going to Bali and not surfing or Padang.

[LiteHedded]

it slows down the more you do it and you'll start to see more of the cave

[mfascuba]

In fourteen years of cave diving I've had three primary light failures. In six years of cave scootering I've had two scooter failures.

Sounds about right.

Different than my experience - if you discount batteries that were used beyond their life or weren't properly charged before the dive, I've had two primary lights flood, one was a fixed beam 10WHID, the other a 21W test tube HID - the 21W is being repaired as I type.. The 10W is 9 years old, it didn't fire with a fully charged battery a couple months ago and seems to get moisture in it when I dive in the 100 ft range, which is just about every dive. I'm in denial on that one but it's going back once the 21W is up and running again. I had a tekna when I started scootering, now I'm on a UV26, no issues with either as long as I keep the batteries charged.... Now watch, my next scooter dive will prove you right again.....

Dammit!!

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