UV-26 or Viper...

[Webmaster]

There might be a Lithium ferrite conversion coming out for the for the UV's. With a UV-18 with the LiFe conversion getting the burn time of a viper, and its going to be offered by Silent Submerg.

Any idea on when this might be coming out?

[Tegg]

Just build your own or PM "billyf" on this forum....

I get 190mins burn time with my battery pack in my 26.

[OFG-1]

Just build your own or PM "billyf" on this forum.... I get 190mins burn time with my battery pack in my 26.

I agree with Joe if you are going to use a non lead acid battery. The big problem I see is not burn times, but life of the battery. It is great to get 190 minutes of burn, but if the pack is toast in 1 1/2 years, and you paid umpty hundred for the pack, then it is not any kind of bargain.

That in a nutshell is the problem with my N-19. Lets do some math:
I bought the scooter 4 1/2 years ago from Edd, got a pretty good price of $3400.00
Original batteries lasted < 2 years, about 50 dives, the I bought new batteries $ 400.00 (Rodney sold them to me at cost)
Second set lasted 1 1/2 years, or about 40 dives Pack repaired $ 0.00 (Rodney repaired it for no cost)
Repaired set lasted about 10 months, about 15 dives Again repaired $ 100.00 (Had to buy watts up meter and build burn tester, tear a cell out of original pack and get it welded into repaired pack)

I now have $3,900 in a scooter with a rebuilt battery pack, that has one 4 1/2 year old cell in it. If it dies, and Rodney no longer supports the NiMh packs, to get a fix from Submerge, I either spend about $2000 for the Vyper conversion (which gives me a $5,900 scooter), orI buy a battery from Rodney for $1000 (which gives me a $4,900 scooter), or I buy or build a custom battery which if I am lucky I can build for about $600 (Which gives me a $4500 scooter).

Gerri bought a used UV-26 for $2000, and a 18 conversion for $400.00. We bought new -18 batteries for $265.00. Gerri has a scooter that cost her <$2700. Guess what, it goes the same places that mine does.

So if you assume that I have got 100 dives out of my $3900 scooter, that is about $39 per dive, so far.
Gerri has $2665 in her scooter, and if I had bought that instead if the N-19 it would be about $27 per dive for the same 100 dives.

Now, I cannot fault Rodney in any way, he provided excellent service and even performed labor for me at no cost, and sold me what he believed was a superior product at the time. However, this had led me to the conclusion that I originally posted, do not buy anything that has not been on the market and used for at least 5 years.

In my opinion, which is worth nothing, If you are going to do 190 minute dives, but two UV-26's and tow a spare, it isn't just the battery that can crap out on you.

[DA Aquamaster]

In my opinion, which is worth nothing, If you are going to do 190 minute dives, but two UV-26's and tow a spare, it isn't just the battery that can crap out on you.

I am newly minted in terms of Cave DPV but it occurred to me even prior to a cave DPV class that some DPV divers may be tempted to play fast and loose with the gas planning and be poorly prepared in the event of a scooter failure, and scooters with mega burn times exacerbate that risk.

In deep caves the threat is there even with relatively short trigger time, but with the long run times now offered on some scooters, getting yourself a mile or more back in a 100' deep cave poses some very daunting gas challenges if the scooter fails, especially in low flow.

In that regard, I think the main advantage of a 3 hour burn time is the ability to do 2 or 3 dives between charges, not necessarily the ability to use a 2 to 3 hours of that burn time on a single dive, as that would prudently require the use of a towed scooter as a back up, or a ton of reserve gas sufficient to allow you to swim out from max penetration and do the required deco.

[a64pilot]

In that regard, I think the main advantage of a 3 hour burn time is the ability to do 2 or 3 dives between charges, not necessarily the ability to use a 2 to 3 hours of that burn time on a single dive, as that would prudently require the use of a towed scooter as a back up, or a ton of reserve gas sufficient to allow you to swim out from max penetration and do the required deco.

If we are talking LI-PO batteries, you greatly extend the batteries life if you don't "deep cycle" so it's good to have a long run time and not use it. See here
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...ased_batteries look at table 2

[OFG-1]

In that regard, I think the main advantage of a 3 hour burn time is the ability to do 2 or 3 dives between charges, .

Good point, I have reached an age where one dive a day is plenty for me.

[DA Aquamaster]

If we are talking LI-PO batteries, you greatly extend the batteries life if you don't "deep cycle" so it's good to have a long run time and not use it. See here
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...ased_batteries look at table 2

That's also just another way to state the general concern about battery life. It's potentially misleading to advertise a large burn time and range on one hand, and then make any kind of valid claim about battery longevity on the other, when you'd have to manage the battery much differently, accepting far shorter burn times to get a reasonable battery life.

As someone suggested, I'm not going to believe any claim on actual real world battery life until those claims can be substantiated based on several years of field experience.

[billyf]

Just so you know the Viper and UV use the same motor.

as for batteries:

Lead sucks!
people that tell you that Lead batteries are cheaper just dont know what they are talking about!

its true that Li-PO & Li-Ion are expensive and dont last that long.

My prototype 40AH LiFe pack is over 5 years old
the burn time started at 170 minutes and now 5 years later the are 180-190 minutes.
the expected Life of the pack is in the decades.

I have built 8 packs and have yet to hear of any issues.

Lithium Batteries run and then just stop where SLA batteries you can tell they are running down - FALSE
Lithium Batteries are more expensive then SLA batteries - FALSE
Lithium Batteries dont have the life cycles that SLA batteries - FALSE

[mdax]

I would love to know
When is a uv 18 liFe option going to be available?

How much will the scooter/battery weigh?

How long will the expected runtime be?

How many charges will it last through?

Sounds like a cool option for the 26 eventually

[OFG-1]

Lithium Batteries are more expensive then SLA batteries - FALSE

OK, tell me where I can get replacement 26ah Lithium based batteries for my UV-26 for the same cost as the SLA batteries.

http://www.atbatt.com/product/3599/s...v-26ah/battery