Has anyone ever made a scuba hookah system?
- Thread starter on_ice
- Start date
ARealmsLLC
New member
These systems are used frequently in tourist locations like Hawaii and other locations for people to "try" a SCUBA experience w/o all the bulky...often intimidating equipment. They have a floating tank on the water's surface and you just dive up to roughly 40' with the stage 2 regulator and no BC. I think I have heard it referred to as NUBA? Or something along those lines.
scubabill777
New member
Surface supplied air.
Surface supplied air.
At 40 ft how did you keep track of your air supply? Most air intergrated computers range is much less. Let me know because I have boat people who ask about an inexpensive system a lot.
Surface supplied air.
At 40 ft how did you keep track of your air supply? Most air intergrated computers range is much less. Let me know because I have boat people who ask about an inexpensive system a lot.
TTU_Reefer
New member
most of the time air is supplied from a compressor. I feel like if I bought a system like this the hoses would be no longer than 25', seems like an inherently dangerious system for people who are non-cert. divers.
blackthunda77
New member
You were close....its actually called SNUBA
ARealmsLLC
New member
That's it. Thanks Blackthunda77. 
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As for keeping track of your tank's pressure. I would only assume that it is done by the guide service. I would venture to guess there is some sort of pressure gauge on the surface with the tank that a certified instructor keeps a watchful eye on. I would guess they would just tug on the line when it is time for the customer to surface (as it goes to a small harness that keeps the hose coming off the center of their back).
You may be able to rig a system with a shorter hose...say 25' or less and have a pressure gauge attached to the harness rig for you to monitor.
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As for keeping track of your tank's pressure. I would only assume that it is done by the guide service. I would venture to guess there is some sort of pressure gauge on the surface with the tank that a certified instructor keeps a watchful eye on. I would guess they would just tug on the line when it is time for the customer to surface (as it goes to a small harness that keeps the hose coming off the center of their back).
You may be able to rig a system with a shorter hose...say 25' or less and have a pressure gauge attached to the harness rig for you to monitor.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to make one or where to look? I have a few old regulators and stuff I could use/take apart. Would it be as simple as putting a longer hose between the first stage and second stage? Can I use the hose from an air compressor? I do alot of shallow water diving for lobster in either a canoe or a 13' whaler and this could be a pretty simple/fun device to use.
dahenley
New member
you cant use that hose.....
i am no expert, but i was/am a mechanic, and the hose is too soft. i wouldnt trust it because it can kink easy and i have had a ton of them burst. thats with 200psi or less. (cheap and expensive hoses.......)
i think Scuba hoses are a wire/metal braided hose to prevent them from kinking. usually a 1-2 wire hose is good for low pressure (up to a grand i think.... i dont have my hydraulics info around me) i would ask an expert to see what kind of hose is recommended....
it would suck to drop all the hose in the water, and the pressure from the water start to pinch off the hose because it is too soft... just a thought..
jeepguy242
New member
+1 on the soft hose, those things break in my shop all the time, also, i dont dive, but at 40 feet dont you need to make decompression stops on the way up, i think that would be dangerous for tourists
TTU_Reefer
New member
for the cost/trouble (for a non-comercial tour group user) it would be much cheaper and easier to use scuba equiptment than do this.
Turns out, my dad has 50 feet of scuba hose leftover from a hookah rig from a boat he used to work on. I won't be using it at that depth.... Probably won't use it deeper then 25 feet so I won't be using a guage (there will be one on the tank). This is just for some bridge/shallow water diving with m Boston whaler when it's kinda a pain to put scuba gear on every spot. Can I just use this hose in between a normal 1st and /n stage? Do I need to adjust pressure anywhere?
dahenley
New member
your pressure should be the same, but, your loosing volume through 50' of hose.
when you hook the system up to your 2500lb tank, you might reed 2400. you lost all that through your hose, and you wont get it back. this should be a problem with short dives like what your talking about. (a spair air for that one time might be a good thing though)
wait till a expert chimes in though.
when you hook the system up to your 2500lb tank, you might reed 2400. you lost all that through your hose, and you wont get it back. this should be a problem with short dives like what your talking about. (a spair air for that one time might be a good thing though)
wait till a expert chimes in though.
SeaJayInSC
New member
Baraotrauma can occur in just 3' of water. In 10' of water, if a person takes a full breath from the reg, holds it and ascends, he's got a very good chance of doing permanent damage to his lungs.
At 25', if something like this were to happen, the chances of permanent damage is very likely.
What's worse is that the lungs generally don't have the sort of nerve endings that you'd need to feel an impending overexpansion injury - so you'd never even know something was wrong until you were coughing up blood and already damaged lung tissue - which would likely cause serious scarring issues, especially later in life... That is, if you successfully healed from them today.
If you've been trained by a reputable scuba agency, then you know what Rule #1 is and how to prevent this sort of barotrauma. If you don't know what Rule #1 is, then I'd recommend training (with supervision) prior to building a rig like what you're describing.
By the time you finish your training, you'll want the tank on your back anyway, not topside where you can't reach it - or someone else can.
Second stages (regulator mouthpieces) are designed to operate at a very specific pressure, usually between 120 and 140 psi.
That is, 120 or 140 psi MORE than the ambient pressure (surrounding pressure). Since water pressure increases 14.7 psi every 33 feet, you can see that, even if you were to get your adjustment right on the second stage and get your tank to deliver exactly the right pressure, the correct adjustment gets further and further off the deeper you go... Or if you adjust it for a specific depth, the adjustment is incorrect when you're closer to the surface.
The bottom line is: Take the class, if you haven't already. After you do that, if you still want to build a nonstandard scuba system, then feel free - but the system you describe will be very difficult to tune correctly (causing either freeflows or difficulty breathing at certain depths) or very limiting in terms of what you can do with it.
At 25', if something like this were to happen, the chances of permanent damage is very likely.
What's worse is that the lungs generally don't have the sort of nerve endings that you'd need to feel an impending overexpansion injury - so you'd never even know something was wrong until you were coughing up blood and already damaged lung tissue - which would likely cause serious scarring issues, especially later in life... That is, if you successfully healed from them today.
If you've been trained by a reputable scuba agency, then you know what Rule #1 is and how to prevent this sort of barotrauma. If you don't know what Rule #1 is, then I'd recommend training (with supervision) prior to building a rig like what you're describing.
By the time you finish your training, you'll want the tank on your back anyway, not topside where you can't reach it - or someone else can.
Second stages (regulator mouthpieces) are designed to operate at a very specific pressure, usually between 120 and 140 psi.
That is, 120 or 140 psi MORE than the ambient pressure (surrounding pressure). Since water pressure increases 14.7 psi every 33 feet, you can see that, even if you were to get your adjustment right on the second stage and get your tank to deliver exactly the right pressure, the correct adjustment gets further and further off the deeper you go... Or if you adjust it for a specific depth, the adjustment is incorrect when you're closer to the surface.
The bottom line is: Take the class, if you haven't already. After you do that, if you still want to build a nonstandard scuba system, then feel free - but the system you describe will be very difficult to tune correctly (causing either freeflows or difficulty breathing at certain depths) or very limiting in terms of what you can do with it.
TTU_Reefer
New member
on scuba board id have clicked the (thanks seajayinsc) button
SeaJayInSC
New member
Sweet! Thanks, TTU!
Yeah, On Ice, diving with compressed gas (air) at depth (any depth) is not at all like breath-hold diving. Physiologically, it's very different, and requires training to do it safely. A hookah setup like what you're describing has all kinds of disadvantages over a regular scuba system, with no clear advantages other than the cost of certification - which you should be doing anyway, even if you only plan to use a hookah rig.
The dangers of diving are there whether you've got the tank on your back or a long hose connecting you to the surface. Be safe and be educated about them so that you won't get hurt - THEN figure out what sort of gear would serve you best.
Yeah, On Ice, diving with compressed gas (air) at depth (any depth) is not at all like breath-hold diving. Physiologically, it's very different, and requires training to do it safely. A hookah setup like what you're describing has all kinds of disadvantages over a regular scuba system, with no clear advantages other than the cost of certification - which you should be doing anyway, even if you only plan to use a hookah rig.
The dangers of diving are there whether you've got the tank on your back or a long hose connecting you to the surface. Be safe and be educated about them so that you won't get hurt - THEN figure out what sort of gear would serve you best.
