The Scuba Compressor
Ok So if you are working your way through the larger website, you know we are Scuba Divers. Scuba Diving requires filled Scuba Tanks. We need a compressor to do that for us. Below is the saga to get us to a reliable and independent means of having full scuba tanks for us to use.
Sounds easy right?
Scuba Compressor - purchase Oct 2021 - Annapolis Boat Show!
American Breathing Air – Egg Harbor Township, NJ
We bought the Scuba Compressor at the 2021 Annapolis Sail Boat show and didn’t get a chance to actually try it til we were down in the Keys. That’s when we discovered we were actually underpowered for it. Hindsight being what it is, I should have stuck with the ancient compressor I was gifted.
Scuba Compressor - 2022
When we got to the Florida Keys and we were ready to go diving, we finally tried the compressor. We had just been carrying it around to this point, as we had not had the time or need to try it out.
The GenSet wheezed, and the Compressor attempted to start up and the GenSet electrical circuit promptly tripped for over current. We did some more math and on paper it should have worked, but the 3KW the GenSet was putting out was sufficient to run it, not start it. I guess this isn't going to work - we will set this aside for now - we are planning a big electrical upgrade next summer, so let's plan on making it sufficient to run this thing.
Ok so I thought I was smart enough to incorporate the compressor's electrical requirements into the design - heck a 5KW inverter charger should be plenty right ?
NOPE - still not enough starting amps. We thought we were close enough that a soft start would do it. Either we didn't wire it in properly or it wasn't but either way, we weren't going to run the compressor with the current electrical architecture and the upgrades necessary are going to cost far more than a new compressor would cost time to rethink the answer.
Compressor - 2023
The best course of action is to convert this compressor to gasoline powered motor - the solution that I had when we started, but I didn't want (and really still don't want) another gasoline motor.
I can get a direct replacement electrical motor from Amazon for under $200. Time to get on with it. We are in St Thomas and such a motor is not readily available on the island so we had to ship it. Cost as much to ship it as we paid for it.....
It arrived just before we were ready to leave and we had access to free scuba fills so it was put on the back burner.
Compressor - 2024
While in the boatyard, we had the mechanic do the conversion - good thing as he access to a machinist as the pulley we ordered had the wrong shaft diameter. Any the conversion is done and it appears to be working....
Like everything else in 2024, Hurricane Beryl interrupted all of this great progress. The repowered compressor actually road out the storm at the base of the keel. Fortunately when the boat fell over, it fell away from the compressor and not on top of it.
We have not actually tried to fill a tank yet.