Why we do not employ “through-hull charging”

You may have noticed that all Subsea Propulsion Systems scooters require the user to unclip the four latches on the hull and remove the body tube to connect the charging cable. While this may seem out-dated and quaint to many, it is this way for a very simple reason.

Much as there is rarely such thing as a true drysuit (I prefer to call mine a damp suit), there is often moisture that can accumulate in a DPV and can remain trapped. Opening up the hull of a Subsea Scooter is an essential part of post-dive maintenance that should happen at the end of every dive day. We recommend that the outer hull be completely removed, taking care to set the hull nose-side down to protect the sealing surface. After that the user should be checking for any water accumulation in the cupped area near the motor compartment.

If you watched our video demonstrating that the Viper will run even with a fully flooded motor compartment (link below ) then you will know that you cannot simply tell by scooter performance whether you have water inside or not. It is necessary to check each day for water in order to catch any small issues while they are just that, small.

The second reason to open up the body every day is that it requires the user to inspect and clean the body-to-tail o-ring regularly. Even one cave dive can be enough to lodge grit and sand into that sealing surface and compromise the seal.

The most simple reason that we do not use through-hull charging is that it alleviates the need for a hole in the scooter. Our hulls and nose cones have no holes that penetrate completely through. Likewise our tails have one hole for the shaft and that is it.