Some competitors recommend to buy your batteries locally.
However it might be less expensive to ship with batteries than to buy the batteries locally.

Submerge recommends you purchase with batteries:

we ONLY use Genesis batteries. They are simply the best lead acid solution for scooters.
Genesis application PDF file

We burntest every set of batteries before they ship, so you never end up with a set of batteries which are old or damaged.

We receive new batches of Genesis batteries every 3-4 months so they are always delivered to you "fresh". If you buy batteries off the shelf you may not be guaranteed they are "new".

Because we ship with batteries, we can trim the scooter for fresh water in the factory. If you buy the batteries, they may be too heavy (there can be a lot of variation) for your scooter. Your scooter will then be uselessly negative in fresh water.

Overseas shipping, it can sometimes cost no more to ship with batteries (minimum weight charges) or the difference is usulaly much less than what you would have to pay for Genesis batteries overseas.

Genesis batteries, provided they are packed according to certain standards, are NOT classified as Hazardous material by the IATA and DOT so they can be shipped by air.

What is the Submerge Thrust rating?

We do not publish thrust ratings, because they will be used as a comparision
to other manufacturers thrust ratings, many of which we can not duplicate
using our methods. Be assured we are second to none of our competitors.
Please call if you have a question.

	HDPE	UHMW	English translation ;)
Tensile Strength, Ultimate	Average 4712 psi	Average 5800psi	23% stronger
Tensile Strength, Yield	2760-3340psi	2900-4000psi	5% to 20% stronger
Flexural modulus	Average=0.85GPa	Average=0.996GPa	17% stiffer
Deflection temperature @66psi	57 degrees Celsius	67-79 degrees Celsius	retains stiffness at a 28% higher temperature

Source: www.matweb.com

We use only Genesis batteries, the best scooter should only use the best batteries! Genesis batteries, in the 26 and 42 a/h sizes, significantly outperform other batteries of the same size
and weight.

In fact, the Genesis 26 A/h has the same burn time as the Powersonic 33A/h battery, for less weight and scooter size.

Other advantages of the Genesis, longer life (2-10 years), greater cycle life, deep discharge recovery, and the possibility of faster charging times. With the Interacter 5 Amp charger, recharge
times are approximately 3 hours for the UV-18, 5 hours for the UV-26 and 9 hours for the UV-42.

Replacement batteries are available from Batteryweb.com
Set of 2 batteries for UV-18, $180 G16-EP
Set of 2 batteries for UV-26, $300 G26-EP
Set of 2 batteries for UV-42, call, G42-EP

UV scooters are now rated to 120m /400 feet. 
1 UV-18 has been dived more than 9 times to sub-500 feet,
including 1 dive to 616 feet.

N-19 SALTWATER is currently rated to 110 meters/360 feet.

Only some aquazepp scooters are significantly faster than 
UV scooters. UV scooters use a custom wound Oceanic Mako motor,
which significantly improves performance. Speed up to 200 ft/min
for a diver with double 104's and 2 stages is fast, and this pace
can be kept for long periods due to relatively low current draw.

More importantly than speed, the design of the Tekna/Mako motor 
is very efficient, providing torque at relatively low RPM's
which eliminates the need for gear reduction drives.

Absolutely! Rodney and Suzie dive both wreck/open water 
and in Florida caves. 



Husband and wife dive team Rodney Nairne and Suzie Dudas, owners of Submerge Inc.

Without a doubt, the original design team on the Tekna scooter, 
designed in the early 80's, deserves all the credit for a brilliant thruster design. 
The kort nozzle and hydrofoil propellers, variable pitch 
speed control, low rpm/high torque motor and simple circuitry,
were all part of the original design which is used to this day in 
Oceanic Mako scooters, as well as the deeper rated Submerge scooters.

I was obviously influenced in the design of the Submerge scooter by the 
renowned Gavin scooter, however I made many changes which have over the 
years been widely accepted as significant improvements to the state of the art.

In particular, the tapered back end, milled out shroud support arrangement,
ridgid aluminium motor compartment, Anderson connectors, and the ergonomic 
and simple handle come to mind. Some of which have been "adopted" by the 
manufacturer of the Gavin scooters. 
(in fact, the "original" Gavin scooter is no longer produced, now the tail is built out
of aluminium or the popular version is the one with the "Submerge style" back end)


Bill Gavin and the #1 Gavin scooter 
(copyright Bernie Camploi 06)

The Myth of the "indefinately slipping" clutch:

A company out of TAMPA Florida had many innovative scooter ideas in the late 80's.
One these was a complete re-manufature of the original injection molded Tekna clutch 
and hub assembly. This is currently still in production, and is alternatively called the 
AUL/Arnold Jackson Clutch or the WKPP calls it the WKPP clutch. 
Available from DPVREPAIR.com

Due to harder plastic and a aluminum clutch plate, the AUL assembly lasts much longer than
the standard Tekna/Mako clutch. (Submerge scooters use a machined Delrin clutch which 
lasts almost as well, and has no corrosion issues for saltwater use).

A myth has developed around the AUL clutch that it can be slipped indefinately. Whilst the 
clutch is quite capable of slipping for extended periods, if ANY make of Tekna clutch is 
continiously slipped for 60+ seconds, the drive pin will fail due to metal fatigue. 
(The clutch slipping duplicates a 10,000 plus hammers/vibrations per minute)

Interestingly, if a drive pin lasts for 90 seconds for example, and it is visually inspected after
80 seconds, it appears in perfect condition (no bending).

Submerge has tested many 3 different Stainless drive pin materials and we use the material which lasts 
the longest.

More than any other factor, your speed through the water and your
enjoyment of the dive will be enhanced if you configure your equipment
in a streamlined manner.

Submerge recommends a Hogarthian configuration for double cylinder
diving. Hogarthian is named after Bill Hogarth Main, who is one of the 
most respected Florida cave divers. His equipment has remained 
virtually unchanged for 28 years! It should be noted that Bill himself
did not design or develop most of the equipment and techniques, but
adopted the ones that worked. 

The Hogarthian configuration is not "static" and will continue to evolve
as new techniques are developed and proven. An example is stage scooter
diving techniques and gas management first used by the dive team of
Bill Main and Bill Gavin, and since developed to acheive unprecedented 
distances by the WKPP, and in the last few years Hogarthian has been
used to form the backbone of the "DIR" marketing system.

The system consists of Manifolded 104 steel cylinders, backplate and 
harness, canister light on the right waist. Only 3 D-rings. Aluminum only 
stage cylinders all on the left side. More than anything it is so simple 
it seems he is missing a bunch of gear when you see him in the water. 
With this system and a 1/4 century of experience, Bill and his dive 
buddies often swim further than most divers can manage with a scooter!

The Hogarthian philosophy could be summarised with "keep it simple". 
Another description would be it is minimalist. It you don't absolutely 
need it, don't carry it. In an emergency, poorly configured and 
extraneous equipment can become a liability. Solo diving is accepted
but not recommended, and a buddy team should such that your buddy is your
backup and bailout gas. 

Here are some key points related to streamlining for scootering:

Eliminate all "danglies". Anything hanging into the prop wash will
slow you down.

A canister light is preferred, with a palm mounted light head
held in the left hand. (The right hand operates the trigger). This 
allows you to point the light in any direction. Logically, 
depth gauge/bottom timers/compasses should be on the right forearm 
so that they can be checked with the light in the left hand, without 
lifting the trigger.

Submerge recommends a harness and backplate for scooter diving,
as the backplate provides an excellent, stable attachment for the crotch
strap, which is what actually pulls you through the water. Look for back
plates with a crotch strap slot which can accommodate 2" webbing, 
which is more comfortable than the 1"

If you find a harness difficult to don/doff, try loosening the 
shoulder straps. If you still have have difficulty, before you switch 
to a soft pack BC, try a clip under the left shoulder D-ring. 

Keep the scooter in front of you as far as possible for best speed. 
Don't be "on top" of the scooter. Your right arm should be almost 
fully outstretched.

The most streamlined BC's seem to be the simple wings style (No Bungy 
on the wings unless you just can't live without it ;), these "classic" 
wings have been made for years by Diverite, and are now also 
offered by OMS and Halcyon.

Rebreathers: No common configuration has emerged from the dozens of 
possible configurations. The best advice is keep it as simple as 
possible, avoid danglies, and figure a way to check your P02 without 
waving your light about (very distracting to other divers, and a 
big no-no in cave diving!) 

You should also be able to check your P02 on the fly, ie without
stopping the scooter. Ideally you will have your PP02 readouts
on your right forearm so you can shine your light on them while
scooterng with the right hand.



Oceanic prop assembly and aftermarket AUL hubs:

After 7 years of building hundreds of Submerge scooters, and about 12 years of scooter diving, we have a good idea of the characteristics of all the different options available for the Tekna/mako prop assembly.

For all our production and our personal scooters, we use standard Oceanic parts, with the exception of strengthening the blades with a 1/4” stainless set screw, and replacing the stock clutch plate with the machined acetal/Delrin Submerge part (with dimensions which match the AUL/Arnold Jackson hub assembly)

With the standard Oceanic hub assembly, we have seen a very low rate of failure, and nothing to suggest any of the Oceanic parts are faulty. Usually, breakages occur due to some trauma to the prop assembly or age.

I would recommend changing the entire prop assembly (except for the clutch plate) every 5 years simply because the plastics become brittle with age. Even if it is not used often... just like car tires they don't last forever even if there is tread remaining.

The 3 most common failures we have seen are:

Clutch plate worn out due to excessive amount of sand, usually from using the scooter for digging. Solution is, don't slip the clutch when digging, clean the sand out as regular maintenance after every time the scooter is used for digging, and if you dig, buy a spare clutch plate and inner hub.

Inner hub plastic boss/pins broken: almost certainly due to some excessive force applied to the blades. One culprit is the scooter hitting the water from a high entry such as a high decked boat, and the props “slapping” the water with the weight of the scooter behind it. Avoid dropping the scooter into the water from a height, and especially don't let it hit the water tail first. The pins may not fail immediately, usually the failure occurs very early in the dive, without any event immediately proceeding the failure; indicating the damage occurred some time between dives, during transport or storage.

Yoke: this part controls the pitch of the props. If one prop is hit hard and over-extended, (often from a tank sliding forward in a truck or boat, hitting the blades with the regulator) one of the pins on the yoke may distort. The will cause one prop to be pitched differently to the others, resulting in vibration and slow speed. To diagnose, gently twist the props by hand, they should all hold the same angle under the same loads.

I do not recommend the use of any other hub parts for Submerge scooters, however some divers prefer to use hubs manufactured by Arnold Jackson/AUL and often incorrectly named the “WKPP clutch”. If anyone wishes to use the AUL/AJ hub assembly, this will work with Submerge scooters, however we can not assist in the troubleshooting, maintenance, repair or replacement of those parts.

From my personal experience with the AUL hubs in my first scooter (AUL Predator 2000) several customers scooters, and about 8 sets of AUL hubs on my mother in law's multiple predators, Tekna's and Mako's I have noted several characteristics:

The AUL clutch plate is aluminum, and as it directly contacts the stainless steel shaft and drive pin, in salt water use the electrolysis is quite impressive, resulting in the clutch plate often becoming seized onto the shaft, and also requiring replacement long before the Submerge Delrin plastic clutch plate, when used in salt water.

As the AUL hubs are machined, there can be slight differences in dimensions from one batch to the next. I have never figured out a standard set of spring washers to set the clutch slip pressure correctly, with each AUL hub requiring trial and error, and sometimes even changing the spring rate. Getting it wrong, either the clutch will slip, or will be locked up.

The AUL hub does not have any method to limit the travel of the pitch adjustment knob, so the yoke screw and props can be stressed in either direction, to the point the yoke can be broken, or the props will have too much pitch and overload the motor, or wound the opposite direction, the scooter will even run backwards.

Often, when the props are set high, the yoke screw can be screwed in so far is can push on the end of the shaft; in certain circumstances, this can unscrew the clutch screw, and the entire prop assembly will fall off. This is quite common with Gavin scooters, which mostly run the AUL hub assembly. That's not a problem with the Gavin scooter, but the AUL hub.

The AUL machined yoke and screw can sometimes have threads which are slightly “loose” resulting in the inability to hold intermediate pitch settings. When the scooter is turned on, the props de-pitch. Often the props have to be run at full pitch just so the friction on the threads at full speed hold the yoke screw in place.

I have cracked the AUL inner hub in rough seas by an impact with a boat, and I have seen at least 2 others cracked. Point being, nothing is bulletproof. In other words, it takes an impact to break the Oceanic part, and a slightly harder impact to break the AUL part.

All things considered, we are very comfortable recommending the standard Oceanic parts, as they are consistent and reliable in the field. Much of the bad reputation of these parts, I believe, is due to old parts, remembering the parts have been in production for over 25 years, and I have never seen anyone replace the hub assembly as regular maintenance every 5 or even 10 years. Your 20 year old Tekna prop or yoke breaks: what do you expect!

Oceanic parts are standard, and will work with the standard number and assembly of clutch washers, with predictable and reliable operation of the clutch.

However, if you have the desire to modify your scooter from standard, and you have some technical abilities which may be required to operate, maintain and correctly assemble the AUL hub, then this is one of the few modifications which can be made without effecting the warranty or performance of a Submerge Scooter.

WARNING: Never under any circumstances run AUL aluminum blades with Submerge scooters. Our motors and clutch settings are optimized for the standard Oceanic props. Use of aluminum blades will overload the motor, cause clutch failure, and pre-mature drive pin failure due to metal fatigue.