My new toy

**Alastair** · December 14th, 2005, 11:27 AM

Just collected my Gavin Scooter from a British Airways warehouse in Bristol!

It looks like it will be christened on sunday now as it turns out one of the batteries I bought in the UK is damaged.

I have to say thumbs up to powersonic in essex who I bought the batteries from. I rang them this morning to explain that one got damaged in transit and they instantly offered to replace it.

Must try and stop grinning now.

Cheers
Al

***ericfine50*** · December 14th, 2005, 11:33 AM

Very cool!

Have a blast - gotta post pics of the Scooters maiden voyage.

graham_hk · December 14th, 2005, 12:15 PM

Cool - enjoy...

Spend some time getting it sorted right first time. In terms of driving the thing the most important will be to make sure you get the tow cord adjusted - the scooter should track straight at constant depth even if you let go. For the driver that means there should be no strain on your arm at all. Even a few mm too long bias and it will be a pain (if the bottom is too long then it will drive up - if the top it will drive down). You will probably find that you will need to make it longer once you get comfortable since you will have it too close to start with. Some like to put the tow cord on with bowlines looped back but I use Nick Ts method of two overhand knots which allows you to wrap if you pass the scooter to a shorter diver (can't seem to do this with the bowline method). Longer armed people can just sue a double ender to extend (top tip: since you will have more spare double enders kicking around now get yourselve an engraver to keep the sticky fingers away...).

Should be correct out the box in terms of weighting for freshwater but there is some room for adjustment. Technically speaking, I like mine floaty at the surface and neutral around 10m (I have friend who prefer floaty down to 50m ish and others who like sinky at the surface) :D

Hold onto that scooter pin!

Graham

ahar · December 14th, 2005, 05:38 PM

Don't you need a RYA powerboat licence for those ?

I've heard great things about them, but I'm not sure you'll ever convince me to buy a scooter made by a man who thinks putting a picture of himself in speedos on the site is a great marketing message

Joe Hesketh · December 14th, 2005, 06:41 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by ahar)

I've heard great things about them, but I'm not sure you'll ever convince me to buy a scooter made by a man who thinks putting a picture of himself in speedos on the site is a great marketing message

No no, it would seem marketing on the Gavin website is actually improving. It now has only a very small picture of GI3 in the famous speedos. Trawling the web archives the other week I noticed that, several years ago, the front page of the site sported an enormous picture of him (below), and as if that wasn't bad enough, the shorts are obscured by one of the magnums, giving the impression that he might well be stood there "marketing" his scooters in the nude

*JohnKendall* · December 14th, 2005, 06:55 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Alastair)

I have to say thumbs up to powersonic in essex who I bought the batteries from. I rang them this morning to explain that one got damaged in transit and they instantly offered to replace it.

Hi Al,

What did you order from Powersonic? I need some more batteries myself.

Thanks
J

Tricky · December 14th, 2005, 08:14 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Joe Hesketh)

Is that a Gavin in your Speedos, or are you just pleases to see me?

***ericfine50*** · December 14th, 2005, 08:23 PM

Look at what juice can do to ya. I think he is going to need surgery to remove those things.

***Bob Cooper*** · December 14th, 2005, 09:54 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by JohnKendall)

Hi Al,

What did you order from Powersonic? I need some more batteries myself.

Thanks
J

John

You need to order PS-12180 from Powersonic, £19.34 each +delivery +VAT. Delivery id £15. They used to be PS-12180NB but they have now done away with the "NB" terminals and replaced them with "T12" terminals (these are screw terminals) and fit the normal wiring harness ok. The good news is that the Powersonics are lighter than they used to be, meaning you will need to add a little weight.

I'd recommend you remove your existing batteries, weigh them and then weigh the new ones (they weight about 6kg each)

Then, let us know your findings......

Bob

**Alastair** · December 14th, 2005, 10:18 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Bob Cooper)

John

You need to order PS-12180 from Powersonic, £19.34 each +delivery +VAT. Delivery id £15. They used to be PS-12180NB but they have now done away with the "NB" terminals and replaced them with "T12" terminals (these are screw terminals) and fit the normal wiring harness ok. The good news is that the Powersonics are lighter than they used to be, meaning you will need to add a little weight.

I'd recommend you remove your existing batteries, weigh them and then weigh the new ones (they weight about 6kg each)

Then, let us know your findings......

Bob

They've gone up in price a bit - the PS12180's cost me £38 each + £15 delivery + vat so it's £63 odd in total. I've not get a set of scales large enough to weight them so can't offer any info on that score.

I did try and charge the bust battery just in case it was superficial. The plastic lid flew off and the little black caps all started fizzing off

- guess it's really dead!

Pic of the broken battery:

Pic of my scooter

BTW - Rest assured I have no intention in standing behind it in a pair of speedo's!!!

December 14th, 2005, 11:27 AM	#1 (permalink)
Alastair (Online) DIRX Supporter Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 693	My new toy Just collected my Gavin Scooter from a British Airways warehouse in Bristol! It looks like it will be christened on sunday now as it turns out one of the batteries I bought in the UK is damaged. I have to say thumbs up to powersonic in essex who I bought the batteries from. I rang them this morning to explain that one got damaged in transit and they instantly offered to replace it. Must try and stop grinning now. Cheers Al __________________ Helium is our friend - GI3

December 14th, 2005, 05:38 PM	#4 (permalink)
ahar(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Harrow - NW London Posts: 42	Don't you need a RYA powerboat licence for those ? I've heard great things about them, but I'm not sure you'll ever convince me to buy a scooter made by a man who thinks putting a picture of himself in speedos on the site is a great marketing message __________________ There are 10 types of people in this world - those that understand binary and those that don't. Last edited by ahar; December 14th, 2005 at 05:46 PM.

December 14th, 2005, 08:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
Tricky(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Reading, Berkshire Posts: 555	Quote: (Originally Posted by Joe Hesketh) Is that a Gavin in your Speedos, or are you just pleases to see me? __________________ "I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant." "Make me one with everything" said the Mystic to the Hamburger vendor. UK Diving Forum Sryth: A Free Online Text RPG Join the Adventure! Fallen Sword: Free online RPG

December 14th, 2005, 10:18 PM	#10 (permalink)
Alastair (Online) DIRX Supporter Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 693	Quote: (Originally Posted by Bob Cooper) John You need to order PS-12180 from Powersonic, £19.34 each +delivery +VAT. Delivery id £15. They used to be PS-12180NB but they have now done away with the "NB" terminals and replaced them with "T12" terminals (these are screw terminals) and fit the normal wiring harness ok. The good news is that the Powersonics are lighter than they used to be, meaning you will need to add a little weight. I'd recommend you remove your existing batteries, weigh them and then weigh the new ones (they weight about 6kg each) Then, let us know your findings...... Bob They've gone up in price a bit - the PS12180's cost me £38 each + £15 delivery + vat so it's £63 odd in total. I've not get a set of scales large enough to weight them so can't offer any info on that score. I did try and charge the bust battery just in case it was superficial. The plastic lid flew off and the little black caps all started fizzing off - guess it's really dead! Pic of the broken battery: Pic of my scooter BTW - Rest assured I have no intention in standing behind it in a pair of speedo's!!! __________________ Helium is our friend - GI3

December 14th, 2005, 11:33 AM	#2 (permalink)
*ericfine50*(Offline) Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: MA Posts: 622	Very cool! Have a blast - gotta post pics of the Scooters maiden voyage.

December 14th, 2005, 12:15 PM	#3 (permalink)
graham_hk(Offline) Pinoy ako pinoy Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: here, there and everywhere Posts: 779	Cool - enjoy... Spend some time getting it sorted right first time. In terms of driving the thing the most important will be to make sure you get the tow cord adjusted - the scooter should track straight at constant depth even if you let go. For the driver that means there should be no strain on your arm at all. Even a few mm too long bias and it will be a pain (if the bottom is too long then it will drive up - if the top it will drive down). You will probably find that you will need to make it longer once you get comfortable since you will have it too close to start with. Some like to put the tow cord on with bowlines looped back but I use Nick Ts method of two overhand knots which allows you to wrap if you pass the scooter to a shorter diver (can't seem to do this with the bowline method). Longer armed people can just sue a double ender to extend (top tip: since you will have more spare double enders kicking around now get yourselve an engraver to keep the sticky fingers away...). Should be correct out the box in terms of weighting for freshwater but there is some room for adjustment. Technically speaking, I like mine floaty at the surface and neutral around 10m (I have friend who prefer floaty down to 50m ish and others who like sinky at the surface) :D Hold onto that scooter pin! Graham

December 14th, 2005, 06:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
Joe Hesketh(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 657	Quote: (Originally Posted by ahar) I've heard great things about them, but I'm not sure you'll ever convince me to buy a scooter made by a man who thinks putting a picture of himself in speedos on the site is a great marketing message No no, it would seem marketing on the Gavin website is actually improving. It now has only a very small picture of GI3 in the famous speedos. Trawling the web archives the other week I noticed that, several years ago, the front page of the site sported an enormous picture of him (below), and as if that wasn't bad enough, the shorts are obscured by one of the magnums, giving the impression that he might well be stood there "marketing" his scooters in the nude

December 14th, 2005, 06:55 PM	#6 (permalink)
JohnKendall(Offline) GUE Instructor/DIRX Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 1,099	Quote: (Originally Posted by Alastair) I have to say thumbs up to powersonic in essex who I bought the batteries from. I rang them this morning to explain that one got damaged in transit and they instantly offered to replace it. Hi Al, What did you order from Powersonic? I need some more batteries myself. Thanks J

December 14th, 2005, 08:23 PM	#8 (permalink)
*ericfine50*(Offline) Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: MA Posts: 622	Look at what juice can do to ya. I think he is going to need surgery to remove those things.

December 14th, 2005, 09:54 PM	#9 (permalink)
*Bob Cooper*(Offline) Moderator - "Don't stop me now!" Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: South East London, UK Posts: 680	Quote: (Originally Posted by JohnKendall) Hi Al, What did you order from Powersonic? I need some more batteries myself. Thanks J John You need to order PS-12180 from Powersonic, £19.34 each +delivery +VAT. Delivery id £15. They used to be PS-12180NB but they have now done away with the "NB" terminals and replaced them with "T12" terminals (these are screw terminals) and fit the normal wiring harness ok. The good news is that the Powersonics are lighter than they used to be, meaning you will need to add a little weight. I'd recommend you remove your existing batteries, weigh them and then weigh the new ones (they weight about 6kg each) Then, let us know your findings...... Bob