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Index - Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Properly Balance the Scooter?
How Do I Vacuum Test / Pressure Test the Motor?
What does the Vacuum Hand Pump look like?
What Type of Batteries Should I Get?
Where I Can Go To Purchase Batteries?
How do I manage getting off the boat with my Gavin Scooter?
How do I properly rinse my scooter after diving in salt water?
What should I do if my scooter sticks on while I am diving?
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How Do I Properly Balance the Scooter?
The best balance for the scooters is to have the batteries positioned in the center
relative to the tube walls so that it has no bias. If you want a bias, make it so that
your tow strap is on the area of the scooter that ends up on the bottom relative to
gravity. This will allow the scooter to tow properly.
The fore and aft balance is best set so that the nose is slightly up when the
scooter is hanging free. This will keep it up out of the silt , reef, wreck or other
objects below you. It is great to have the scooter neutral, but keep in mind that
the compression of the o-rings changes the buoyancy by about .7 pounds, so
make the scooter that much positive at the surface, or neutral at the surface. You
do not want the scooter floating up around you and tangling, unless you are
diving a sensitive area like a reef where you might be catching lobsters, in which
case positive will keep the scooter off of the coral. However, watch out and don't
let it get behind you if it is positive.
Batteries are always slightly different in weight, the tube walls always have
varying amounts of material in them, and different water has different buoyancy
characteristics. For those reasons I make the tubes a little longer than they need
to be, and I make the bulkheads such that there is room for spacers. The short
pack makes no difference, so that one can be made without spaces and still have
the nose up attitude, but the others may need different positioning of the spacers
in the battery pack. Weight can be added to achieve exact balance.
The packs must end up 1/2 inch below the end of the tube. The lid should be
able to fit onto the scooter snug to the tube with no o-ring. That way you know
you have to correct positioning of the tube. You want the pack to hold the motor
compartment shut tight (it has latches and double o-rings, but still needs to be
held tight). You also want all of the stresses of the scooter to be distributed
throughout , not concentrated in any one area.
Gavin Scooter User’s Manual and FAQ (
George Irvine 2002)
