The Brownies Third Lung Sea Lion lithium ion battery powered dive compressor sells for around $8,000 USD. Before purchasing one, please watch this review by a professional diver. (Sorry about the poor audio). The system was intended to be used with a commercial tour operation in the Caribbean, however it has proved to be too unreliable and dangerous to continue to use it.
The initial system would typically work for 10-15 minutes before the compressor would stop working and cut the delivery of air. If the battery box was opened, something seemed to re-set, and the compressor could usually be re-started, however divers who had just been in an out of air emergency were generally reluctant to dive again!
This issue was brought to Brownies attention and several videos of the compressor shutting off were sent to the company to demonstrate the problem.
We discussed the problem with their customer service and engineering departments who could not find a solution, so Brownies sent a new compressor and asked that we destroy the faulty one.
The new compressor arrived and would also only supply air for about 10-15 minutes into a dive, and then stop without warning leaving divers in an out of air emergency.
Brownies has been unable to provide an explanation for this dangerous fault, and our company is no longer willing to risk the lives of our staff or clients through the continued use of this product. Even though their product is faulty and dangerous, Brownies refuses to provide a refund for the Sea Lion.
Not only is the compressor faulty, but the float which it rests on is also unreliable. After only about 10 dives the bladder within the float had a seam open, and we needed to replace it. The new bladder has around 10-15 dives on it, and you may be able to see that throughout this short video, the float starts to deflate as the new bladder is faulty as well.
If you are looking for a battery powered surface supplied dive compressor, look elsewhere than Brownies Sea Lion. This product is not only a massive waste of money, but also extremely dangerous as users will find themselves suddenly out of air at depth with no warning whatsoever. Keep in mind that users can use the system up to 60ft. deep.
We have ordered a system from one of Brownies' competitors in Australia, and will soon be making a review of that system as well. Stay tuned!