CO2 Sensor

[scuga]

How long until a CO2 sensor is incorporated into a rebreather design? a year, 5 years, or a decade?

 

[Wookie]

Ummm. Take a look at the Expedition Sentinel. There is another one as well, but the Sentinel is the only one I've seen in action. If you can stand the weight of the unit....

 

[scuga]

Thanks. I had been told very recently that CO2 monitoring was not going to happen for a while because it was too much to power and too large.

 

[sea2summit]

It's more a problem with humidity (creating a power/weight problem). Also how valuable they are in a rebreather is pretty debatable because CO2 breakthrough is not a linier function, pretty much you either have a break through or you don't and if you had an alarm when it sounded you might already be incapacitated at depth.

 

[kidspot]

The Sentinel and The Apocalypse type IV (when it ships) both have CO2 sensors - not sure on the sentinel, but the apoc it is limited to 80m/260ft, at which point they say the power draw goes too high. Not sure how they are measuring it, but it also requires a Helium sensor to verify the mix.

Aloha, Tim

 

[Wookie]

The Sentinel and The Apocalypse type IV (when it ships) both have CO2 sensors - not sure on the sentinel, but the apoc it is limited to 80m/260ft, at which point they say the power draw goes too high. Not sure how they are measuring it, but it also requires a Helium sensor to verify the mix.

Aloha, Tim

With the APOC being Vaporware (except for Dave Sutton's), I hesitated to mention it. I figured the OP wanted a rebreather with a CO2 sensor, not a dream.

 

[scuga]

Looks like the sentinel is not as established as some other rebreathers. In my area the only rebreather training I found was for inspirations. I am glad that it is getting out there though. It sounds like a successful implementation of a CO2 sensor would save some lives.

 

[Wookie]

Perhaps pricing is a good reason there are not as many Sentinels around as Inspirations or Megladons, but be aware that VR technologies has been around for a long time, and the Sentinel is not the only rebreather they make. Kevin Gurr set out to make the most reliable rebreather money could buy, and so the Ouroboris is one of the most expensive rebreathers in existence. The Sentinel is an attempt to make a Cadillac instead of a Bentley.

For a diver with 24 logged dives to assume that the Sentinel is not well established because there aren't that many of them out there I think is a bit of a stretch. You might want to spend some time lurking on Rebreatherworld.com to fully answer your questions. I'm not being snarky, but not too many serious rebreather divers spend a whole lot of time on ScubaBoard. The real discussions have been taking place on RBW, and you will find volumes of information there about CO2 sensors, Sentinels, Apocolypse, and more information than you would ever want to know. I'm not thrashing your experience level, I'm telling you where to go get the information you're looking for, and more knowledge besides.

My apologies to Cavediver and wedivebc and others, I know you guys are here and are avid and knowledgeable rebreather divers.

 

[scuga]

Thanks it's cool I don't take it as snarky and people have told me to go to rebreatherworld.com. I don't really like the colorscheme and the layout there so I dont mess with it and as you said there are enough rebreather guys here that my questions get answered in a timely manner anyway.

 

[sea2summit]

Looks like the sentinel is not as established as some other rebreathers. In my area the only rebreather training I found was for inspirations. I am glad that it is getting out there though. It sounds like a successful implementation of a CO2 sensor would save some lives.

With all the other costs finding a local instructor is about the worst reason to choose a specific breather IMHO. After spending ~$10,000 on a unit $1,000++ on training $100+ on consumbables an extra $500 for a plane ticket to a great instructor is nothing. Many units have advantages and disadvantages over other units, far to many to start the argument here, and researching all of those to fit the unit to your diving should be high on your list when looking at this investment. And once your certified theres a lot of divers within hrs of you that dive KISSs, Megs, rEvo's and an optima or two that I can think of so there's a broad knowledge base near by.

I'd recommend getting a copy of "Rebreathers Simplified" by Dr. Mel Clark, she goes through how breathers work and then a lot of build sheets for many different units so you can see all the bits for different units which will help in your questions. There's also a good chunk in there about CO2 hits.

If you search RBW you'll find a bunch of stories of guys reacting to CO2 hits (successfully and not so much) even if the color scheme isn't to your liking theres a lot of really good divers over there.