Reusing a scrubber?

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I really like the overall thrust of what Ken has said. I will plan my 5.5 lb radial at 4 hours of cumulative run-time. I think that's conservative enough that it covers extra time/depth/workload/temperature variables pretty well. The only thing I would add is that while I have no problem storing a partially used canister, I've limited myself to two weeks. If I don't use it by then, I dump it. I also put it in a brightly colored dry bag somewhere that I see it every day to remind me to try to use it even if that's just a run down to the river or something to check on the big muskie.

In the US, that 5.5 lb scrubber costs just about $19 to fill. It just doesn't seem worth it to push a scrubber to me.
 
For those of you saying you'll go up to 1hr/pound on your scrubber over multiple dives, are you considering the impact of starting a dive with a limited viable bed depth (due in part from a previous dive) in your calculus?
I don't do 1hr/1lb but yes I absolutely think about how much bed depth I have left. I am usually tossing scrubber with "some" time left on it because

1) I plan a dive that will run over the total time I have set for it or
2) the next dive might not run over on total time but its deeper with deco and I don't do deco dives on stored scrubbers (unless day1 dive1 was very short like a gear check dive)
 
For those of you saying you'll go up to 1hr/pound on your scrubber over multiple dives, are you considering the impact of starting a dive with a limited viable bed depth (due in part from a previous dive) in your calculus?

Yes, absolutely. I would probably be a little more conservative with a radial scrubber since the bed depth is shorter.
 
Yes, but as others note, depends on conditions. Even with the twin scrubbers in the Revo it is still a variable. Last weekend I did an hour dive and went home. Packed the scrubbers and didn't dump the one. This coming weekend I might go make a quick weight check, in the drysuit I have not been in since early summer. Keep the same scrubber for that. Heading to Cali for some real diving, that will get the scrubber dumped and refilled.

In general I will do a scrubber (one of the two) per day of diving. Just need to keep track of your diving and keep track of the day's dive plans.

But once the sorb leaves the scrubber, no matter how much or how little time it has on it, it goes in the trash. By re-use I mean the same packing will be reused. Sorb only gets one chance to be packed into the scrubber.
 
But once the sorb leaves the scrubber, no matter how much or how little time it has on it, it goes in the trash. By re-use I mean the same packing will be reused. Sorb only gets one chance to be packed into the scrubber.

On repacking used scrubber: I do this sometimes, just did it last night.

Scenario: I went diving last weekend and ended up just doing 75 minutes on a fresh scrubber. This weekend I head out (by car) for a destination dive trip where I will do 3 dives a day for 5 days. I still have 2+ hours on this weekend's scrubber, but want to start fresh on the trip and plan to use each scrubber for 3 cold water dives a day in 10-12c water. I'll dump, clean, and refill nightly. After the trip I will re-load the zip-lock stored scrubber from last weekend and use it for another couple of dives.
 
I think it is really important to be clear on terminology here for the benefit of future readers.

"repacking" used scrubber is a 100% no-no. Not ever. Once it's in the can and used, even a little, if you dump it out it must be discarded. Taking partially used sorb out of the canister and then putting it back in permits channeling, where exhaled gas can make it all the way through the scrubber bed without contacting fresh media. There's a youtube video of a dive gone bad doing this. I'm too lazy to track it down. Just don't do it. It's very dangerous.

What is being talked about in the thread (mostly) is using the same canister of sorb for another dive, even on another day -- not repacking that canister, just using it twice without having disturbed the sorb within it.

I know that's obvious to the folks on this thread, but it should be clear for posterity.
 
On repacking used scrubber: I do this sometimes, just did it last night.

Scenario: I went diving last weekend and ended up just doing 75 minutes on a fresh scrubber. This weekend I head out (by car) for a destination dive trip where I will do 3 dives a day for 5 days. I still have 2+ hours on this weekend's scrubber, but want to start fresh on the trip and plan to use each scrubber for 3 cold water dives a day in 10-12c water. I'll dump, clean, and refill nightly. After the trip I will re-load the zip-lock stored scrubber from last weekend and use it for another couple of dives.

This is a very dangerous practice.
 
Sorry for the multiple posts. Found that video. I know most/all have seen it:

 
This is a very dangerous practice.

Which part of what he said was a very dangerous practice? He knows his time used on the scrubber and the scrubber is a chemical reaction where if there is no co2 it doesn't react. If he has a known used time and a known safe amount of usage per scrubber than maybe it isn't very dangerous? maybe it's just risky.

I dive partiality used scrubbers frequently that have been labeled with time used out of total acceptable time.

Here is an article on partially used scrubbers and the effects of using them.

Storage of partly used closed-circuit rebreather carbon dioxide absorbent canisters
 
Which part of what he said was a very dangerous practice? He knows his time used on the scrubber and the scrubber is a chemical reaction where if there is no co2 it doesn't react. If he has a known used time and a known safe amount of usage per scrubber than maybe it isn't very dangerous? maybe it's just risky.

I dive partiality used scrubbers frequently that have been labeled with time used out of total acceptable time.

Here is an article on partially used scrubbers and the effects of using them.

Storage of partly used closed-circuit rebreather carbon dioxide absorbent canisters

Read my posts immediately above. That's not what -- if I read his post right - he is doing. I have no problem doing multiple dives on a single canister so long as it is not repacked between dives.

Unless I misread his post - and I apologize if I did - what he's doing is emptying the scrubber out, putting the loose media in a ziplock bag, and then repacking the can later with partially used sorb that has been all mixed up. That's bad practice and is totally different than what we've been discussing and is the subject of the link you attached, which about storing the whole canister.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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