ISC Meg Modifications

[mr_v]

Will test this bad boy in a week. Used Kent Tooling mounts to mount 3L and the AL13. This won't be the slimmest config, but I am not going anywhere tight. Will be a dilout setup soon if I get what I need from my EU friends.

 

[211ratsbud]

View attachment 897551

Will test this bad boy in a week. Used Kent Tooling mounts to mount 3L and the AL13. This won't be the slimmest config, but I am not going anywhere tight. Will be a dilout setup soon if I get what I need from my EU friends.

Are you looking for 4 l tanks that would be pretty slick to do Dill out

 

[211ratsbud]

Also a steel 2 l would be a better fit space wise if you needed to solve that

 

[mr_v]

@211ratsbud, 2L inflation tank would be the best, I agree. No need for 4L tanks. I move the tanks up as high as I can on the Meg and 3L stick out pretty well already.

 

[mr_v]

Well folks, I tested my Meg config at Eagle's Nest a few times this month. It did well, but I will replace the 13cf tank with a 2L or 3L tank to get even more gas. Perhaps I will try a dilout setup, but I need to figure out how to do it with OTCLs. We turned around slightly past the Super Room, so about p. 950'. The AL13 had ~1000 psi left after the dive which is slightly less than I would have liked.

Overall, the setup is a bit more bulky than the standard Meg but entirely manageable. When assembled, the unit looked smaller than the heavy JJs configurations that sat nearby.

Here is the setup without the inflation tank. The dil tank has a long (standard) Kent Tooling bracket attached to it. I may replace it with a short version.

And this is with an AL13. The inflation tank looks bigger in the picture. Note, the reg isn't connected to the AL13 as the unit was not fully assembled when I took the pic.

 

[rddvet]

What's the reasoning for putting the inflation bracket on the 3L dil? Do the clamps for the head block your ability to put the bracket on the can?
I assumed you were already doing dilout. That's the way I would go. Its tough to find a negative to a dilout setup though I have no experience with OTCLs to know how much of a pain it is.
Are you running a bov? And if so, is it currently fed from onboard dil?

 

[Dsix36]

Its tough to find a negative to a dilout setup though

Call me old or old school but I am not a fan of dilout at all. It seems to me that it causes you to have less than perfect mixes. The 3 options I can see are:
1 - The bailout is compromised
2 - The diluent is compromised
or
3 - Both the bailout and the diluent are compromised

I was trained to use a diluent that was 1.0 or lower at depth for a fast and efficient dil flush and I still like to use this. I have used dilout and actually had to do a dil flush out of anger, it did work and was not a huge deal but nothing like a leaner mix would have been.

 

[rddvet]

Call me old or old school but I am not a fan of dilout at all. It seems to me that it causes you to have less than perfect mixes. The 3 options I can see are:
1 - The bailout is compromised
2 - The diluent is compromised
or
3 - Both the bailout and the diluent are compromised

I was trained to use a diluent that was 1.0 or lower at depth for a fast and efficient dil flush and I still like to use this. I have used dilout and actually had to do a dil flush out of anger, it did work and was not a huge deal but nothing like a leaner mix would have been.

You have more experience than me, so I respect the opinion. I guess I haven't seen any of those concerns and I don't know that I follow 100%. What do you mean less than perfect mixes? I'm pretty much only using standard gases and follow the same gas choices that I would in OC. typically I can see where if you really need to do a dil flush some of those %s may not get your p02 where you want with a quick flush, if that's what you're talking about.
I dive a 1.0 for pretty much every dive. I'll dive 1.2 for shallower dives, but the reality of 1,0 vs 1.2 in most scenarios doesn't dramatically effect deco obligations. I will also tend to let my p02 drift more between 0.8-1.0 than futz around to stay between 1.0-1.2.
Are you bailing out do a 3L on BOV or are you bailing out to an OC reg on your BO tank?

 

[Dsix36]

You have more experience than me, so I respect the opinion. I guess I haven't seen any of those concerns and I don't know that I follow 100%. What do you mean less than perfect mixes? I'm pretty much only using standard gases and follow the same gas choices that I would in OC. typically I can see where if you really need to do a dil flush some of those %s may not get your p02 where you want with a quick flush, if that's what you're talking about.
I dive a 1.0 for pretty much every dive. I'll dive 1.2 for shallower dives, but the reality of 1,0 vs 1.2 in most scenarios doesn't dramatically effect deco obligations. I will also tend to let my p02 drift more between 0.8-1.0 than futz around to stay between 1.0-1.2.
Are you bailing out do a 3L on BOV or are you bailing out to an OC reg on your BO tank?

My bailout is sidemounted AL80s.

 

[mr_v]

What's the reasoning for putting the inflation bracket on the 3L dil? Do the clamps for the head block your ability to put the bracket on the can?
I assumed you were already doing dilout. That's the way I would go. Its tough to find a negative to a dilout setup though I have no experience with OTCLs to know how much of a pain it is.
Are you running a bov? And if so, is it currently fed from onboard dil?

The pics show the most palatable configuration I could come up with given the brackets and the inflation tank that I had. I tried attaching the bracket to the can and that put the inflation tank valve way to far for me to reach with 2 bailouts on the left. Side note, I have no idea why ISC decided to go with shaved cans. The old school cans, like the one I got, offer many attachment options.

As @Dsix36 pointed out, dilout has some downsides, but I would not worry about them too much. If you lose your 1st stage on the primary dil bottle, feather the valve when adding diluent or move the diluent hose to the second bottle. You'd also run leaner mixes in your dilout bottles to ensure that when you flush at depth you get a reasonable PPO2.

I looked into various options for a dilout setup with OTSCLs. You can do it with a cheater hose that plugs into the bottle on one end and connects to a dil shut-off on the other end. I am not sure if I like that route. The other way is to manifolds - much cleaner. I need to set aside some time to figure it out.

@rddvet, I am not sure if you were asking me or Don about bailing out to a 3L. No bailout to 3L here... I run a DSV with a bailout reg on my necklace; the reg goes to the primary bailout bottle I got on the left. Bailing out to 3L is a lol.