BIO-FILTERS....do many of you have them,and required maintenance,storage

[thankfulforlife]

was recommended to get a bio-filter,when i received bad air on 2 of my 16 dives on the liveaboard "monalisa" in the komodo park the other day...
when checking out the link to an apollo link,

Apollo Sports: Dive Gear: Regulators: Bio-Filter

it said in the link that it helped with these things also....

"Minimizes risk of decompression sickness
Reduced level of fatigue from dehydration
Lower incidence of post dive headaches
Easier pressure equalization
Increased bottom time
No more cottonmouth"

does anyone believe it does all those things and is there any proof around?

also,the maintenance seens like a bit extra mucking around and washing the reg-set when this is fitted,also seems odd....

anyone help with this?
thanks

 

[ktomlinson]

I'd like to see their research showing reduced dcs (not really, I just doubt they have any). I'd think the wick may add moisture to the air, but I wouldn't think it would stay wet long.

 

[ajduplessis]

They are additional failure points and add no value.

 

[thankfulforlife]

They are additional failure points and add no value.

so you have tried these before,comparing to dives without?
thanks

 

[HBDiveGirl]

I used the Apollo biofilter for about 350 open water dives over 18 months in SoCal waters.

I liked it!

I'm skeptical that it would effectively protect a diver from contaminated fills. It was just a fine-pored synthetic sponge saturated with distilled water.
I don't remember that being one of the reasons people chose to use them.

I used it to combat dehydration during loooong dives and multiday dive trips.

As I did longer and longer dives, I'd been bothered by dry mouth, some headaches, and difficulty equalizing on long mulitdive days (4 - 6 dives on liveaboards in SoCal.)

The Apollo biofilter absolutely decreased these symptoms and made my diving more comfortable.
On long dive days, if the "filter" went dry I could clearly notice the difference.

I had obviously been diving "dehydrated" and that had contributed to these problems.

Why did I stop using it?

Once I realized it was all due to dehydration, I experimented and slowly learned to hydrate effectively.

When the biofilter was due for o-ring replacements, I tried diving without it for a couple of days... while hydrating purposefully before and after every dive. I felt great.

I sold the biofilter to a friend who really liked it too.

I never had a mechanical problem with the Apollo biofilter.

~~~~~
Claudette



"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
--Albert Einstein

 

[thankfulforlife]

I used the Apollo biofilter for about 350 open water dives over 18 months in SoCal waters.


When the biofilter was due for o-ring replacements, I tried diving without it for a couple of days... while hydrating purposefully before and after every dive. I felt great.

thanks for that great review...so you mean you just had lotas of water,before and after dive,and did you use any of those re-hydrating salts or drinks?
thanks

 

[ajduplessis]

so you have tried these before,comparing to dives without?
thanks

No I have not. As already mentioned I like to keep things simple and not add potential failure points to my equipment. I take water/gatorade with me on dives, no need for fancy filters. IMO it's a sales gimmick.

 

[thankfulforlife]

No I have not. As already mentioned I like to keep things simple and not add potential failure points to my equipment. I take water/gatorade with me on dives, no need for fancy filters. IMO it's a sales gimmick.

thanks for your thoughts....

 

[Damselfish]

was recommended to get a bio-filter,when i received bad air on 2 of my 16 dives on the liveaboard "monalisa" in the komodo park the other day...

Define what you mean by "bad air" - when people say bad air they are often taking about CO. It sounds like besides the moisturizing feature, this thing contains a charcoal filter. While activated charcoal can filter out some things, AFAIK activated charcoal doesn't do much for CO? So if that's the concern you'd be better served by getting a CO tester. As far as other contaminants, ones you can smell or taste, I'd personally avoid diving with funky air rather than trusting a little filter. Scuba air is supposed to be, and usually is, very clean and if there's something obviously off it just raises too many questions to me.

Avoiding dry mouth is nice, and being well hydrated is certainly safer - but while it sounds like this device helps people with dry mouth I don't see how it can add enough moisture for any real benefit as far as reducing the possibility of DCS or other things. So make sure you're well hydrated first.

Unlike some folks, I do believe it's possible to have dry mouth even if you're well hydrated. So if something like this works for you and you want to mess with it, why not. But there are other ways to help with dry mouth. Personally I use one of the dry mouth sprays, or my own mixture of veggie glycerin, water, and mint extract. Helps quite a bit.

 

[thankfulforlife]

Define what you mean by "bad air" -

sorry,yes,a bit vague....the first dive on the the liveaboard monalisa in komodo,tasted like diesel or smoke form diesel......not enough to abort the dive,but enough to make me a bit worried, through the dive...they said when i came back to the vessel,that they just changed the filters on the compressor whilst i was on the dive,they said they change them every 200 tanks....the second"bad air" was 3 days later and it tasted like kitchen cooking fumes.....
hope that clears up the "bad air" thing....
this is the first time i have had any bad air in my over 500 dives....and i have been diving with some rough dive-shops when i was only looking for the cheapest outfit.....