Question Carleton COBRA-3 rebreather?

[Kay Dee]

Well based on the images you have 3 different rigs there.

One looks like a converted drager dolphin
the other looks like a seapak25 or a biopak60
and the last appears to be a mk16

I assume you refer to this unit?

If so, no it is not a MK16 (nor is it a Mk15.5 or a MK15). It is a real hybrid.

1) The gray shell / casing is (very nicely ) custom made.
2) Much / most of the SS piping is custom made.
3) The casing / shell is much longer than either of the three Mk’s,- i.e. from the bottom of the scrubber to the base of the casing - so as to take two normal scuba cylinders (o2 / dil) mounted sideways in place of the standard spheres. (Note the two A" clamps for the tank valves - one left at bottom, one right at top.)
4) The scrubber enclosure 'appears' to be from a MK16 / 15.5, but unless the top has been spray painted (why?), the top also has been custom made (as both the Mk15.5 and MK16 have see-through ‘lexan’ type tops). Without seeing the scrubber itself, impossible to tell what type it is. i.e. 16/15.5 or a 15)
5) There is no electronics pod (as with MK16 / 15.5 / 15).

Quite the oddity.

 

[Jona Silverstein]

Thanks for the info. I will be picking up the units tomorrow to get a better idea of how complete they are and what condition they are in. I'm assuming that at the very minimum the tanks will need hydro, the sensors will need replacement, new absorbent, mouthpieces, etc. I'd like to use one for training in confined water. Are there any experts in the SF Bay area that could consult me on that?

reach out to @lostsheep Hes one of my buddies in the Bay area, He will atleast be able to have a conversations and get some hands on them and we can look at what is/isnt possible. And if you decide they aren't the route you want to go, I may be interested in them.

 

[lostsheep]

reach out to @lostsheep Hes one of my buddies in the Bay area, He will atleast be able to have a conversations and get some hands on them and we can look at what is/isnt possible. And if you decide they aren't the route you want to go, I may be interested in them.

I appreciate the shout out.

To be clear. I am nowhere near the expert that Jona is on any of this stuff but I am a CCR diver, I am in the south bay, and I am machinist by trade.

If I can be useful here I am happy to do so. I love working on projects like this vs my day to day stuff, it keeps me sane

 

[Kay Dee]

Hey @SkullCaptain, when you have time do you think you could post a photo of the actual scrubber canister from the unit I describe in my above post? As a long time 15.5 diver I would be interested to see if it's a 15.5 / 16 scrubber, or just a 15. Whichever, someone certainly put lots of love into that rig!

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

Hey @SkullCaptain, when you have time do you think you could post a photo of the actual scrubber canister from the unit I describe in my above post? As a long time 15.5 diver I would be interested to see if it's a 15.5 / 16 scrubber, or just a 15. Whichever, someone certainly put lots of love into that rig!

Was just looking at the last pic from the OP,
I think the body is longer than the biomarine’ as it was designed for twin cylinders across the unit and not the spheres, and like you I’m eager to see what’s under the scrubber cover,,,
Will it be Delrin, or will it be stainless,,,, oh my

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

Think I’m seeing an old (possibly Dräger) scr O2 rebreather in there and what looks like a biomarine O2 rebreather which I think was actually designed for stuff like fire fighting, I think they came in two guises at 60 and 90 etc which referred to duration if memory serves…
Biopack they were called..

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

Biopak 60 Biopak 240 rebuild

Get on there, it’s by Kev and he new all about the biomarine stuff

 

[SkullCaptain]

Hey @SkullCaptain, when you have time do you think you could post a photo of the actual scrubber canister from the unit I describe in my above post? As a long time 15.5 diver I would be interested to see if it's a 15.5 / 16 scrubber, or just a 15. Whichever, someone certainly put lots of love into that rig!

Absolutely. Ill grab them from storage tomorrow.

 

[SkullCaptain]

The got a real fishy (no pun intended) story from the guy I got them from. As the story goes, he took the dolphin diving at some point and the electronics were working correctly. The homebuilt MK## supposedly works but has a malfunctioning O2 sensor light that flashes when it shouldn't and the shop recommended installing a new solenoid.

Unfortunately, none of them included any tanks with the exception of a really tiny (2L?) bottle and an AL19 without a valve.

The modified dolphin is in surprisingly good shape. The lungs, breathing loop, and scrubber canister look like new. The case was modified with side mounts labeled DIL and O2 and Laguna Research eCCR electronics were installed and complete. Unfortunately I have no idea how to test them. I'm going to use this unit as my primary project build since it is basically complete minus some cylinders.

As for the other two units with the circular scrubbers, I would be happy to offload them to someone who can get some use out of them. I love restoration/rebuild projects but would need expert guidance on these ones. Alternatively, I'll part them out.

@lostsheep lets get together and see what comes of it. I'm not a rebreather expert, but love rebuild projects. I'm in Menlo Park and would happily make the drive.

@Jona Silverstein let me know what you are interested in. I'd happily part with the gray ones or part them out.

I'll try to get some more detailed pictures of everything now that it is a bit more sorted out.