Cyklon “Silent Diver?”

[Bigbella]

Has anyone seen or used this contraption — an aftermarket “silencing” device, for attachment to a Poseidon Cyklon second stage; and if so, what was your opinion?

A friend purchased an older regulator a short time ago — and its metal second stage was fitted with the so-called “Silent Diver,” a two-piece carbon-polymer device, which was intended to replace the standard “exhale diaphragm cover,” — manufactured by Sweeney Engineering, a company which, judging from its site, produces its share of odd, disparate things, including some minor GoPro accessories; and even an AK Retaining Plate. I had never seen the thing before.

The major complaint was that the device had been leaking like a sieve, which turned out to be an issue with one of the device’s two o-rings being spent. We swapped it out for a conventional spare cover, until we could find the replacement gaskets, should he wish to keep it.

I am unsure why it was specifically tailored for the Cyklon, since it had always been the Jetstream / Odin, which had had that odd reputation for “shuddering” in the shallows . . .

 

[tbone1004]

that's a bubble diffuser meant to quiet the exhaust down, the shuddering on the Jetstreams was caused by too high of an IP and this wouldn't have done anything.

 

[Bigbella]

that's a bubble diffuser meant to quiet the exhaust down, the shuddering on the Jetstreams was caused by too high of an IP and this wouldn't have done anything.

No, I realized its purpose; though the diffuser just struck me as an elaborate solution to a non-existent problem; and that Jetstream comment was sort a meager attempt at a joke, since mine don't shudder . . .

 

[tbone1004]

No, I realized its purpose; though it just struck me as an elaborate solution to a non-existent problem; and that Jetstream comment was sort a meager attempt at a joke, since mine don't shudder . . .

neither do mine

 

[Kupu]

An interesting concept at least, reminding me of hovering above the aerators at a local quarry and listening to the bubbly white noise. Very soothing.

I would probably give it a try out of curiosity, if the price point was lower.

 

[The2ndBest]

Hello all, a regular participant on this forum gave me a call and told me about this post. I am the designer and fabricator of the "Silent Diver" my website is here: https://www.sweeneyengineeringllc.com/product-page/silent-diver-of-poseidon-cyklon-5000-regulators To answer some of the questions already asked, I made this device for the Poseidon Cyklon because that is what I dive with myself. I made the first version back in 2016 and have been diving with some variant of the silent diver ever since.

On the subject of the o-ring wearing out, the outer o-ring is a 1/16" thick o-ring of the size 039 (dash number) the inner is a 1/16" thick o-ring of the size 026 (dash number) both are durometer 70 buna n (but you can substitute epdm or Viton as long as the durometer rating and size are the same). They are a standard off-the-shelf o-ring but I can also ship replacements if the individual is still looking for them (I haven't seen an email/phone call from them indicating that they were having a problem).

As to why I made the device, it was not to address "shuddering" which the Cyklons don't have a problem with but to make breathing out quieter. I do some amateur dive videography (you can see my YouTube channel here for examples: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ-04DrnD-iY_fqomGwC52Xry1Ir2gN0J) and I made this device to quiet down the exhaust sound of my regulator so I can get closer to wildlife without scaring it away. The device increases the frequency of the exhaust sound (higher pitch) and reduces the decibels (although I don't have a good mechanism of quantifying the extent of either measure). From the users perspective, the sound of regularly exhaled air is quieter than the regulator noise made by breathing in (beyond which further performance improvement is probably not worth pursuing).

If anyone has any questions or comments let me know. If anyone is interested in the device but has a different model regulator let me know as well. I have been considering modifying the design to fit other makes/models but wanted to gauge interest a bit more first as it takes some considerable effort to design and fabricate each new version.

 

[Luis H]

Hi @The2ndBest, welcome to ScubaBoard.

Maybe @Angelo Farina will drop by into this discussion. He has some background in underwater acoustics.

 

[Couv]

Hi @The2ndBest, welcome to ScubaBoard.

Maybe @Angelo Farina will drop by into this discussion. He has some background in underwater acoustics.

Ditto.

 

[SlugLife]

It's an interesting concept. Personally, I might try one out as a novelty if they were really inexpensive, or like in your case, happen to acquire it with some other regulators. Out of curiosity, is the leaking a safety hazard, or is it mostly just annoying and not working properly?

 

[Angelo Farina]

Hi @The2ndBest, welcome to ScubaBoard.

Maybe @Angelo Farina will drop by into this discussion. He has some background in underwater acoustics.

True.
But the work I did for silencing the exhaust of Italian military scuba equipment cannot be divulgated on a public forum...
I am sorry!
Hower this silencer is very interesting. It would be nice to measure the noise reduction in dB obtained.
Any number available?