Review Diving the Avelo System

[hammet]

When I think of carbon fiber wrapped pressure vessels...

 

[Wibble]

Carbon wrapped cylinders don't last as long as steel cylinders. They're also more fragile if dropped or abused.

Relevant to this thread: Avelo systems aren't going to be sold to individual divers; they'll be sold to commercial outfits selling the courses and ease of buoyancy... at a price.

 

[scubadada]

...Relevant to this thread: Avelo systems aren't going to be sold to individual divers; they'll be sold to commercial outfits selling the courses and ease of buoyancy... at a price.

No, the Avelo system will be sold to individuals. Prices will be announced at the Scuba Show Los Angeles this weekend, June 1-2.

 

[jadairiii]

None of us became divers to become good a buoyancy control. We became good a buoyancy control to become good divers.

Actually, I had my daughter take the GUE Rec 1 class so she would have great buoyancy right away.

 

[Wibble]

No, the Avelo system will be sold to individuals. Prices will be announced at the Scuba Show Los Angeles this weekend, June 1-2.

Will be interesting to see how they price it. Would not expect it to be cheap!

 

[EdMcNeill09]

Now I’m really confused. So the inside cylinder is not the pressure cylinder, but a thin-walled aluminum vessel inside, which is not removed. But the valve appears from your diagrams to fill this thin-walled aluminum cylinder? How does the air get into the main cylinder when it is introduced into the thin-walled aluminum cylinder? Also, Inquest mentioned above in a different post that the purge valve can be closed to achieve the higher pressure. This unit, if I remember correctly, is rated at about 4,000 psi; does this mean that the hydro pressure will be 4/3s of 4,000 psi, or a test pressure of about 5300 psi? (That is from memory, and may be incorrect.).

SeaRat

I'm sorry to be confusing. The Avelo Hydrotank is made up of a COPV with a rubber gas bladder inside of it. The COPV, Carbon Fiber Overwrapped Pressure Vessel is a thin walled aluminum cylinder heavily wrapped with Carbon Fiber. The Gas is never in the COPV but in the rubber gas bladder that is inserted into the COPV. The gas bladder expands to fill the walls of the COPV. When water is pumped into the COPV the gas bladder is compressed causing the PSI to rise.

The Avelo system is rated to 4,350 psi or 300 bar. The tank can handle quite a bit more pressure. The current limitations on pressure are our regs which are designed for a max of 300 bar. I suspect someone is working on a 400 bar reg now, but that's speculation on my part.

 

[EdMcNeill09]

Carbon wrapped cylinders don't last as long as steel cylinders. They're also more fragile if dropped or abused.

Relevant to this thread: Avelo systems aren't going to be sold to individual divers; they'll be sold to commercial outfits selling the courses and ease of buoyancy... at a price.

When new COPV tanks are introduced they are generally given a lifetime limit of 15years. This is the case for Avelo Tanks. That said it does happen pretty regularly that this lifetime limit is removed before the 15 year expiration as the tanks demonstrate long term reliability. We hope this happens with Avelo.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I'm sorry to be confusing. The Avelo Hydrotank is made up of a COPV with a rubber gas bladder inside of it. The COPV, Carbon Fiber Overwrapped Pressure Vessel is a thin walled aluminum cylinder heavily wrapped with Carbon Fiber. The Gas is never in the COPV but in the rubber gas bladder that is inserted into the COPV. The gas bladder expands to fill the walls of the COPV. When water is pumped into the COPV the gas bladder is compressed causing the PSI to rise.

The Avelo system is rated to 4,350 psi or 300 bar. The tank can handle quite a bit more pressure. The current limitations on pressure are our regs which are designed for a max of 300 bar. I suspect someone is working on a 400 bar reg now, but that's speculation on my part.

So what looks like a cylinder inside the COPV is actually a bladder?

Is the seawater that comes into the cylinder ever removed from the COPV?

SeaRat

 

[lowwall]

So what looks like a cylinder inside the COPV is actually a bladder?

Is the seawater that comes into the cylinder ever removed from the COPV?

SeaRat

Presumably you purge it out when you surface. If it were mine, I'd definitely submerge it in clean water after a day's diving and run the pump to fill it and then purge it a couple of times. Leaving salt residue and whatever else was in the water between the bladder and inside of the tank just seems like a bad idea.

 

[Germie]

Carbon wrapped cylinders don't last as long as steel cylinders. They're also more fragile if dropped or abused.

Relevant to this thread: Avelo systems aren't going to be sold to individual divers; they'll be sold to commercial outfits selling the courses and ease of buoyancy... at a price.

And some divers don't want to do another course which is not usefull for experienced divers. I see a big problem with selling the course as required for buying the system. This is also not done with sidemount for example, everybody can buy a sidemount system en dive it, and gas is gas, the tank is not different. Bouyancy maybe, but you don't try new things in a cave normally, only in shallow open water. If you can do a trydive, then buy the system if you like it (or buy the system somewhere online), this would give more opportunities.

But for me the 10 liter tank 300 bar is a problem. I cannot fill 300 bar in my backyard, and also 300 bars means effectively only 270, so a 15 liter tank will give you more gas and easier filling.

And in Europe Avelo will not have any chance without CE.