FATHOM Dive Systems Q&A

[Whitrzac]

The crazy stiff cable is a complete deal breaker on the hud. It would pull itself out of the holder on the DSV.

 

[Marie13]

The crazy stiff cable is a complete deal breaker on the hud. It would pull itself out of the holder on the DSV.

I’ve actually tried using some Velcro strips to attach the cable to the loop and it works OK but still a crazy weird loop out to the side. Forgot you’ve seen the HUD and the stiff cable in action.

 

[MattK911]

What are your thoughts on the likelihood of losing needle valve adjustment during dives? … Is there a way to secure the needle valve position?

There is not a way to secure the needle valve adjustment. With thousands of hours of real world diving we have yet to experience or even hear of a needle valve getting “bumped” during a Dive. I don’t like to say never. In theory it could happen. If it was to happen and you are monitoring your po2 properly you’re going to catch it.

I do think I remember you mentioning “losing position” during the Dive , as in you get lost on where the valve is set. If that were to happen, it takes about 2 seconds to close the needle valve and “reset” the position. As part of our land training you sit on the surface with the needle valve attached to an included flow gauge and practice finding the number of “bumps” it takes to bring the flow rate to .7lpm. Within the first couple hours on the unit you develop a feel for the number of “bumps” it takes to match your metabolic rate, and it becomes muscle memory.

The beauty of the needle valve is that the changes are generally over longer intervals of time, so there is plenty of time to catch po2 trending up or down. And again, it’s an incredibly unlikely scenario.

The crazy stiff cable is a complete deal breaker on the hud. It would pull itself out of the holder on the DSV.

We haven’t heard of this happening with our own HUD holders. Our HUD holders are a very tight fit and tend to hold it in place very well. I have several hundred hours on one and don’t find this to be an issue. That being said we always are always looking to make improvements if this is indeed a common issue.

 

[mr_v]

There is not a way to secure the needle valve adjustment. With thousands of hours of real world diving we have yet to experience or even hear of a needle valve getting “bumped” during a Dive. I don’t like to say never. In theory it could happen. If it was to happen and you are monitoring your po2 properly you’re going to catch it.

I do think I remember you mentioning “losing position” during the Dive , as in you get lost on where the valve is set. If that were to happen, it takes about 2 seconds to close the needle valve and “reset” the position. As part of our land training you sit on the surface with the needle valve attached to an included flow gauge and practice finding the number of “bumps” it takes to bring the flow rate to .7lpm. Within the first couple hours on the unit you develop a feel for the number of “bumps” it takes to match your metabolic rate, and it becomes muscle memory.

Gotcha, and thank you for the explanation.

I did not lose the position. The initial setting was too aggressive for me and I closed the needle a bit. Somehow I managed to hit the perfect spot and did not have to add O2 often.

Overall, that was my only concern with the unit. Looking forward to diving it soon.

 

[Marie13]

@MattK911

I have the KISS DSV so had to find a different HUD mount. @Whitrzac saw the issues I was having during my CCR training recently.

 

[MattK911]

@Marie13 Out of curiosity’s sake, did you just get the standard shearwater HUD mount off his website? If so that would be a contributing factor. Our HUD is slightly smaller than the Shearwater HUD so it would certainly slide around. To make it a tighter fit you can slide a -012 o-ring over the holder to snug up the fit.

 

[Marie13]

@Marie13 Out of curiosity’s sake, did you just get the standard shearwater HUD mount off his website? If so that would be a contributing factor, our hud is slightly smaller than the shearwater HUD so it would certainly slide around. To make it a tighter fit you can slide a -012 o-ring over the holder to snug up the fit.

Yes, I got the standard Shearwater HUD mount. The HUD doesn’t slide around. It snaps into the mount just fine and is held tight. It will pop out due to the stiff cable getting moved around. Since I’ve been experimenting some with using Velcro strips to hold the cable on the loop, it has been some better. I have about15 hours on the unit (including training) so still experimenting. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[rddvet]

The crazy stiff cable is a complete deal breaker on the hud. It would pull itself out of the holder on the DSV.

It doesn't. It's fine. I just like the flimsier better

 

[AustinV]

I noticed in earlier post you referred to the MK3 Fathom - what differences are there going to be between this and the current MK2.5?

 

[211ratsbud]

Which nipples on the shrimp do I need to use your stretchy hoses for the front loop?