DISCLAIMER: I am not an Interspiro rep nor am I receiving any money from them for this report. This is just one volunteer public safety divers report on a couple hours spent in a pool using this equipment. I am trying to keep this unbiased and fair so anyone else interested in something like this can look into it for themselves.
I had the opportunity to demo the Interspiro Divator Lite diving system and DP-1 surface supply station. For those of you not familiar the Divator Lite it is a composite dual tank diving system. There is some information on the Interspiro website but seeing and using the equipment in person was amazing. I should have pictures this week and I will post them. For now I will go through my best description of the system. I will try to keep editorial comments to a minimum.
TANKS:
They had two tank sizes a very small set and a larger set. The operating pressure is 300 bar or 4350 psi. You can fill them to 310 bar or 4500. This gives you the equivalent of on AL80 @3000 psi on the small system and twin AL80s on the larger system. The tanks are a thermoplastic inner liner with carbon fiber windings on the outside. This is different from most fire composite tanks which are thin aluminum with carbon fiber windings. This is because water could get between he carbon fiber wrap and the aluminum skin and could corrosion over time which would not be visible during any type of inspection. The two tanks are held together by some stainless steel bands and a bracket which does two things. First is has a post for securing the bronze weights to the tank assembly (more about this later). It also provides the connection to the BC. (See below)
VALVE/GUARD ASSEMBLY:
At the end of the tank is a header/valve assembly which connects the two tanks together and also acts as a protective device and a carrying handle. The tanks are mounted inverted which obviously puts them at risk for damage. The guard is very robust and protects not only the header but the valve and first stage regulator. The regulator is a standard DIN and the protective plug also has a spare O ring in the event of a failure.
WEIGHTS:
The weight system consist of a single cast piece of bronze with two steel cables in the casting itself. The bronze weight slips over a SS pin located between the two tanks. A locking pin secures the weight to the tanks. You can also add more weight to the bronze in the form of additional bronze plates. Now this is not diver detachable weight. This weight is to counter the positive buoyancy of the composite tanks. The nice thing about this is that I could walk around all day with the BC on and no weights attached. Once I was in the water it was very easy for the guy on the edge to put my weights on. The BC also had pockets for detachable weights.
TANK TO BC MOUNT:
The stainless steel bracket on the tanks has tow round pins which fit into holes on a separate stainless steel rail. This rail is connected to the BC. A simple locking clamp allows the tank assembly to slide and tanks come off the BC. Coming off was easy but aligning the two holes were a bit tricky. Practice would most likely make this easier.
BC:
There was no mistaking who made the BC for Interspiro. The BC was a Zeagle adaptation which almost looked my ranger. The rail for the tank just fit into the webbing on the rear of the BC where the cam bands usually go. Dont get me wrong I love my Zeagle Ranger but I am thinking that a back plate BC with the holes for the tanks would make a better combination. It is something to think about going forward.
REGULATOR:
This is the key to this whole system. The 1st stage is a din regulator with multiple ports. Out of the 1st stage there are two hoses that go to a manifold located on the right shoulder strap about at the nipple line. This manifold is much more than just a connection point for hoses.
The whole principle of this system is that the primary air volume of 80% is available as you primary air supply. As you approach 80% the breathing becomes more difficult. The guy said you could get up to eight breaths. If you have the heads up display option as they call it (it is nothing more than a red LED mounted on the outside of the mask) this red LED will start to blink to let you know you are getting low on air. You then reach down to your manifold block and flip a switch which engages your reserve air. I guess this is similar to a J-valve but with some more modern twists. I found the reserve valve easy to find and actuate with little experience.
The manifold receives both high and low pressure. The manifold also has connections for the pressure gauge which is on your right shoulder as well as a second, second stages. We should also not forget the connection for the MKII full face mask. The nice thing about this is that the hose is directly in front of you and is even better than using a swivel on a normal scuba tank.
The best thing is that all the hoses except for the inflator hose come up from down below. The inverted tank design completely eliminates overhead snag hazards and all the hoses are easily reachable from the front. The only issue was the valve handle on the tank was a bit difficult to actuate. It is designed to be difficult so as to not accidentally get turned of but the handle design could be a bit better.
The last and final thing the manifold block is for is to connect the surface supply air hose. A single very small hose connects to the block via a quick disconnect fitting.
Now I would have never thought a small team like mine could have ever dreamed of using surface supply air. After seeing this unit it is now within the realm of possibility. First my thought was cost and second keeping people trained. Now cost is an issue but not as bad as I first thought. Ballpark on the system is $10K for the surface unit, 200 of hose and two cylinder setups. You can eliminate the two cylinders setups if you have DIN valves on your existing tanks or retrofit them to DIN. The BC, Tanks, Regulators and MKII masks is around $5500 per unit. You can subtract about $1000 for the mask if you already have one. We have six so I asked the question.
The unique thing about the surface unit is that is delivers 4350 psi in the hose. The regulator a depth makes all the compensation for the air pressure. The makes operating the system at the surface very easy. The hose is only 10 mm OD and 2 mm ID so even if the hose were to be completely severed the inertial force would be very small. The hose is Kevlar impregnated and strong enough to lift 7 fully dressed divers. (or so they say) It was easier to use than the comm rope on our OTS system. Speaking of OTS it sounds like they are working with Interspiro to get a wire without the rope to go with this hose system. On the surface the hose fits neatly on a rack that stores it in a figure eight. The whole rack with all the hose on it was easily lifted by just one person. This makes the system very portable and easy to use.
PROS:
COMFORT:
You dont even know you have a tank on your back. The small compact two tank system keeps the center of gravity very close to your back. I tried to get the BC to roll like my AL80 with AL13 pony setup. I put myself in every position and the BC stayed in perfect position.
STREAMLINE PROFILE:
I did not take any measurements but it does not take a rocket scientist to see that the two small tank systems reduce your profile and the inverted tank reduces the tangle hazards.
SIMPLE SURFACE SUPPLY UNIT:
As I said before this setup is easy to learn and setup which makes it very relevant to volunteer teams like mine.
CONS:
HEADS UP DISPLAY:
Just a red LED that is secured to the outside of the mask which compared to the rest of this system seems to be kind of a kluge. The wire is just wrapped around the regulator hose and could seemingly come loose and create a snag hazard. It would be nice if they could adapt their firefighting heads up display to the diving rig and find a better way to secure the wire. It is a small issue but one none the less.
SURFACE SUPPLY ONLY WITH INTERSPRIO BC AND REGULATOR:
I am not sure how you would even go about making this work with another setup but the system was so clean and easy to use I would like to see it be adaptable to our normal scuba rigs. I mean if we used 3000 psi tanks and were able to modify our rigs to we could use the quick disconnect it would be great.
My plan is to get some better pricing and make a presentation to our dive commanders. At least we can determine if this is a direction we want to go in and we have already been offered a team demonstration.
I hope this was helpful. I know it was long winded but I felt that it was worth the effort. I will post the picture and keep everyone updated as more information becomes available.
Mark D.
I had the opportunity to demo the Interspiro Divator Lite diving system and DP-1 surface supply station. For those of you not familiar the Divator Lite it is a composite dual tank diving system. There is some information on the Interspiro website but seeing and using the equipment in person was amazing. I should have pictures this week and I will post them. For now I will go through my best description of the system. I will try to keep editorial comments to a minimum.
TANKS:
They had two tank sizes a very small set and a larger set. The operating pressure is 300 bar or 4350 psi. You can fill them to 310 bar or 4500. This gives you the equivalent of on AL80 @3000 psi on the small system and twin AL80s on the larger system. The tanks are a thermoplastic inner liner with carbon fiber windings on the outside. This is different from most fire composite tanks which are thin aluminum with carbon fiber windings. This is because water could get between he carbon fiber wrap and the aluminum skin and could corrosion over time which would not be visible during any type of inspection. The two tanks are held together by some stainless steel bands and a bracket which does two things. First is has a post for securing the bronze weights to the tank assembly (more about this later). It also provides the connection to the BC. (See below)
VALVE/GUARD ASSEMBLY:
At the end of the tank is a header/valve assembly which connects the two tanks together and also acts as a protective device and a carrying handle. The tanks are mounted inverted which obviously puts them at risk for damage. The guard is very robust and protects not only the header but the valve and first stage regulator. The regulator is a standard DIN and the protective plug also has a spare O ring in the event of a failure.
WEIGHTS:
The weight system consist of a single cast piece of bronze with two steel cables in the casting itself. The bronze weight slips over a SS pin located between the two tanks. A locking pin secures the weight to the tanks. You can also add more weight to the bronze in the form of additional bronze plates. Now this is not diver detachable weight. This weight is to counter the positive buoyancy of the composite tanks. The nice thing about this is that I could walk around all day with the BC on and no weights attached. Once I was in the water it was very easy for the guy on the edge to put my weights on. The BC also had pockets for detachable weights.
TANK TO BC MOUNT:
The stainless steel bracket on the tanks has tow round pins which fit into holes on a separate stainless steel rail. This rail is connected to the BC. A simple locking clamp allows the tank assembly to slide and tanks come off the BC. Coming off was easy but aligning the two holes were a bit tricky. Practice would most likely make this easier.
BC:
There was no mistaking who made the BC for Interspiro. The BC was a Zeagle adaptation which almost looked my ranger. The rail for the tank just fit into the webbing on the rear of the BC where the cam bands usually go. Dont get me wrong I love my Zeagle Ranger but I am thinking that a back plate BC with the holes for the tanks would make a better combination. It is something to think about going forward.
REGULATOR:
This is the key to this whole system. The 1st stage is a din regulator with multiple ports. Out of the 1st stage there are two hoses that go to a manifold located on the right shoulder strap about at the nipple line. This manifold is much more than just a connection point for hoses.
The whole principle of this system is that the primary air volume of 80% is available as you primary air supply. As you approach 80% the breathing becomes more difficult. The guy said you could get up to eight breaths. If you have the heads up display option as they call it (it is nothing more than a red LED mounted on the outside of the mask) this red LED will start to blink to let you know you are getting low on air. You then reach down to your manifold block and flip a switch which engages your reserve air. I guess this is similar to a J-valve but with some more modern twists. I found the reserve valve easy to find and actuate with little experience.
The manifold receives both high and low pressure. The manifold also has connections for the pressure gauge which is on your right shoulder as well as a second, second stages. We should also not forget the connection for the MKII full face mask. The nice thing about this is that the hose is directly in front of you and is even better than using a swivel on a normal scuba tank.
The best thing is that all the hoses except for the inflator hose come up from down below. The inverted tank design completely eliminates overhead snag hazards and all the hoses are easily reachable from the front. The only issue was the valve handle on the tank was a bit difficult to actuate. It is designed to be difficult so as to not accidentally get turned of but the handle design could be a bit better.
The last and final thing the manifold block is for is to connect the surface supply air hose. A single very small hose connects to the block via a quick disconnect fitting.
Now I would have never thought a small team like mine could have ever dreamed of using surface supply air. After seeing this unit it is now within the realm of possibility. First my thought was cost and second keeping people trained. Now cost is an issue but not as bad as I first thought. Ballpark on the system is $10K for the surface unit, 200 of hose and two cylinder setups. You can eliminate the two cylinders setups if you have DIN valves on your existing tanks or retrofit them to DIN. The BC, Tanks, Regulators and MKII masks is around $5500 per unit. You can subtract about $1000 for the mask if you already have one. We have six so I asked the question.
The unique thing about the surface unit is that is delivers 4350 psi in the hose. The regulator a depth makes all the compensation for the air pressure. The makes operating the system at the surface very easy. The hose is only 10 mm OD and 2 mm ID so even if the hose were to be completely severed the inertial force would be very small. The hose is Kevlar impregnated and strong enough to lift 7 fully dressed divers. (or so they say) It was easier to use than the comm rope on our OTS system. Speaking of OTS it sounds like they are working with Interspiro to get a wire without the rope to go with this hose system. On the surface the hose fits neatly on a rack that stores it in a figure eight. The whole rack with all the hose on it was easily lifted by just one person. This makes the system very portable and easy to use.
PROS:
COMFORT:
You dont even know you have a tank on your back. The small compact two tank system keeps the center of gravity very close to your back. I tried to get the BC to roll like my AL80 with AL13 pony setup. I put myself in every position and the BC stayed in perfect position.
STREAMLINE PROFILE:
I did not take any measurements but it does not take a rocket scientist to see that the two small tank systems reduce your profile and the inverted tank reduces the tangle hazards.
SIMPLE SURFACE SUPPLY UNIT:
As I said before this setup is easy to learn and setup which makes it very relevant to volunteer teams like mine.
CONS:
HEADS UP DISPLAY:
Just a red LED that is secured to the outside of the mask which compared to the rest of this system seems to be kind of a kluge. The wire is just wrapped around the regulator hose and could seemingly come loose and create a snag hazard. It would be nice if they could adapt their firefighting heads up display to the diving rig and find a better way to secure the wire. It is a small issue but one none the less.
SURFACE SUPPLY ONLY WITH INTERSPRIO BC AND REGULATOR:
I am not sure how you would even go about making this work with another setup but the system was so clean and easy to use I would like to see it be adaptable to our normal scuba rigs. I mean if we used 3000 psi tanks and were able to modify our rigs to we could use the quick disconnect it would be great.
My plan is to get some better pricing and make a presentation to our dive commanders. At least we can determine if this is a direction we want to go in and we have already been offered a team demonstration.
I hope this was helpful. I know it was long winded but I felt that it was worth the effort. I will post the picture and keep everyone updated as more information becomes available.
Mark D.
