DrySuitDave...I would not be surprised if all of the deaths on the Inspiration were caused by diver error. Since getting certified on the Prism,I have had many divers ask me questions about CCR diving. Most were experienced tech divers ( some are fellow divers that I work with) and many of them want a rebreather just to go deeper and stay longer. They want to go through the basic course and immediately jump in the water and go down to 300 or more feet. Their egos will not allow them to stay shallow for a year or two and get used to the rig. In my opinion, they are going to be another statistic regardless of what unit they buy...Let me know if you come up with any information on the deaths. Unfortunately we have to learn by other divers mistakes...Thanks
Looking for a rebreather buddy(s)....
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Padiscubapro...I looked up the Infinitio and you are absolutely correct in saying that it is a mercedes among rebreathers. I only wish that i made more money. If you can, keep me updated on getting it, training, how it operates, etc. Who knows, maybe one day I'll win the powerball??? 
Mark McNeely
New
:shootemup
Mark McNeely
New
Hello,
IMy name is Mark McNeely and I live in Falls Church Va. I just finished Inspiration training in Fla. in March and would like to dive with a fellow rebreather ,shoot me a PM.
Cheers!
IMy name is Mark McNeely and I live in Falls Church Va. I just finished Inspiration training in Fla. in March and would like to dive with a fellow rebreather ,shoot me a PM.
Cheers!
hmm let me state that i am in no way shape or form a rebreather diver, wich might explain the trouble I have understanding this part.
if something shoots up your system, and you have to rely on your backupsystem (fly the unit manually) arent you aborting the dive anyhow ? this realy baffles me, I have seen this type of comments on several places where the different units followers are trying to boost their own unit.
I can only say that when I build (computer network) systems they are redundant in many ways, but I would never ever consider them running on the backup/failover systems as a casual thing. Bring it back to normal or bring it down and repair at soonest convenience. is what i would consider normal operations.
ie abort the dive and fix the unit.
Am I totally wrong ? missing something ? stupid ?
just wondering
No you are correct. You would normally abort on a failure of that magnitude
Other units dont have the no (low voltage) electrics display. (but if its a water short in the wiring then your secondary real voltage displays are shot anyway) but have 2 independent electronic systems. Both have pro's and cons, both work well, both can fail
All CCR rebreathers can however swap onto semiclosed operation if the electronics fail (or bail out to OC)
What the folks are doing when they manually dive the unit is practicing drills. Just like you dont do a dive sharing air, you do practice the drill accasionally (at least I hope you do)
Thus if the day comes that the solenoid or a battery fails (whatever) then the way around it is second nature and the stress levels need not rise too much. People withh KISS units or similar have to do their whole dive this way anyway
In my case not only do I have the 2 independant handsets and 3 O2 cells, but I also have a 3rd line of defence. My VR3 computer also has a O2 sensor for reading the O2 mix for decompression purposes. I can manually fly the unit on that if I manage to have 2 simultaneous failures of my electrics. I can also bail out to open circuit at any time or go to Semi closed rebreather which requires no display
If you are doing your pre-dive checks and pre-breathe and monitoring the PPO2 properly during the dive. I would say that you are actually safer than on OC as you have more alternative gas sources to the surface and most are on richer O2 mixes than the equivalant OC.
The problem with CCR's comes when you cut corners
Other units dont have the no (low voltage) electrics display. (but if its a water short in the wiring then your secondary real voltage displays are shot anyway) but have 2 independent electronic systems. Both have pro's and cons, both work well, both can fail
All CCR rebreathers can however swap onto semiclosed operation if the electronics fail (or bail out to OC)
What the folks are doing when they manually dive the unit is practicing drills. Just like you dont do a dive sharing air, you do practice the drill accasionally (at least I hope you do)
Thus if the day comes that the solenoid or a battery fails (whatever) then the way around it is second nature and the stress levels need not rise too much. People withh KISS units or similar have to do their whole dive this way anyway
In my case not only do I have the 2 independant handsets and 3 O2 cells, but I also have a 3rd line of defence. My VR3 computer also has a O2 sensor for reading the O2 mix for decompression purposes. I can manually fly the unit on that if I manage to have 2 simultaneous failures of my electrics. I can also bail out to open circuit at any time or go to Semi closed rebreather which requires no display
If you are doing your pre-dive checks and pre-breathe and monitoring the PPO2 properly during the dive. I would say that you are actually safer than on OC as you have more alternative gas sources to the surface and most are on richer O2 mixes than the equivalant OC.
The problem with CCR's comes when you cut corners
madmole... I can only speak for the unit that I am trained on (PRISM) In regards to the O2 sensors, they are basically o2 powered batteries. the higher the concentration of 02 that passes over them, the greater the electrical current generated. The current is read on a scale calibrated to show the PO2.(info taken from Jeff Bozanic's book "Mastering Rebreathers") In the Prism, this current is read by an analogue gauge...NO electronics needed..With practice, it is not hard to maintain a constant PO2 in the loop with no electronics on. As part of basic training, I did bailout exercises in semi-closed modes and OC...but the majority of it was trying to maintain a constant PO2 in the loop using the analogue gauges with the unit turned off. With the unit turned on everything is electronically controlled of course. you are right about having an electronics failure, I would abort but I would still have the option of staying in a fully closed mode.
Thats correct and what I said. Your secondary display is a very low voltage one driven by the O2 cells potential (they are basically Oxygen batteries). Your primary is battery powered on the Prism. Both still require wiring and a voltage. If fact your secondary circuit is much more sensitive to salt water and dodgy connections etc as its working at a much lower voltage
Like the Inspiration this effectively means that your 3 cells have 2 independant means of monitoring. Mine are both active, yours are one active, one passive.
I think that neither way is best, both work well, Both suffer in that if the cell area floods we both loose all monitoring. (No probs just bail out)
I think our 2 units are nice in that apart from a quick check of the handsets every now and then, we dont have to worry about them too much, unlike the Kiss and Megladon folks who have to manually add a squirt of O2 every now and then as they have no electronic control. Just electronic monitoring on top of a fixed rate injection stream.
Unfortunately the Prism is not CE approved and therefore cant be sold in Europe. Someone I know was setting himself up as the UK importer and getting them passed but the work and modifications to the unit needed for it to pass were just to great (its breathing resistance is too high apparently)
Like the Inspiration this effectively means that your 3 cells have 2 independant means of monitoring. Mine are both active, yours are one active, one passive.
I think that neither way is best, both work well, Both suffer in that if the cell area floods we both loose all monitoring. (No probs just bail out)
I think our 2 units are nice in that apart from a quick check of the handsets every now and then, we dont have to worry about them too much, unlike the Kiss and Megladon folks who have to manually add a squirt of O2 every now and then as they have no electronic control. Just electronic monitoring on top of a fixed rate injection stream.
Unfortunately the Prism is not CE approved and therefore cant be sold in Europe. Someone I know was setting himself up as the UK importer and getting them passed but the work and modifications to the unit needed for it to pass were just to great (its breathing resistance is too high apparently)
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