prism topaz

[caveseeker7]

On the subject of the Prism, another design aspect that I'm not keen on is the exposed metal pipes with even more exposed union joints. I don't know of one failing but it certainly looks like a weak point.

I don't quite see how that should be a failure point. The piping and solenoid are between the tank and electronics/battery compartment, all of which is covered by the cowling. That said, I'm not aware this has ever been an issue.

 

[peterbj7]

I don't quite see how that should be a failure point. The piping and solenoid are between the tank and electronics/battery compartment, all of which is covered by the cowling. That said, I'm not aware this has ever been an issue.

In that case the guy who brought his here had removed the cowling, because these pipes were quite visible and vulnerable. Strange, though, as he wasn't the sort of person to modify his gear.

 

[silent running]

Hello Peterbj7, you must be English Peter from Protech who dived with me on my first trip with my new(at the time)Prism and helped me fix it, this is Andy. I agree that the plastic weld connection at the rear of the lung was a weak point. And I'm sure that SMI were telling me the truth when they said mine was the first failure of that kind that had occured. To be fair to SMI, they didn't protest much about my wanting retrofit the Navy/screw type fittings, other than to point out that the problem was new to them. I believe that all the newest units will be shipped with the screw type fittings. I would not however, describe my leak as a catastophic failure. The lung had a lot of water in it...by the end of a 3hr dive. But the work of breathing is so good on the unit that I didn't even know there was 2 cups of water in the bottom of the lung until I got out of the water. And we did fix it well enough with aquaseal to continue the trip and I was back in the water the next day, without missing a dive. Since then, I have taken my unit on 6 other trips, including 2 trips to Papua New Guinea. On 1 month long trip I wracked up 100 hrs without any problems and on my last 2 week trip I used the Prism for 47 trouble free hrs. As for the O2 piping on the outside of the unit, I didn't have a cover for the unit when I visited you. I've never worried about that part of the unit getting damamged as most of the piping is protected by the back plate and cylinders and the solenoid is tucked into the top of the head, behind the rim. It's put in that location because SMI don't believe the solenoid should be in the breathing loop, in case of a failure/freeflow. But I do think the cover is quite important for protection against slip and falls on the boat deck, which it has done very well. How's that small liveaboard vessel construction going? I look forward to taking a trip back to Belize when you get it in service-Andy

 

[RebreatherDave]

Gee, how does anyone afford to take off work for a month!?

 

[caveseeker7]

Gee, how does anyone afford to take off work for a month!?

:1poke: Savings from not having to constantly fix his rebreather. :joke:

 

[silent running]

Hello RB Dave, I was able to take off the time after working at 2 jobs, 60 plus hrs a week for about 4 months. I work in a bar and do some freelance Art Handling, so taking off time is not an issue. Liveaboard trips to PNG are a tad pricey, but at least I don't feel like I'm getting ripped off while on the Golden Dawn. As you know, a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into. Where do you like to dive? Do you ever do CCR diving liveaboard style?

 

[padiscubapro]

Padiscubapro - I think you are very wrong about HSE statement, i am not sure i will have to find out, but HSE is Healt and Security Council and its UK based, they have no permission over the boarders. HSE cannot go to Germany, Sweden or any other EU country and enforce what you are Saying.
Fins_wake - I know that you can re-sell any no CE eqiupment in the EU. I can sell you my KISS secondhand without any problems.

/Jonny - Stockholm

Jonny,

I was recently in holland and got to speak to a few people about the upcomming regulations.. The trimix restriction was officially dropped from the record about 2 months ago after alot of prodding from a few people..

 

[RebreatherDave]

Hello RB Dave...Where do you like to dive? Do you ever do CCR diving liveaboard style?

I have been diving the Turtle for 2 years now....mostly local Southern California Channel Islands type of dives on local charter boats. I don't care really for beach diving in Southern Califorinia. I think for the value they offer, charter boat diving is inexpensive and for the convenience of sleepoing on the´way out, laying out on the sundeck, eating hot food and taking hot showers and getting far superior dive visibility, I'll take boat diving any day.

I have unfortunately only been diving twice tropical. Once at Turtle Island, the exclusive authentic Fiji resort island where they filmed the Blue Lagoon...was there for 9 days, and on the CCR, 4 months ago on Yap at the Manta Ray Bay hotel. Hotels on exotic, tropical resorts sort of cross my wires.....I stay in fancy hotels frequently, and they don't impress me. Authentic local private bures, private bungalos or whatever do impress me. On Turtle Island, staying in the authentic thatched roo bures was like sleepng in the Enchanted Tiki Hut at Disneyland, with the addition of little geckos sticking to the vertical wall surfaces.

It has been my experience with multi-day tropical trips that CCR's really allow us to do some deep profiles and not have deco an issue, or what limited deco we incur, in the course of looking at all the interesting things as our sightseeing goes shallower, our deco is eliminated on the fly.

I wouldn't mind doing a tropical boat dive, but a portion of the beauty is the tropical island itself, walking around, saying hello to island natives, exploring, laying out on your own secluded beach, etc.

I enjoy seeing Mr. Big, but the macro critters really amuse me. I used to be into salt water reef tanks, and some of the best diving I did in Yap was in 3-20 feet of water, and just resting on the bottom staring at all the whimsical little creatures going about their business oblivious to me. So many on our trip were busy looking for the big mantas, they missed out on the macro things I think. Accordingly, Wakatobi in Indonesia is on my to do long before I die list, the Sulawesi area and Lembeh Straights I hear is incredible, and I wouldn't mind something in Borneo, that way I can dive and do the group hug thing with those orangutans.

 

[jptrealty]

I would strongly urge you to reconsider. I have owned many rb's including the prism, if you are interested in a detailed explination PM me. I don't want to beat anything up in public. There are many other units I would look at first. But remember one thing you can't have your cake and eat it to with a RB, unless money dosn't matter AT ALL, and you want to become capable of servicing them yourself. So you know, I dive, I don't teach or sell anything to do with scuba, nor do I have a vested intrest in ANY dive product, I'm just a scuba diver.




I FINALLY SAVED ENOUGH MONEY FOR A RB!! Now its down to choosing one. Ive been researching this on and off for over a year and i keep coming back to the prism. I plan to do rec dives for the most part but would like to go tec in the near future and would def. want to buy a rig that could adapt to those needs. I love that it is compact but powerful, it is made here in the USA and the company seems to have staying power. ANyhow, I would love to hear other peoples opinion on the prism, its positive and negative points. Also if someone abs. loves another unit out there i would love to hear about it. its a big step to shell out 10G's so everyones opinion counts in my book.[/QUOTE]

 

[caveseeker7]

As this has spread back to the previous thread I replied there.