Recent Opinions On Air Integrated Computers For Technical Diving

[John C. Ratliff]

Are you serious?? Have you dive additional bottle to your BM tank? I have seen too many divers with 1 AL80 and 1 AL40 on my left side only and won't have trim problem, my self included. I often dive one AL80 side mount and without trim issue either.



I am with tbone here. It is impossible to match the IP of two first stage perfectly across the entire tank pressure. If any side has IP creek, you will drain mostly from one side. What you are suggesting is exactly what UTD side mount manifold setup. In the case of UTD, they even recomment shut of one side when breath from the other side

eelnoraa,

That was not my experience. And, that was a Scubapro recommendation too (see my post above). Balanced regulators should keep the IP steady across the tank pressures. However, if you are diving an unbalanced first stage, it will deviate; a piston unbalanced first stage will have an IP pressure drop as tank pressure drops, and an unbalanced diaphragm first stage will have the IP raise as tank pressure drops.

SeaRat

 

[stretchthepenn]

Button gauges are even less reliable than transmitters. Of course you should get rid of the lollipops because curb feelers are super lame, but if you're gonna go with transmitters, just go with the transmitters. If you have a failure you're turning the dive anyway, what do you think you're gonna do when your button gauge shits the bed?

Button gauges are extra-convenient for quick "is this tank fully pressurized?" checks. Plus, button gauges don't exactly take up much room, so I don't see a disadvantage to leaving them on. (Cue the "the o-ring is a failure point!" chorus.)

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

(Cue the "the o-ring is a failure point!" chorus.)

Which also exist in plugs. No difference.

 

[JohnnyC]

Button gauges are extra-convenient for quick "is this tank fully pressurized?" checks. Plus, button gauges don't exactly take up much room, so I don't see a disadvantage to leaving them on. (Cue the "the o-ring is a failure point!" chorus.)

They're unreliable, prone to failure, not because of an o-ring, because they're poorly built, fragile, and all kinda lame.

I've had probably 6 or 7 fail in differing ways. I've had one, singular, normal SPG fail in the same time period over the past 10 years.

Use the transmitters by themselves or use real gauges. Button gauges suck.

 

[shoredivr]

Explain, please, Mike. Are you talking about before entering, or while exiting the water, or in-water, being more of a hassle? Isn't it at least somewhat of a hassle to switch regulators every 10-15 minutes, or face loss of trim? I have not done any side-mount diving, as I dive rivers in high current, and so feel sidemount itself won't work for me. But I need to know the nature of the "hassles" of not having to remove and switch second stages for a side-mount diver means. You might try it and see how you like it. These very good performing second stages are regularly available on E-Bay.
Scubapro Air 1 scuba regulator with hose AIR1 | eBay

SeaRat

PS, the above independent doubles with a single second stage (and octopus second stages) works, and works well; it's not that they "might work."

I dive sidemount steel 100’s regularly in the St Lawrence River, the Niagara River and the St Clair River (Great Lakes) and haven’t found switching regs in current to be a problem.