Sorb surprises

[doctormike]

when I read it earlier my gut says CO2 retention. It's near impossible to actually overbreathe a scrubber, and while breakthrough is possible, it is coincidentally timed with the increase in work load. I bet failure to fully exhale that caused CO2 retention

Yeah, this level of diving is above my pay grade, but he only had something like 95 minutes on a four hour scrubber. You would think that there would be more reserve in the stack than that. Maybe dense gas changes that analysis, but those scrubber specs usually are done fairly deep.

 

[tbone1004]

Yeah, this level of diving is above my pay grade, but he only had something like 95 minutes on a four hour scrubber. You would think that there would be more reserve in the stack than that. Maybe dense gas changes that analysis, but those scrubber specs usually are done fairly deep.

and fairly cold, with really high breathing rates. Add to that that the O2ptima is an axial packable scrubber, the odds of breakthrough are really really small if he packed it properly. It's possible it got bounced around on the boat rides in the day before and out on the day of, but that's a big channel. Now the horizontal scrubber may be more prone to channeling when bounced around on a boat than a vertical scrubber *maybe? I have no idea but it makes sense*, and a channel may have formed on the top, but that would have to be a really bumpy boat ride.

 

[northernone]

Took a break from paperwork and added another dive to the test.

75 minutes @ 20ft ~65° half vigorous workload. Drifted down stream and pull/glide/finned my way back.

Still nothing. 1100 miles to drive tomorrow, might call off further testing.

Cameron

 

[Wookie]

Try not to do that in one day.

 

[northernone]

Try not to do that in one day.

My back agrees. Might just listen. Last time three flat tires and only two spares on one of the worst roads in North America made sure it was a two day trip.

...aging sorb is arguably safer than my commute.

 

[Wookie]

Yay Quebec. Why did I think you were in civilization?

 

[JohnnyC]

But surely your ridiculously high tax rates should translate into impeccably maintained roads throughout the province!!!!!

As for the incident that @doctormike posted, I'd say CO2 retention. A hard packed axial is pretty hard to overbreathe. Coupled with cold water, high work load, I think it's not a scrubber issue. The fact that going SCR alleviated the issue speaks to me that he changed his breathing pattern and tidal volume pretty significantly in order to maintain SCR, and probably in doing so, was able to evacuate any retained CO2.

 

[lionfish-eater]

My back agrees. Might just listen. Last time three flat tires and only two spares on one of the worst roads in North America made sure it was a two day trip.

...aging sorb is arguably safer than my commute.
View attachment 473456

I hear the Pizza at the Pash-Moar is worth the drive.
Hope you have enough Moose meat for the journey.
The summer road has got to be worse then the winter ice road.
Safe Travels.

 

[Johnoly]

.... It's near impossible to actually overbreathe a scrubber, ...... I bet failure to fully exhale that caused CO2 retention

I just learned something new about RB's, THANK YOU !
I'm a spearo so it's illegal for us to use them. But in the past I always thought a typical fight with an amber jack (aka Reef Donkey) would definitely overbreathe an RB and pass out at 120 deep. Happened many years ago with a big grouper and a DM near Ft. Lauderdale.

 

[northernone]

About over breathing a unit with insufficient dwell time for the co2 in the loop.... there is dozens of personal accounts of divers overbreathing a scubber. It's easy to demonstrate by a few minutes finning against a fixed obstacle to simulate a hard workload.

The out of shape diver with a poor VO2 max have an advantage in this regard. For me, it's not difficult to overbreath, depending on exertion, gas density and fitness level. Of the 4 entry level courses materials I've read, all warn of this common risk. The few manufacturers who post scrubber data also show this.

Am I misunderstanding something?