Triple Tank, Triple Manifolds!

[rndboulder]

One more interesting tidbit on the Cousteau triple set. Due to the size of the set and the offset manifold they would connect two hoses together on the intake to counter the asymmetry of the unit. They also used floats to counteract the extreme negative boyancy. There is a great episode of the Cousteau Odyssey that documents the Britannic dive and it has great footage of these units in action.

-Ryan

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Ryan,

I saw that unit on "Cousteau, my first 85 Years." I have it on tape, and it looks like it's the exhaust hose that has been lengthened, not the intake. Anyway, it's the left hose (exhaust in the US).

One other thing about the offset manifold and double hose regulators; it looked like they oriented the regulator to be slightly down from level, which would put it in a rather ideal position for breathing.

SeaRat

 

[rndboulder]

I believe that it was the intake hose that was lengthened. The post on the manifold is on the divers left. The intake hose therefore has to be longer in order to make it around the right side of the diver and have the mouthpiece still be centered. I reviewed several photos and film footage and I think that this holds true. Let me know what you think.
-Ryan

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Ryan,

We are both right, and both wrong. You are correct about the post being on the diver's left for this set of Cousteau triple tank units. The Mistral regulator is on the left, and the right side hose is the lengthened hose. But, this is also the exhalation hose. This can be seen if you get a surface closeup of the unit (it was shown in "Cousteau--My First 85 Years"). Freeze the frame, and trace the hose back. It is clearly the bottom box that this right hose goes to. Apparently, they rotated the case to re-align the hoses. This makes perfect sense, as the exhalation hose would be the one you would want to lengthen. The inhalation hose, if lengthened, causes a problem for the venturi of the Royal Mistral. So in this case, the inhalation hose is the left hose, not the right one. Also, they did lean to the left (not right, as I said above), to take advantage of the regulator's position. I hope this clears up the confusion.

John

 

[rndboulder]

Great eye. I did not catch that they switched the exhalation hose to the right. You learn something every day. I've watched the film footage of the Brittanic dive a million times and I never noticed that before. Here is a photo so that eveyone else will know what we are talking about.
-Ryan

 

[pescador775]

It was standard Spirotechnique design practice to place the intake on the left side. I saw a picture of Cousteau with an Royal Mistral wherein the box cover had been rotated. Apparently, he had gotten hold of a reg with right side intake and didn't like it.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I just got out of the pool after diving two different sets of doubles. One was set up an independent doubles (twin 50's, no crossover, each cylinder with it's own valve), and one set with a more conventional two post setup (twin 42s, Sherwood duel post manifold, but with the double hose on a center post between the two cylinders.

I wanted to experience diving with a double hose in an asymetric configuration. I put my Overpressure Breathing (Aqualung, DX) regulator on the left cylinder, and a single hose reg on the right as a backup. I had seen the Cousteau films with their triples, and a double hose reg mounted on the far cylinder. I wanted to see what it acutally felt like. My Overpressure Breathing regulator is an ideal choice, as I have used much longer, scba hoses on it (it has a hose within the right breathing tube which pumps the venturi air to the metal mouthpiece). So there was no hose length problem. I then compared it to a regulator in the "normal" center position.

To my surprise, I could feel really not much difference at all. I could lean my left shoulder down a bit, and get very good breathing characteristics. With the longer hoses, there were no problems at all with the regulator in this position. It compared very favorably with the center position. I may now use it in open water situations where I want a double hose, but also want to use my older ones without a SPG or backup LP inflator.

SeaRat

 

[isldbubblemaker]

I've been looking for the triple 30 manifold (single bent angled ). know were I can get one.

mike

 

[isldbubblemaker]

I see that turtleguy picked up some Voit twin 38 tanks. What a find! I recently picked up a triple tank manifold, but I can find absolutely NO information on these. This one has a black plastic open/closed knob, so I assume it is post-1970s (as opposed to the old triple rigs Cousteau used). The guy I bought it from said it's a US Divers manifold, but there are no markings on the rig. Viewed from the top, the manifold is shaped like a 'V' to conform to one's back. The first stage yoke mounts on the far right side of the manifold, as opposed to the center. I picked it up assuming there must be spare bands, packs, etc. for this beast. I have yet to find anything - not even a picture of one in action. I asked the team over at DECA Diving here in Santa Barbara, but they did not have any information. I believe this rig took three 30s. The trail stops there! Anyone have some insight?

if you want to part with the manifold i'm interested... mike (isldbubblemaker)

 

[Nomaster]

. . . Now the set in the earlier photos, these were developed for the Rediscovery of the World Series. It is a set of four 5000psi! tanks in a partial silver housing. Two inverted and two standard. The tanks were run at 5000psi until they had one explode on the Calypso and JM required 2500psi from then on. They had trouble with corrosion due to the alloys and the high psi. . . .-Ryan

I am so glad that I bumbled onto this thread!
What years were the 5000psi tanks used?
I had thought I remembered coming across information on such tanks sometime after I left the Navy in 1972. When I started the process of re-educating myself for my return to SCUBA, I was surprized that that tanks and equipment hadn't gone to very high pressure because of that memory.
When I tried to find such equipment with no success, I started to think it was just a false memory.

Tom