Question Trying to decide on a rebreather unit

[Fat old english bloke]

I did that in a quarry. Realised at my ten min check that I hadn’t just not screwed the plug in tight enough, I’d actually left the f*cking thing at home.

We were at about 22m, so I just thought the thing was toast by then and we continued the dive.

Dismantled it when home, dried it as best I could and left it in front of the dehumidifier for a week. Then reassembled, plugged it in to charge, et voila…..it worked!

Done just over 15hrs since then and it has been fine, as a secondary PPO2 monitor.

I had originally written it off as completely fckd, so had budgeted around £300 for a Fischer connector to allow me to fit a NERD.

 

[wayne miller]

I did that in a quarry. Realised at my ten min check that I hadn’t just not screwed the plug in tight enough, I’d actually left the f*cking thing at home.

We were at about 22m, so I just thought the thing was toast by then and we continued the dive.

Dismantled it when home, dried it as best I could and left it in front of the dehumidifier for a week. Then reassembled, plugged it in to charge, et voila…..it worked!

Done just over 15hrs since then and it has been fine, as a secondary PPO2 monitor.

I had originally written it off as completely fckd, so had budgeted around £300 for a Fischer connector to allow me to fit a NERD.

Lol well you can be forgiven mate with no judgement Honestly if you look at a lot of the user groups this is a VERY consistent issue. I think it has a lot to do with how it is very very easy to miss (it is a pinky sized knob that is as black as the casing) so if it were me then I would start selling those things as bright orange with a string tether so if it is unplugged then it just dangles making it super obvious just like the fischer port cover on the petrel's. It is also pretty tough to screw in as you have to push it in tight beyond the o-ring and then start screwing which is tough if your hands are cold. You are luckier than myself.. mine is totally toast.. good thing too, the little fuc*er deserved to be drowned lol. Of course I am a huge advocate of checklists as are we all right and complacency kills.. in this case I only killed my monox so I am going back to school and telling myself every time that I don this gear that rush, panic, students diverting my attention be damned.. I am going to be so much stricter on doing the checks.

So now my path is set.. I am going to buy this which includes isolator and splitter so I can add my other AK4 pin connector that I already use for my Nerd2

4Pin AK- 3 Cell MOLEX Cable Assembly​

4Pin AK- 3 Cell MOLEX Cable Assembly from Narked@90

and try to do this myself first by trying to dig out the potting on my existing cell holder and rewire it all and if that fails then I will buy the cell holder from Tec Equipment für Nitrox, Rebreather Höhlen Tauchen

 

[happy-diver]

If you decide you want to do any mods to Martins designs, he will carve you a fresh one exactly to your spec

 

[wayne miller]

If you decide you want to do any mods to Martins designs, he will carve you a fresh one exactly to your spec

Yes, I messaged him and he was super responsive and pleasant. He had no hesitation to agree to my request to add another groove for a secondary o-ring as I am not a fan of the single point of failure all over the Triton unlike ISC Meg engineering which has two o-rings everywhere.

 

[Fat old english bloke]

Lol well you can be forgiven mate with no judgement Honestly if you look at a lot of the user groups this is a VERY consistent issue. I think it has a lot to do with how it is very very easy to miss (it is a pinky sized knob that is as black as the casing) so if it were me then I would start selling those things as bright orange with a string tether so if it is unplugged then it just dangles making it super obvious just like the fischer port cover on the petrel's. It is also pretty tough to screw in as you have to push it in tight beyond the o-ring and then start screwing which is tough if your hands are cold. You are luckier than myself.. mine is totally toast.. good thing too, the little fuc*er deserved to be drowned lol. Of course I am a huge advocate of checklists as are we all right and complacency kills.. in this case I only killed my monox so I am going back to school and telling myself every time that I don this gear that rush, panic, students diverting my attention be damned.. I am going to be so much stricter on doing the checks.

So now my path is set.. I am going to buy this which includes isolator and splitter so I can add my other AK4 pin connector that I already use for my Nerd2

4Pin AK- 3 Cell MOLEX Cable Assembly​

4Pin AK- 3 Cell MOLEX Cable Assembly from Narked@90

and try to do this myself first by trying to dig out the potting on my existing cell holder and rewire it all and if that fails then I will buy the cell holder from Tec Equipment für Nitrox, Rebreather Höhlen Tauchen View attachment 856903

Please keep us posted on here, I’m very interested to find out how it goes.

 

[wayne miller]

Please keep us posted on here, I’m very interested to find out how it goes.

will do. I am in Asia at the moment and won't be home for another month so I will be starting that project when I get back.

 

[Wibble]

Wonder how long it will be before someone develops the cabling and battery/electronics box to use solid-state oxygen sensors and puts it on a DiveCAN bus. Then we’d have mainstream (Shearwater) computers and options for solenoids, huds, etc.

Hmm, like the new halcyon rebreather, although they aren’t using Shearwater

 

[makar0n]

Wonder how long it will be before someone develops the cabling and battery/electronics box to use solid-state oxygen sensors and puts it on a DiveCAN bus. Then we’d have mainstream (Shearwater) computers and options for solenoids, huds, etc.

Hmm, like the new halcyon rebreather, although they aren’t using Shearwater

This technically already exists, just not in a pure DiveCAN flavor (i.e. w/o any DAC/ADC converters) - TecMe been doing this for years. Shearwater so far shows no visible interest, doing gimmicks like Avelo instead sadly.
Heard rumors that DiveSoft is working on integrating the Pyro Science cells in their models, so it might be we will see something fully digital there.

As for Halcyon, I am curious how it handles comms - the sensors used there, Oxygen Scientific ones, while digital, contain DAC converter built in, hence the final output is analog actually. This is why those cells can be used as a drop-in replacements on other breathers.

 

[Nosmosis]

Hey all,

I'm trying to decide on a unit. I'm between the Kiss Sidewinder, Hollis Prisim P2, and DiveRite Choptima.

I know they are all different types or rebreather units.

Pros:
Sidewinder: I really love diving sidemount on OC.
Choptima: I can just add it to my OC Sidemount kit, I can also add it to my Backmount single tank for recreational diving.
Prisim P2: a local instructor who I trust a lot teaches 100m on the P2. He has nothing but good things to say about it.

Cons:
Sidewinder: Can be tough to get used to diving CC sidemount on local boats, they aren't the biggest fans of OC sidemount
Choptima: I don't have a local instructor (5hr drive) BUT I know several locals who dive the unit.
Prisim P2: A back mounted unit and its the unit I know the least about. But I have seen it in action several times.


I want to get into advanced shipwreck diving, penetration diving on the wrecks in San Diego, Ca. I would love to visit the wrecks up in the great lakes (Lake Huron) at the 180-200ft (60-67m) depth. There is a lot to see here in Southern California as well. I know I wont be able to afford tec diving on OC for very long so I'm thinking I just make the transition to CC sooner than later. I can do a lot of diving on AIR DIL here locally.

What are your thoughts on the 3 different rebreathers I have shortlisted?

I have never dove any of those units, but it sounds like you will be doing more boat diving. People I know here in the Great Lakes that were on Sidewinders seem to have eventually moved to Backmount units as they seem to “work better” for boat diving. For example, I can think of a few people who moved from Sidewinder to JJ or Prism.

People love the Choptima and I understand the appeal as it clips on so nicely to an existing setup whether it was sidemount or doubles. I have heard anecdotally that the work or breathing isn’t great, but I have not personal experience with the unit. I would like to try it one day though - but somehow don’t think I would like a chest mounted unit - as I don’t think I want stuff on my chest. Travel is fine for CCR training and if it’s a good instructor it is worth it. I have heard good things about Tracy Click and Jeff Knapp on Choptima.

Lots of Prism divers in the Great Lakes, and many of my avid wreck diving buddies have this unit. Again, very different than Sidewinder or Choptima, and I never dove this one either and heard anything bad about them honestly. It was not the unit I chose, but there are many in the Midwest. Greg Such is a great instructor for Prism.