Wesley Skiles' widow suing over rebreather

[Thalassamania]

A low fO2 is the logical conclusion, both deductively and inductively.

 

[Bebold429]

I will agree with this? Where is the buddy? Seems he was diving alone

 

[Crush]

As I recall his buddy stayed below as he signaled that he was going up to get more film (?). He was found later at the bottom.

 

[padiscubapro]

A low fO2 is the logical conclusion, both deductively and inductively.

I don't think so... especially on the HH electronics..

Regarless of the settings the user used even if the solenoid wa set to off.. the HH electronics will inject o2 as soon as the measured po2 breaks 0.19 ata.. if 2 or 3 sensors are dead, in poor shape or are covered in water, the average will be below this and the electronics will inject o2.. as long as the o2 valve is on the electronics will do the damness to make sure hypoxia can't happen..

from rumours I have heard from day one, there are other explanations for the diver passing out.. I wount post them here I'll wait and reserve judgement until I see the full coroner's report..

I know the electronics and the effort that has been put in to make sure the loop never goes hypoxic.. unfortunately the two way this can happen is that the diver can screw up and shut iff his/her oxygen supply or use dead batteries so that the electonics don;t have any power... I'll discount the second because the original reports I heard when it happened said the electronics appeared to be working when the body was recovered meaning there was at least a display.... but even if teh system ran out of power on the primary,so what, there is an independent secondary that the diver has to get himself to safety..

I do have a couple of questions about the actual configuration of the rig that would tell me alot about the diver's mindset and risk tree....


the lawsuit itself was clearly put together by someone who doesn't know a thing about rebreathers and didn't even pay an expert in rebreathers to examine it for errors in design and fact.. Some of the accusations are clearly wrong just at face value..


I'm not going to do the defense lawyers job here, but read over all the acusations based on the OPV desigign.. there is one that is so wrong its laughable..


it looks as if someone made an entire wall a dart board and is trying to see if one will just stick..

I know I can talk about all the failure modes posted in the electronics manual, and how we train what to do with them since I wrote the electronics manual and routinely answer questions from any diver that inquires about the electronics functionality.. I have also acted as a test diver on ALL verisions of the HH electronics before they reached public hands and there isn't a single failure that can happen that can't be dealt with by the properly experienced and trained diver..

 

[TSandM]

Are Hammerhead and Optima the same rebreather? I'm pretty sure Wes was diving an Optima.

 

[mathauck0814]

Are Hammerhead and Optima the same rebreather? I'm pretty sure Wes was diving an Optima.

Hammerhead refers to the electronics used on the Optima, they're used on other units as well.

 

[Thalassamania]

That is how lawsuits are put together. You can't win on what you do not claim and there is no penalty to claiming something that you can not win.

 

[rigdiver]

Are Hammerhead and Optima the same rebreather? I'm pretty sure Wes was diving an Optima.

No. Juergenson makes the hammerhead and electronics for the Optima. They also do electronics to replace others like the Inspiration, Megaladon and retro fit USN MK series. Kevin has been at this a long time and has earned a very good reputation.

 

[Redshift]

The electronics would inject O2 if the readings were low, but wasn't a discussed possibility that 2 of the 3 sensors had failed in a way that they were reading higher fO2 than the real one in the loop and that by chance those were consistent enough to outvote the remaining sensor which would show the correct value? If this had happened the solenoid wouldn't fire. Now, is it possible that two sensors are reading higher and similar values? And if so was it purely by chance (which I think would be rally minimal) or could there be something in the design that could cause this?

 

[flots am]

The electronics would inject O2 if the readings were low, but wasn't a discussed possibility that 2 of the 3 sensors had failed in a way that they were reading higher fO2 than the real one in the loop and that by chance those were consistent enough to outvote the remaining sensor which would show the correct value? If this had happened the solenoid wouldn't fire. Now, is it possible that two sensors are reading higher and similar values? And if so was it purely by chance (which I think would be rally minimal) or could there be something in the design that could cause this?

It's also possible the computer was fine and the valve still didn't open. Solenoid valves are fussy little beasts.

flots.