Any comments on the ACR 2881 ResQLink+ PLB Floating PLB?

[CuzzA]

I have a bunch of dives on my Custom Divers canister, maybe 30-40 since I bought it several months ago and it's always bone dry. I believe the deepest I've taken it so far is 65 ft. The design allows for the use of silicone tape if you new you were going to be pushing depth limits and wanted to add another level of sealing.

I'd be upset, but if you didn't want to deal with the hassle I guess you could just vacuum seal your PLB. At this point I'd expect the seller to step up and guarantee a working product at his expense.

As for the water filter/reactor housing idea, a standard size would be huge and not something I personally would want to dive with. However, you can buy mini housings. I think they come in 5 inches. Certainly a cheap but effective alternative. They are built like a tank.

There is one issue though beside sealing the pipe fittings, IME with using reactor housings for aquariums and RO/DI units, they usually require the use of a wrench to open them. Just something to think about. It would suck if you're lost at sea and you couldn't open the canister. Perhaps adrenaline would prevail.

 

[Kevrumbo]

That's why every year for the past ten years I've always removed and replaced the o-rings on my Fastfind PLB dive canister (and it has never flooded or shown any sign of salt water intrusion):

O-rings replacement info for the McMurdo Aluminum Dive Canister: 2mm Cross-Section (cs) by 82mm Inner-Diameter (id); and 3mm cs by 78mm id.
.
http://www.safety-marine.co.uk/down...-Dive-Container-Instruction-Sheet.pdf?did=371

Metric O-rings - Buna-N - Nitrile - Viton - FKM - All Orings Online

This is a better quality canister. If you put 2 SS band clamps on a piece of webbing it can ride immediately behind a canister light on a BP/W.
Fastfind Dive Canister
Old 4.5Ah light canisters are also great if you make a new lid.

I have a comparable PVC canister, I have the epirb, a tiny "splashproof" marine VHF radio and a dye canister in there.

The only "tried & true" PLB Dive Canister is the McMurdo Aluminum Container, with both barrel and face O-ring sealing. This was the only dive canister solution when I bought my Fastfind Plus PLB nearly ten years ago.

Readily available from any US online store.

 

[rjack321]

That is a large PLB.

Surprisingly large, @KevinNM why that model?

 

[rjack321]

The only "tried & true" PLB Dive Canister is the McMurdo Aluminum Container, with both barrel and face O-ring sealing. This was the only dive canister solution when I bought my Fastfind Plus PLB nearly ten years ago.

Readily available from any US online store.

Ummm if you bothered to look at the actual link you'll see that is exactly what I posted... Currently $295 at Landfall Navigation.

 

[DandyDon]

Ummm if you bothered to look at the actual link you'll see that is exactly what I posted... Currently $295 at Landfall Navigation.

$238 at McMurdo Dive Canister - Star Marine Depot

I see the $200 ACR 2881 offered at some sites for 2 & 3 times as much tho. It pays tho shop.

The only "tried & true" PLB Dive Canister is the McMurdo Aluminum Container

It is a good one, I've rented and carried one on a couple of trips, but owning one is more than twice as much as the nylon model HDVSEATEK, and it's an extra 2 pounds in my luggage and dive bag. They're both good, just the nylon hasn't been around as long - but it usually works fine. $200 PLB + $238 canister or $200 PLB + $100 canister - your choice. Most won't bother, so we send all available assets, spends thousands more, then rarely find the drifters. Still, it is good that 21st century technology and production have made CO tank testers and PLBs with canisters available and affordable options. No one has to die from either.

The Nautilus has been popular with some even tho it's good at sea only, not for land adventures and risks - but they've had so many leaks that they're reworking their line. For now, all they offer is a 1 watt.

 

[BFRedrocks]

I have a bunch of dives on my Custom Divers canister, maybe 30-40 since I bought it several months ago and it's always bone dry. I believe the deepest I've taken it so far is 65 ft. The design allows for the use of silicone tape if you new you were going to be pushing depth limits and wanted to add another level of sealing.

I'd be upset, but if you didn't want to deal with the hassle I guess you could just vacuum seal your PLB. At this point I'd expect the seller to step up and guarantee a working product at his expense.

One thought was a small dry bag holding the PLB inside the canister, but that isn't supposed to be necessary. I'll try Dan's suggestion of cleaning it and only putting on enough silicone lube to coat the o-ring, similar to normal O-rings. I already emailed the manufacturer to see what he says. My guess is he'll send out another one or tell me what I seem to be doing wrong. That's fine, and what he did before (at his expense)...the only issue for me was sending the old one back which cost me almost $30 to ship to AU.

 

[KevinNM]

Surprisingly large, @KevinNM why that model?

Seemed like a good idea at the time. But then I realized it was larger than it seemed... oh well.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Ummm if you bothered to look at the actual link you'll see that is exactly what I posted... Currently $295 at Landfall Navigation.

$238 at McMurdo Dive Canister - Star Marine Depot

I see the $200 ACR 2881 offered at some sites for 2 & 3 times as much tho. It pays tho shop.


It is a good one, I've rented and carried one on a couple of trips, but owning one is more than twice as much as the nylon model HDVSEATEK, and it's an extra 2 pounds in my luggage and dive bag. They're both good, just the nylon hasn't been around as long - but it usually works fine. $200 PLB + $238 canister or $200 PLB + $100 canister - your choice. Most won't bother, so we send all available assets, spends thousands more, then rarely find the drifters. Still, it is good that 21st century technology and production have made CO tank testers and PLBs with canisters available and affordable options. No one has to die from either.

The Nautilus has been popular with some even tho it's good at sea only, not for land adventures and risks - but they've had so many leaks that they're reworking their line. For now, all they offer is a 1 watt.

You don't go on the cheap & chintzy for an Aussie dive canister solution which some people in this thread have been having trouble with leaks; again the McMurdo Aluminum container is reliable, available to shop for online and easily deliverable with support from a US based store or stockist -no dealing overseas with HDVSEATEK in Australia or shady middlemen on EBay. . . (This is Insurance to keep water tight integrity under pressure around your PLB --your last resort and last best chance of rescue. Get it right the first time. . .)

 

[DandyDon]

shady middlemen on EBay

Who the hell are you referencing? The ebay sales are done by the company owner.

Spend twice as much on the shiny, heavy one if you want, or in your case three times as much - but my black one works fine.

As far as cheap, most won't bother at all. I just saw a notice on FB that the rangers are looking for two lost hikers in Big Bend NP.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Who the hell are you referencing? The ebay sales are done by the company owner.

Spend twice as much on the shiny, heavy one if you want, or in your case three times as much - but my black one works fine. . .

Like I said, double o-rings to seal and heavy Aluminum container for protection, durability & water integrity -never even a hint of salt water leakage in ten years of remote overseas and SoCal far offshore use at remote divesites.

You get what you pay for. . . One source purchase of a QUALITY PLB and Dive Canister combination: Fastfind Dive Canister