Sidewinder Petrel Cables

[GF99/99]

For some background I have 2ea. petrels 4 pins already and just finalized my order with KISS however there seems to be some confusion on there part about the 4 pin cable lengths coming out of the head. Personally I like having a backup secondary way to monitor my Po2 this is the way I have dove rebreather since I started years ago and the way I think is correct, just my personal opinion and this posting is not about discussing if its wrong or not. I know it is not common to have 2 petrels but I have this setup on another one of units and personally I really like it (although on another one of my units I have the regular Petrel/Shearwater HUD combo and having tried other HUD's I really like these alot also) so figured since I have 2 petrel 4 pins already why not order my sidewinder with 2 output cables.

So after placing my order with KISS from what I can tell they have informed me that both cables coming out of the head are 6" long. My petrels have the stock 18" cables on them. For the left wrist this seems perfect for the right wrist seems way way to short but there seems to be some confusions from KISS on this, I have messaged them about this and gone back and forth some but am still waiting for a clear answer so in the mean time figured I would ask on here if anyone is running 2 petrel 4 pin's

Sorry in advance of the ignorance, I have never actually used or seen in person a sidewinder with 4 pin connections, only Fischer or hardwired so still new to the 4 pin and just wanted some guidance on cable lengths to make sure my unit comes with the correct cables.


For reference this is the correspondence I have had with KISS via email so far. Still waiting for more answers from them:

Hi Kim,

Just wanted to follow up that you guys received my full payment. Also can you verify the length of the AK 4 pin cables that come out of the head? My Petrel's have 18" cables so I just want to double check that the head cables are not made too short or not too long. What do most of your other customers get?

Hi Danny, Lynnette can let us know on Tuesday about the payment. She is off on Monday.

With regards to the length of the cable, we have a standard length for each unit so it will be perfectly matched up as I believe our petrol cable like this also the same as yours, 18 inch.

Hi Kim,

Ok sounds good.

Sorry for the cable, I don't mean to be a pain but I just want to double check that it will be the correct length. Can you please confirm that the AK4 pin cable coming out the head actually intended for a Petrel with an 18" cable?

Cheers,

Danny

Hi Danny, Payment has been received. On the 4 Pin cable, the cable coming out of the computer is 18" and the cable coming from the head is 6". Hope that helps

Hi Kim,

Thanks for getting back to me in the cable length. I have a major concern about it. If they are both 6” long one of them seems way to short. I would like to plug a petrel into each cable and have one computer on my left wrist and one of my right wrist. Standard petrel 4 pin cable is only 18” long plus the 6” coming out of the sidewinder head how will this reach my right wrist??

What do your other customers do??

Cheers,

Danny

Danny, I believe (and i could be wrong, jumping in like this) that the lengths Lynnette is giving you is for the Sidewinder.

Could you please remind us what unit you are putting this on? (thanks, and sorry, i have been away)

Hi Kim,

Yes I am getting a sidewinder with two AK 4 pin cables coming out of the head. My concern is that one of the 6" cables is not long enough. I have two petrels one will be on my right wrist and the other on my left wrist. So one of the cables has to make it across my body and down my other arm. My Petrels are standard 4 pin with an 18" cable. I don't know if one of the18"+6" is long enough?
I made a quick sketch of my concern. The short 6" cable coming out of the head looks to be sufficient for the left wrist however I am very very worried that if I run a computer on my right wrist it will not reach. Please see the sketch below, the red lines represent a stock Shearwater Petrel with 18" AK 4 pin cable and the blue line represents the AK 4 pin cable coming out of the sidewinder head. I require this to be long enough so the Petrel can comfortably reach my right wrist. What length is this cable normally??

Cheers,

 

[bubblemonkey2]

Good info hope there is an easy solution!

I was hoping the [international] sales surge would give them some impetus to further modernize & modularize the electronics, perhaps even go digital or something (DiveCAN?)

The answer when I asked was 'not likely.'

Last time I checked people can buy a more advanced and engineered rebreather (e.g. JJ-CCR) for less than the price tag of a ready-to-dive Sidewinder (when comparable "options" like a Shearwater & HUD are selected : )

Given that I've also been cautioned about long delivery times, I might be waiting until a better or more updated option in this class of rebreather is available (?)

But I am excited to see what kind of MacGyvering you elites come up with in the meantime!

 

[grantctobin]

For some background I have 2ea. petrels 4 pins already and just finalized my order with KISS however there seems to be some confusion on there part about the 4 pin cable lengths coming out of the head. Personally I like having a backup secondary way to monitor my Po2 this is the way I have dove rebreather since I started years ago and the way I think is correct, just my personal opinion and this posting is not about discussing if its wrong or not. I know it is not common to have 2 petrels but I have this setup on another one of units and personally I really like it (although on another one of my units I have the regular Petrel/Shearwater HUD combo and having tried other HUD's I really like these alot also) so figured since I have 2 petrel 4 pins already why not order my sidewinder with 2 output cables.

So after placing my order with KISS from what I can tell they have informed me that both cables coming out of the head are 6" long. My petrels have the stock 18" cables on them. For the left wrist this seems perfect for the right wrist seems way way to short but there seems to be some confusions from KISS on this, I have messaged them about this and gone back and forth some but am still waiting for a clear answer so in the mean time figured I would ask on here if anyone is running 2 petrel 4 pin's

Sorry in advance of the ignorance, I have never actually used or seen in person a sidewinder with 4 pin connections, only Fischer or hardwired so still new to the 4 pin and just wanted some guidance on cable lengths to make sure my unit comes with the correct cables.


For reference this is the correspondence I have had with KISS via email so far. Still waiting for more answers from them:

There aren’t many people (I actually don’t know any) running the dual Petrel layout. I could try building mine and hazard a guess, but you’ll probably need something towards 16” or 18” so there isn’t excessive stress on the cable.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

I hear they have moved production to Poland and a new and improved KISS rebreather will be shipping.

 

[v101]

I have two (2) 4 pin short cables from my oxygen cell head on my sidewinder. Both cables are short from the head. I have one running into my NERD 2, and another into my Petrel 2. I have tried using 2 Petrel 2 computers, and i put one in my LEFT drysuit pocket, and wore the other one on my arm.
I would inquire if you can get a longer 4 PIN cable or an adapter to make it longer if you want to use the other Petrel on your other arm.

 

[grantctobin]

I have tried using 2 Petrel 2 computers, and i put one in my LEFT drysuit pocket, and wore the other one on my arm.

Seems like that would be a real mess to access with multiple bottles on and add significant strain to the top of the gland…

 

[v101]

Agree. i dont use 2 petrel's. tried it and dont like it.

 

[GF99/99]

Just wondering what was the "mess" or what did others not like about having 2 Petrels (one on each wrist) or what are some of the cons other foresee. Keep in mind I have never actually tried 2 Petrels on a sidewinder so maybe im missing something really obvious here but I have another unit and run 2 petrels and really like it. Yes I know there are supposedly reliability issue with Molex cell splitters but I have never had issues nor have any of my friends with Molex cell splitters.

Personally if I'm diving CC or even OC I will always have two Shearwater platforms on regardless because I will have a backup computer on my right wrist. My thinking is since I already will have a computer on each wrist and already have two 4 pin petrels why no take advantage of it and plug them both in and now my right wrist computer (normally just a Perdix) is also a secondary P02 display. Like I said maybe I'm being really dumb and am missing something here but seems like no brainer to me. Only difference is my right wrist computer will have a cable, but on my other unit this never bothered me.

Open to other suggestions and opinions.

Also KISS just messaged me back and said the can make the second output 4 pin female cable any length I want.

 

[grantctobin]

Just wondering what was the "mess" or what did others not like about having 2 Petrels (one on each wrist) or what are some of the cons other foresee. Keep in mind I have never actually tried 2 Petrels on a sidewinder so maybe im missing something really obvious here but I have another unit and run 2 petrels and really like it. Yes I know there are supposedly reliability issue with Molex cell splitters but I have never had issues nor have any of my friends with Molex cell splitters.

Personally if I'm diving CC or even OC I will always have two Shearwater platforms on regardless because I will have a backup computer on my right wrist. My thinking is since I already will have a computer on each wrist and already have two 4 pin petrels why no take advantage of it and plug them both in and now my right wrist computer (normally just a Perdix) is also a secondary P02 display. Like I said maybe I'm being really dumb and am missing something here but seems like no brainer to me. Only difference is my right wrist computer will have a cable, but on my other unit this never bothered me.

Open to other suggestions and opinions.

Also KISS just messaged me back and said the can make the second output 4 pin female cable any length I want.

Running a backup Petrel straight down (from an upward pointing gland) and into a drysuit pocket in any rig, let alone a sidemount rig with likely 1 or 2 bailout bottles on that side is a suboptimal configuration. Wearing one on each left and right wrist is no problem provided they are of correct length and you’re cognizant of them as you bungee in your sidemounted bailout.

That said, my former board used JJ cells with a lead and my current board uses SMB cells and not Molex. Mike is in the process of redoing the KISS board such that one of them will be SMB compatible, but unsure when that will be available.

 

[GF99/99]

Agree the pocket thing sounds horrible, I was not even considering this an option. I would only use two Petrels if they were wrist mounted. Kiss confirmed today that they can make the second cable the correct length.

As for the cable getting tangled in bungee or B/O's I'm not to sure how this would differ from the regular left side computer. Having a computer on the right wrist would not very any different than the left. Also my other unit is Triton with two Petrel's I used with the same Xdeep harness, normal loop bungees, and dive it often with 4 B/O's and never had any tangling issues.