Full Face Masks

I was reading a review in Sport Diver about a Buddy Phone system that lets you talk underwater when mated to a full face diving mask -- pretty nifty.

This got me thinking though to the safety of such a system -- how would one buddy breathe if they have a casualty on their second stage on such a system? Would you have to ditch the system at depth?

Has anyone used such a system? Willing to share your thoughts?

gchapman:

I was reading a review in Sport Diver about a Buddy Phone system that lets you talk underwater when mated to a full face diving mask -- pretty nifty.

This got me thinking though to the safety of such a system -- how would one buddy breathe if they have a casualty on their second stage on such a system? Would you have to ditch the system at depth?

Has anyone used such a system? Willing to share your thoughts?

Click to expand...

You would have several options, one method being removal of the FFM and going to an alternate second stage to abort the dive another would be using a mask that is able to incoorperate an additional second stage for back up.

A nice feature of the Kirby Morgan M-48 mask is that it allows either of these methods without removal of the mask.

http://www.kmdsi.com/products/m48.html

The task is not at all difficult to master but should be practiced with an experienced partner or instructor prior to using the units. I would recommend taking a course allowing you to use several different makes of mask before deciding on a purchase, regardless of the mask you choose you will enjoy it much more if you have been properly trained.

Search the archives for more information, you will see some pretty disappointed users who have had a miserable time diving FFM and almost all cases it was due to improper use or fit of the mask...

Feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions,

Jeff Lane

Hello guys/girls,

I have a question about the interspiro aga divator MK II mask, and hope that someone on this board has the knowledge to help me.
I just bought a full face mask on ebay with quick connection for extra air outlet, buddy breathing or surface supply, pressure gauge and hose and warning device, as described on this link underneath right of the tank image.
http://www.interspiro.com/divator.html

Nor the previous owner, nor I offcourse have any idea how this manifold works.
The problem with it, is that this distribution unit has too few connections to allow inflation of the jacket , spare regulator, and buddy breathing hose at the same time.
Also do I think that the low air warning device is useless, and I would like to remove it, and use it as an extra outlet for one of the previously described features.

But when I open the thing, I see all different springs and little plastic plugs and all.
Does anyone know how this manifold really works, and would he/she be so kind to explane it to me or give me a weblink,... I would be forever in your debt.

Thanks very much.

limibo:

Hello guys/girls,

I have a question about the interspiro aga divator MK II mask, and hope that someone on this board has the knowledge to help me.
I just bought a full face mask on ebay with quick connection for extra air outlet, buddy breathing or surface supply, pressure gauge and hose and warning device, as described on this link underneath right of the tank image.
http://www.interspiro.com/divator.html

Nor the previous owner, nor I offcourse have any idea how this manifold works.
The problem with it, is that this distribution unit has too few connections to allow inflation of the jacket , spare regulator, and buddy breathing hose at the same time.
Also do I think that the low air warning device is useless, and I would like to remove it, and use it as an extra outlet for one of the previously described features.

But when I open the thing, I see all different springs and little plastic plugs and all.
Does anyone know how this manifold really works, and would he/she be so kind to explane it to me or give me a weblink,... I would be forever in your debt.

Thanks very much.

Click to expand...

The system in the link appears to be set up as a CBA (similar to the Scott style air packs) the cylinders shown are carbon fiber...

I would have to take a look at the system first hand to give more information, you might want to reconfigure without the block system until you can have it looked at. You can install the primary mask whip into your current first stage, replace your primary second stage with it (you may find it more comfortable to reconfigure your whips to allow the short hose provided to run over your left shoulder more comfortably, normally we will move the BC inflator to allow this but it depends on the style of first stage)

Jeff Lane

Aga question please.

My interspiro is one of the positive- pressure kind.
I've been having some probs with a leakage through the exhaust valve.
The membrame is not ripted, nor is anything else damaged.
I think the positive pressure is set to high, and I would like to bring it lower.
Allready I lowered the mid-pressure from 10 to about 7 bar, without significant results.
Can anyone tell me what modifications I have to perform on the second stage in order to stop the overpressure leakage ?

And also,....what do I have to replace to turn a positive-pressure ffm into a demand pressure ffm ???
I recently tried my buddy's demand pressure mask out, and it pleased me better then my ppm

Thanks for the respons, and I'm greatfull for any advice.

limibo:

Aga question please.

My interspiro is one of the positive- pressure kind.
I've been having some probs with a leakage through the exhaust valve.
The membrame is not ripted, nor is anything else damaged.
I think the positive pressure is set to high, and I would like to bring it lower.
Allready I lowered the mid-pressure from 10 to about 7 bar, without significant results.
Can anyone tell me what modifications I have to perform on the second stage in order to stop the overpressure leakage ?

And also,....what do I have to replace to turn a positive-pressure ffm into a demand pressure ffm ???
I recently tried my buddy's demand pressure mask out, and it pleased me better then my ppm

Thanks for the respons, and I'm greatfull for any advice.

Click to expand...

The problem with your second stage isn't likely the intermediate pressure of the first stage. You can run the second stage with an intermediate pressure between 90 and 170 psi. I recommend anywhere between 135 to 145 psi. The most likely problem with the reg is the adjustment of either the adjusting nut on the inhalation resistance spring or the lever height adjustment nut, or a combination of both. I'd STRONGLY recommend you have the regulator checked out by a certified Interspiro Divator MKII technician.

To convert the regulator from positive pressure to demand, you have to replace two springs and remove the positive pressure lever assembly, then plug the hole with a rubber plug. I highly recommend the demand regulator over the positive pressure. Then proper adjustments need to be made and the regulator tested to see that it's to spec.

Good luck...

The above post is on of the most expert opinions your going to find on the AGA.

You may want to take the technician course yourself next time it is in your area.

http://www.oceantechnologysystems.com/

If you dive AGA this is the best $100 you will ever spend...

Thanks for the professional advice.

Greetz

gchapman:

I was reading a review in Sport Diver about a Buddy Phone system that lets you talk underwater when mated to a full face diving mask -- pretty nifty.

This got me thinking though to the safety of such a system -- how would one buddy breathe if they have a casualty on their second stage on such a system? Would you have to ditch the system at depth?

Has anyone used such a system? Willing to share your thoughts?

Click to expand...

My dad clips a regular mask to a caribeaner in case he needs to switch to his octo or ours for OOA or another problem.
For smaller faces, you should check out the Mantis. You need a buddy to properly get it on and sealed and once it's on, you're breathing your tank air, but it's really comfy and you can use your own reg.

Nay,

my son and I have such a buddyphone, and i can tell you........it's awsome !!!!
When we need to buddybreath, we just take off the mask, take our own extra reg. , or take the buddy's one.
We both carry an extra mask in one of the jacket's pocket.

Today i'm about to finish an alternative buddybreathing system, meaning, on the hose of my spare secondstage reg ( very near to that secondstage) I will place a male (on the firststage side) and female (on the secondstage side) fast connection together with a valve, that will alow me , in case my son or I run out of air, to dock my male connection into the female connection that is used by my son to inflate his jacket.
So to put it simple, when one of us runs dry ,..I disconnect the extra second stage after I closed the valve, and my son disconnects his jacket supply, we link up.....and bobs your uncle.
I know,...in case of emergency this is all too complex, but running out of air during a decompression for instance gives you time enough to plug in, in that case neither of us needs to take of the ffm
The reason why I combined the spare secondstage reg hose and the jacket supply hose, is to prevent diving around with to many hoses, they start leaking and only get tangled up at the wrong time in the wrong place.
Friday we leave for our annual vacation to sicilie, there we will practice taking off the ffm , use the spare reg and putting on the normal mask.
The buddybreathing system I'm about to finish today is just for reassuring both of us that we dont need to take off the ffm when either of us is in air-destress.
It's just in the mind you see.

Greetz

Ps:
the byddyphone's mic is water resistant (due to a membrame) up to +/- 3 meter (sorry for the metric system , I'm Belgian)....meaning that you can take off the mask at depth without flooding the mic under one condition,...dont drift deeper than 3 meters from where you took the mask off.