Rebreather Training...

[tgsmith]

FWIW, I've met 3 people in person who own Optimas. All three have had their hammerhead electronics fail/lockup at least once during a dive.....

 

[Thalassamania]

FWIW, I've met 3 people in person who own Optimas. All three have had their hammerhead electronics fail/lockup at least once during a dive.....

Really? Have they posted the details anywhere?

 

[sea2summit]

I think that this statement is unjustified. Dive Rite is a company that manufactures lots of different dive equipment (not just one product) that is sold around the world. It is not a garage based operation that is run by one person.

Micropore, the manufacturer of the Extend Air Cartridge, provides this technology to the dive industry, the commercial dive industry, and the naval industries for use in submarines.

Granted, but GMC didn't start yesterday either

 

[sea2summit]

Really? Have they posted the details anywhere?

I typed "hammerhead fail" into the search on RBW and got two pages of results. Didn't read all of them so can't say more than that. Really doesn't matter though any scuba/ccr system can or will fail it's the divers response or ability to respond to the failure that matters.

 

[ScubaAndDreams]

Too many different rebreathers, not enough RB divers.

 

[Thalassamania]

I did the same search but I don't want to wade through pages of argument and finger pointing, I was hoping someone had a link to reports by the actual users.

 

[Padipro]

Do your research, ask RB divers to honestly explain the reasons behind their choice, examine the units for yourself but don't rely to much on a test dive in the pool.

I remember my first few hours in Gennie Springs and how I hated the feel of the entire thing. There is allot more to a rebreather, both on the front and back, then there is to OC gear and things can feel very cluttered. Then there's the difference in the way they breath compared to an OC reg. It's hard to explain but there is a difference and it takes some getting used to. Finally there's the buoyancy thing you hear people talking about. You'll need to forget everything you learned about buoyancy on OC, inhaling and exhaling has no effect on your buoyance when diving a rebreather, and relearn it all over again and that takes a bit longer then the hour you may get in a pool. Many people, including me, say switching to a RB makes you feel like a beginning open water diver all over again.

If you're in the market take a look on Rebreather World, there are quite a few used units from every manufacture for sale and you may find the unit you're looking for at a great price.

Once you make the switch you'll love it, there's nothing like diving silent.

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

I did the same search but I don't want to wade through pages of argument and finger pointing, I was hoping someone had a link to reports by the actual users.

I am aware of the incidents. You will find that there are happenings of this sort with all of the models out there given enough units on the market for long enough to measure the incidents.

Please understand that many rebreathers on the market have been around for long enough that the same model has undergone changes over time. So, there are reports that may concern older versions that would no longer apply to newer versions. Let me speak of the Hammerhead in particular since that is a unit that I use and know intimately.

Much older versions of the Hammerheads were in an acrylic housing. These become problematic on very deep dives due to the material flexing. Newer models (since about 2005) are made from different materials. These issues of the acrylic sets no longer apply.

The first aluminum housing sets, which came out in 2005, were nickel plated. They looked really slick, and they worked well in fresh water. Unfortunately, the nickel plating application was not always done properly. In fact, it was much more often done improperly. Once taken into salt water, the case would tarnish rapidly. The manufacturer changed the design to an annodized aluminum housing in 2006. No more tarnishing problem.

In both aluminum sets, the nickel and the annodized versions, there were some problems on some units with the battery contact not being sufficient with the spring. (Other units on the market have had similar problems, i.e., VR3, Shearwater and others.) This required some minor maintenance to the battery cases occasionally. (On my unit, though I never had this problem, I performed a simple contact cleaning about every 10 to 15 hours. This was very simple to do.) There are many people still using the aluminum sets without any problems. They just require a little bit of work to maintain.

The newest version are made from delrin. These were launched in 2007. The sets are smaller and lighter than the aluminum sets. The battery compartment and spring are made differently, and this has resolved this problem of the aluminum sets. These sets have turned out to be extremely reliable. However, there is no such thing as perfection with any component that is produced. So, there will still be the occasional failure. If you were to remove all prior sets from the list of failed units, the delrins would have a very low failure rate.

You will find that rebreather components are undergoing rapid transformations and improvements. These happen as more units are on the market, and as the manufacturers get more feedback from users. So, there will continue to be upgrades and changes to models as these improvements come to market. (Heck, even regulators often come out with changes and improvements from year to year eventhough this technology has been around for 50 years.) If you are waiting for the final design version of a rebreather to come to market so that you can buy one at that time, you will be waiting probably forever for this to happen. So, be prepared to deal with the nature of the industry if you are going to consider purchasing a rebreather.

Meanwhile, there is a reason that rebreathers come with redundant components. Since there are occasional failures (everything will eventually break on all equipment), having redundancy takes care of the occasional break down. With a diligent diver operating a system having adequate redundancy, rebreathers remain a great option for many divers.

 

[Gill Envy]

I think scuba dad is right, I do not get the impression that the hammerhead/optima is more likely to have problems than any other eCCR. there are quite a few of them out there with happy owners. that said the majority of major melt downs you hear about, particularly the show stoppers, seem to happen on eCCR's.

g

FWIW, I've met 3 people in person who own Optimas. All three have had their hammerhead electronics fail/lockup at least once during a dive.....

 

[grazie42]

I bought mine, a rEvo, before I´d dived it (and before the course).

I bought mine because the unit I bought was the one on the market that closest corresponds to the "ideal" RB and manufacturer I want (or think I want). I had also heard a lot of the "you propably wont like it at first"-comments as well, though in my case I actually enjoyed diving it from the start.

I have seen/felt/fiddled with the new poseidon and talked to their sales mngr and I think that if you want an ECCR, that its not a bad option. They said there was already a SW-upgrade for normoxic tmx that would be released "later" but this was at a "private gathering" so may just be "sales talk"(this was before christmas)...The 1st stages on the unit are more "normal" than previous poseidon ones so, if nothing else, there is one positive to have come out of the project...