Best Booster for Rebreathers

[tbone1004]

I actually had never heard of a VFD until a few years ago when you posted them here. I think the masterline guys have a different view of things mainly because they're main industry has always been mining.
As for VFDs, is there an easy, plug and play solution for them? I've looked at them online a little bit but they're way over my electrical knowledge. It looks like most of them need some level of adjustment or programming. I'd run one if I could just plug my booster into it, and basically just turn the dial to adjust fill speed

it "should" be done with a 3p motor, so bolt new motor in, plug in, and turn on. You have like 2-3 settings on them that you need to pick. If they are standalone drives, there is nothing else to do. The extra programming comes in with things like the pressure switches and e-stops being integrated into the drive, but that's easy and no laptop required. If you watch any videos on youtube of people putting them on lathes or drill presses, it's exactly the same.
Most 1p motors do not like VFD's though which is why the 3p 220v motors are ideal. With the 220v's you can get buck drives that allow you to use 110v power on the 220v motor which is what is on my Rix.

 

[broncobowsher]

For the throttling the booster, are they (Masterline) suggesting throttling

I have a HI booster for last 6 months and have no complaints.

look into other options for drive gas though than scuba grade air, costs will add up quickly.

That is why I use the shop compressor at home. I do 98% of my fills in the garage using a standard 60 gallon upright 2-stage compressor. Doesn't really matter how much drive gas it takes. I can run on the edge of the envelope and blow though a ton of drive gas and it doesn't really matter. But the other 2% of my boosting, done in the back of a truck in a parking lot somewhere, that is done off large scuba tanks.

I would not plan on using scuba tanks to drive a booster unless you are getting free fills from the local shop. running a shop compressor is way more cost effective than running a scuba air compressor. Half the stages, less filtering. Priced in the hundreds of dollars and not thousands of dollars. But I still need the local dive shop to fill my air, that I later take home and run through the booster as part of my mix.

 

[rddvet]

it "should" be done with a 3p motor, so bolt new motor in, plug in, and turn on. You have like 2-3 settings on them that you need to pick. If they are standalone drives, there is nothing else to do. The extra programming comes in with things like the pressure switches and e-stops being integrated into the drive, but that's easy and no laptop required. If you watch any videos on youtube of people putting them on lathes or drill presses, it's exactly the same.
Most 1p motors do not like VFD's though which is why the 3p 220v motors are ideal. With the 220v's you can get buck drives that allow you to use 110v power on the 220v motor which is what is on my Rix.

So I'd need to change my single phase motor to a 3 phase to use a vfd properly? That's definitely not happening. The masterline works well enough as is. It would just be nice to slow it down a little more in certain circumstances to keep it efficient. I really dont think slowing them down with a reg like masterline does really generates that much heat. The guys supply a ton of units to mining, aircraft industries, and the military without issue. I don't think excess heat generation is something they skip over. I know they definitely frown upon an inlet pressure under 300psi because thats when heat and lack of efficiency start to be issues.

 

[tbone1004]

So I'd need to change my single phase motor to a 3 phase to use a vfd properly? That's definitely not happening. The masterline works well enough as is. It would just be nice to slow it down a little more in certain circumstances to keep it efficient. I really dont think slowing them down with a reg like masterline does really generates that much heat. The guys supply a ton of units to mining, aircraft industries, and the military without issue. I don't think excess heat generation is something they skip over. I know they definitely frown upon an inlet pressure under 300psi because thats when heat and lack of efficiency start to be issues.

any time the inlet pressure is lowered, there is increased heat generated and the efficiency is lowered. I HIGHLY doubt the rest of the industry is using regulators to slow the thing down. It is a red-neck bandaid to proper engineering. The total cost of the unit changes by essentially $0 to use a 3p motor and VFD compared to a 1p motor *which are more expensive* and a good regulator.

 

[rjack321]

any time the inlet pressure is lowered, there is increased heat generated and the efficiency is lowered. I HIGHLY doubt the rest of the industry is using regulators to slow the thing down. It is a red-neck bandaid to proper engineering. The total cost of the unit changes by essentially $0 to use a 3p motor and VFD compared to a 1p motor *which are more expensive* and a good regulator.

Also unlikely that the broader industry is using a masterline to fill a single 2L or 3L at a time though.

 

[tbone1004]

Also unlikely that the broader industry is using a masterline to fill a single 2L or 3L at a time though.

ding ding!

 

[v101]

I picked up a HASKELL mini-sport booster years ago, and it works quite well for small bottle fills.

 

[JeffSmith]

I have a USUN booster been using for a bit over a year, has been great, can't fault it, was exactly what I needed for filling rebreather tanks and topping of bailout tanks from time to time at a very reasonable price. Communication with the company was great they answered any questions I had promptly.

What model are you using?

 

[Tassi Devil Diver]

What model are you using?

The GB40-OL single action model.

 

[AJ]

Any experience with the XBD30-OL? Seems very interesting.