Dual CL’s on KISS LTE questions?

[reefrat]

I am attracted to the KISS LTE for a number of reasons but have two questions for those “wise in the ways” of this device!
Firstly, any water that gets in the exhale hose is going straight into the exhale side scrubber, how much of an issue is this and how do you know much that scrubber is compromised?
Secondly, regarding the “wave” of exothermic reaction that passes through a scrubber, does it pass through the exhale side scrubber first and then the inhale side scrubber second, or maybe a bit of both?
Incidentally, my H. Explorer exhale CL is usually quite dry after 120 minutes of diving but when I was a medic on a mine rescue recovery team I used to get a heap of slobber out of my Drager BG174 after 3 hours of ardous drills and exercises!

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I can't speak to the Orca Spirt or Spirit LTE, but Edd Sorenson has pushed the Kiss Sidekick very hard in terms of flooding tests. He described one test where he opened the DSV pre-dive and flooded the exhaust hose, then dove the unit for 5 hours, including unusual attitudes to try to move the water all the way through the system. At the end of the dive he reported the exhaust side scrubber was basically soupy mush, but had absorbed nearly all the water. He found maybe a half cup of water in the counter lung, but the inhale side scrubber was dry, and he had no caustic cocktail issues.

I don't put 100% faith in what anyone says, as I prefer to base my conclusions on my own observations or at least test what I've been told and confirm it with my own observations - but I put a good deal of faith in what Edd says, because I know it's based on his observations rather than something he heard from a guy who talked to a guy.

I suspect the Spirit LTE's performance would be similar to the Sidewinder, given the similar configuration of the loop, in terms of a) having to work hard and really screw up to significantly flood it, and then b) it still should not pose an issue, provided you did not exceed the useful life of the remaining dry absorbent.

In that regard, have heard of some Spirit divers who do short dives and then only change the exhale side of the scrubber, but I'm not convinced that's a very wise practice. The chemistry takes time to work, and if you have a nice slow steady respiration pattern you'll have nice even flow through the scrubber(s) with ample dwell time for the chemistry to happen. If you're breathing hard and fast with less dwell time, that gas is going to have to pass farther through the scrubber in order for all the CO2 to be removed.

In other words, YMMV. If you have a pair of axial flow (or radial) scrubbers, higher breathing rates with reduced dwell times are going to equate to starting to use the absorbent in the second scrubber sooner. And, when you consider that the 2 axial flow scrubbers in the Spirt hold the same 5.5 pounds of absorbent as the single axial flow scrubber in the Sidekick or Classic, the difference lies in a long skinny flow path versus a shorter, wider flow path, but the total absorbent area involved is the same.

Sorb is cheap when you consider the possible consequences of a CO2 hit.

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All that said, I still like the ability to de-water my Sidekick. I've noted that around hour four on a dive I'll normally start getting enough condensation in the unit that I'll hear water gurgling in the exhaust hose (the exhaust hose tower is the low point in the system on my right side mounted Sidekick), and I'll start looking for a convenient place to dil flush the loop to remove it.