OMG / Castoro C96 Parts. SIEL won't assist

[telemonster]

Hello! I have a Castoro C96 that I take to club pool days and once a while in the shallows in the quarry outside of Richmond VA.

I believe it is a military version, but not really sure. The BCD is tactical style.

I reached out to SIEL, which is the company that has taken on the OMG stuff I guess, or Castoro. They said:

"Good evening Mr. Ethan,

Thank you for your email.

Please note that the Castoro C96 civilian rebreather is out of production
and we do not have spares anymore.

Also, please note that our material is not aimed to the civilian market."

I was mainly looking for rebuild kit for the 1st stage / pushbutton addition. Mine seems to leak a trickle of o2.

The other thing I was really after is the buckles for the top. They are made by ITW Nexus which still exists, but they are a size or shape that is not compatible with the modern ones. I don't want to cut the ones that are there or are on the tactical BCD, but would like to be able to adapt it to fit something like a backplate/wing or just a harness. There is no good place to put weights other than a weight belt and no place to hang a pony.

Any thoughts? In Italy would there be old dealers of them?

I am not sure if mine is really the recreational version either. It's not yellow.

Pretty cool oddity none the less, I am trying to take good care of it.

The pics of the buckles I sent to SIEL

 

[happy-diver]

Like this

I reached out to SIEL

I didn't reach out to anyone, (what does that actually mean) but let my fingers do the walking
when doing mods and matching buckles to various OTS lungs and found identical ones there

 

[telemonster]

I think reach out is an American slang term for called. "Reach out and touch someone" was an old US telephone company slogan that doesn't work so well in modern times.

I have bought 4 different sets of ITW Nexus buckles but the modern ones are a different shape and do not seem to fit the earlier model that is on the C96 at the top. The bottom buckles on the unit I found a compatible one for.

 

[Angelo Farina]

I am not sure if I can help you. I worked for Siel and I have often contact with them. But they are really a military-only supplier, so I understand that they will not provide you with spare parts, even if available (or compatible).
OMG instead was also selling a civil version of the Castoro C96 (but not of the top model Caimano IV, which is the military-only version, and is the unit I was using when working with SIEL).
In reality many parts can be swapped among the two units.
There was another Italian company manufacturing the C96 under license by OMG and selling it mostly to diving schhols, called SanOsub: Home - Valvole per gas tecnici, medicali e puri | Sanosub |
This company is still active, so you could try contacting them and see if they can provide parts compatible with your ARO unit.
Here some photos of their version of the C96, to compare with your:

SanOsub ARO C96

une bien jolie machine , simple et économique machine fonctionnelle et pas chère !

www.forum-frog.org

 

[telemonster]

I am not sure if I can help you. I worked for Siel and I have often contact with them. But they are really a military-only supplier, so I understand that they will not provide you with spare parts, even if available (or compatible).
OMG instead was also selling a civil version of the Castoro C96 (but not of the top model Caimano IV, which is the military-only version, and is the unit I was using when working with SIEL).
In reality many parts can be swapped among the two units.
There was another Italian company manufacturing the C96 under license by OMG and selling it mostly to diving schhols, called SanOsub: Home - Valvole per gas tecnici, medicali e puri | Sanosub |
This company is still active, so you could try contacting them and see if they can provide parts compatible with your ARO unit.
Here some photos of their version of the C96, to compare with your:

SanOsub ARO C96

une bien jolie machine , simple et économique machine fonctionnelle et pas chère !

www.forum-frog.org

Interesting! Yea, the valve assembly looks very similar. Can't tell about the top clips but I went ahead and ... ahem... contacted SanOSub to see what they have to say! The valve assembly definitely looks pretty similar and that is where my main maintenance issue is. Much thanks for the lead on that!

Overall the hose connections on mine look different, and the canister plate where the hoses connect looks different. Mine feels like some kind of odd material.

Thanks again for the info! My main unit is a Prism 2, but the C96 is pretty cool.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Interesting! Yea, the valve assembly looks very similar. Can't tell about the top clips but I went ahead and ... ahem... contacted SanOSub to see what they have to say! The valve assembly definitely looks pretty similar and that is where my main maintenance issue is. Much thanks for the lead on that!

Overall the hose connections on mine look different, and the canister plate where the hoses connect looks different. Mine feels like some kind of odd material.

Thanks again for the info! My main unit is a Prism 2, but the C96 is pretty cool.

Your ARO looks to me as a military grade unit assembled with parts of the Caimano and parts of the Castoro.
Possibly for "special operations".
A very nice unit!
Can you post more photos?
Sanosub is mostly a manufacturer of valves and pressure regulators, so they should be able to help you.

 

[telemonster]

Your ARO looks to me as a military grade unit assembled with parts of the Caimano and parts of the Castoro.
Possibly for "special operations".
A very nice unit!
Can you post more photos?
Sanosub is mostly a manufacturer of valves and pressure regulators, so they should be able to help you.

Sure! Here are some additional photos, and I will take better ones.

3.5" floppy disk for size reference.

Not sure how receptive Sanosub will be to English language correspondence but we will see!

but we will see!

 

[Angelo Farina]

I am very envious. Your ARO is really nice!

 

[telemonster]

I am very envious. Your ARO is really nice!

Thank you! I bought it from eBay from a seller in the USA. I had a search term setup with alert and I think it took 4 or 5 years before it tripped, I just thought the design seemed simplistic. I believe I learned about it from the old rebreatherworld site. If I see any more of them I will let you know.

Randomly, the prior owner of the unit used it to escape the country of Dubai. He had a submarine company in Florida and migrated it over to Dubai based on interest of some royal family person. Then the relationship eventually soured and they tried to screw him over. He wrote a book about it:

A civvie version of the C96 did show up on eBay US from a pawn shop once. It had a yellow cover for the unit. The seller wouldn't negotiate and I think it sold for $2000. I was a bit surprised it sold, plus at that price.

 

[happy-diver]

Man with such provenance you could appear on TV and maybe get Kardashian famous

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