Reducing the bubble noise of open circuit ?

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Javik

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Location
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50 - 99
I notice after a while that the noise of the bubbles sort of becomes annoying. There is a low frequency rumble that I can't tell where it is coming from, though I assume it is the fast-flowing bubbles streaming up from the regulator exhaust ports, past my ears on their way to the surface.

Aside from getting a rebreather, is there any way to deal with this, to get the bubble stream away from my ears?

The most obvious is to have longer exhaust ports on the regulator that stick far out to the sides like handlebars on a bicycle, away from my face, or have some sort of fine mesh "bubble diffuser" exhaust to break up the large bubbles.

Has anyone tried silencing open-circuit to reduce the bubble noise?
 
Poseidon has side exhausts.
Apeks has both "long" and "short" exhausts.
There's also double hose regs that exhaust bubbles behind you (I think).

I'd say that's about it.
 
I don't mind it so much in open water diving, but after a period of wearing a helmet while cave diving, mainly as a place to mount my back up lights in my sidemount rig, I ditched it and put the lights someplace else. The constant noise was driving me crazy. (And yes, rebreathers are gloriously quiet. You can drift right into schools of fish who pay you no mind at all.)
 
moving/lengthening the exhaust will increase exhalation effort....

Double Hose is the least costly way to get the bubbles away from your ears. Fish are significantly less startled, but it's not even close to a rebreather (nor is the cost).

YMMV
 
double hose as mentioned puts the bubbles behind you. The Kraken is brilliant, not terribly expensive, available in yoke and din configurations and now has a DSV option which makes usability a bit nicer.

Apeks long exhaust t's help, but aren't nearly as nice as the side exhausts imho. I have no problem with my Jetstreams and my cave helmet and the bubbles are away from my ears so long as my head isn't turned into the exhaust stream.

If you want to minimize and stay on OC, double hose is the best answer, and if you want to maintain "normal" single hose type regulators, then the Poseidon Jetstream is probably the best since it is wider than the Xstream
 
The military used mufflers aka diffusers. It is mostly to reduce bubble size so they won't be easy to see on the surface. I saw a picture of one and it looked like a small engine muffler with a lot of small holes drilled in it. A muffler for a lawnmower or a valve cover breather cap for a car engine may work but you would have to modify the exhaust port on the second stage. I'm sure it would increase WOB regardless of how it is made though.
 
There is only one answer without going to CCR:

photo6_zps594942e1.jpg


There will be no bubbles exploding around your ears and no bubbles shooting out of your face frightening shy creatures. Do not be confused with this being some sort of vintage program:

IMG_2303_zpsruk1om1j.jpg


N
 
Doc's Proplugs - vented. Cheap, helps, worth a try.

I've tried using 2nds with longer exhaust ports and did not find that it helped the noise. Bubble dispersion in the face was a bit better is about all.
 
Last edited:
+1 for the Kraken. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than CCR and it's made in the USA by VDH.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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