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MOD3 - Text Overview
8/14/01 

     After using my BP60 mixed gas rig for the 2000 season I decided it would be best if I shelved the unit and just used it as an O2 rig.  Although I survived the season using the BP60 I was a little disappointed at its performance and decided I was pushing it just a little to far.  The next logical step was to build my own unit.  So I thought I'd keep myself out of trouble over the winter and build a unit from the ground up and try out a few idea's I had brewing in my head.  It's not pretty but it works, and it's a giant leap from the BP60.

     My new rig has a clear removable axial scrubber, clear center section, split back mounted counter lungs, and is manually flown.  The scrubber canister holds 6 pounds of lime and is made out of Acrylic tubing. The scrubber canister nests inside the center section and an o-ring is used to keep the gas from sneaking up between the center section and the canister.  The center section is also made of clear Acrylic tubing. The counter lungs are made of 3mm neoprene glued together to form a cylinder and the seam and top edge backed with nylon fabric.  The CL is housed in 4" PVC pipe with slots milled in the side to allow water movement.  The CL is attached to the top and bottom end caps with hose clamps which then fit inside the PVC housing.  I used R22D sensors mounted in the top of the center section on the downstream side of the scrubber.  The sensors are connected to a 1 ATA display housing using Sealcon connectors.  O2 and diluent are manually added using modified Sherwood BC inflators.  The O2 is injected into the exhale lung and the diluent is injected into the inhale lung. 

    Post dive I remove the mouthpiece hoses and insert a special muffin fan on the exhale lung to blow dry air through the center section.  I'll usually do this overnight and this helps to get out all the extra humidity that accumulates in the center section and keeps the lime from getting real wet above the reaction area where it tends to condense.  The next day I'll remove the plugs on the bottom of the lungs and after draining the condensation I'll put a second muffin fan on the inhale lung.  This passes dry air through the lungs and keeps nastiness from growing in there.

     I also made up a portable rig that I use on trips.  I found on multi-day trips that the sorb above the reaction area gets real wet over time.  It's awful hard to dry this out by just using it after it's been sitting over night.  So after every day of diving I stick this on for a few hours to pull out a lot of the moisture.

    Although this rig works damn well there are of course changes that need to be made.  I've already been plotting what I'll do over this winter to improve on the design.  Smaller cross sectional area, better placement of the sensors, better gas injection method, add an O2 bleed orifice, smaller tanks, left hand valve on diluent tank ............

        I hope you enjoy taking a look at my death trap :-)

Mark 


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