Rebreather World - View Single Post - Optima/Hammerhead Primary Handset Failure During Dive?

***jradomski*** · 18th March 2008, 01:41

Quote: (Originally Posted by SCUBAbear)

Please don't take this as jumping to conclusions, but is this possibly what may have lead to Mike's problem on Saturday near Pompano?

Having worked in broadcast electronics over the years, I have truly come to not trust molex style connectors. After many missed top of the hour news casts on a radio network, All molex connectors in the cart playback machines were eliminated. Misfired newscasts went to near zero after that modification.

I had 3 failures with my oxy 2 last year and every time it was due to the 3 pin molex connector that connects the 2 o2 sensors to the circuit board. After the 3rd failure, the female molex connector got cut off and the leads soldered directly to the pins on the O2 sensors. Haven't had a problem of that nature since. It is scary to think what all in the world relies on this style of interconnection.

Electronic connections in the type of gear we are using is further troubled by the moist / salty environment we use it in.

doub it highly.. a loose connector would drop that cell to most likely a 0 and it would get voted out.. the 2 other cells would then take over.. if there were multiple troubles, you would get extra o2 injection not less.. and at the early stage of a dive it wouldn't be an issue..

If you keep the connectors clean and use gold plated ones (as does the hh), they last along time.. On top of that the harness used on most of the RBs with the HH installed are very easy to change.. Over the years I have had lots of dives using molex connectors and can only recall a few instances with problems and all of these were on the surface not diving..

I think alot of the variation on how successfull the connection is or isnt depends on what stresses and movements the connectors are exposed to..

Until a report is made public I wount speculate.

18th March 2008, 01:41	#19 (permalink)
*jradomski* Moderator Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Sport Kiss Optima rEvo Other CCR Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Evolution Megalodon Classic Kiss rEvo Other CCR Home Build Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: "Da" Bronx Posts: 3,004	Re: Optima/Hammerhead Primary Handset Failure During Dive? Quote: (Originally Posted by SCUBAbear) Please don't take this as jumping to conclusions, but is this possibly what may have lead to Mike's problem on Saturday near Pompano? Having worked in broadcast electronics over the years, I have truly come to not trust molex style connectors. After many missed top of the hour news casts on a radio network, All molex connectors in the cart playback machines were eliminated. Misfired newscasts went to near zero after that modification. I had 3 failures with my oxy 2 last year and every time it was due to the 3 pin molex connector that connects the 2 o2 sensors to the circuit board. After the 3rd failure, the female molex connector got cut off and the leads soldered directly to the pins on the O2 sensors. Haven't had a problem of that nature since. It is scary to think what all in the world relies on this style of interconnection. Electronic connections in the type of gear we are using is further troubled by the moist / salty environment we use it in. doub it highly.. a loose connector would drop that cell to most likely a 0 and it would get voted out.. the 2 other cells would then take over.. if there were multiple troubles, you would get extra o2 injection not less.. and at the early stage of a dive it wouldn't be an issue.. If you keep the connectors clean and use gold plated ones (as does the hh), they last along time.. On top of that the harness used on most of the RBs with the HH installed are very easy to change.. Over the years I have had lots of dives using molex connectors and can only recall a few instances with problems and all of these were on the surface not diving.. I think alot of the variation on how successfull the connection is or isnt depends on what stresses and movements the connectors are exposed to.. Until a report is made public I wount speculate. __________________ Joe Radomski CCR Trimix Instructor Trainer ANDI Instructor Trainer Director #10 All posts are personal opinions and DO NOT reflect any affiliated agency unless specifically stated.
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