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camerone · 18th April 2008, 07:53

Quote: (Originally Posted by 4ster)

This is a special flat base bracket that mates well to the relatively flat sides of the Dolphin shell.

Others work well, too - Reef Scuba makes the "Pony Tamer" which works great, if you drill the female side of it with a countersink bit and then bolt it to the Drager shell. I used this for an argon bottle for a while, and had much success.

Also, the _really_ cheap metal snap-mounts work really well, too. That place costs too much - they should be around $35 - $40 if you look hard enough. Again, they're not really curved enough to matter, and you just drill through the Dolphin case with a couple of SS screws; use a nyloc on the inside to hold things secure. There's more than enough clearance between the two halves to clear a screw head just fine if you look carefully when you drill for proper placement. I found one at a flea market for around $15 and used it for two years on my Dolphin to hold a 19cf on the other side from the argon bottle.

The shell is actually set up for just a pair of straps (sort of pseudo-cam-bands) through the slots in the side, by the way. The very early Atlantis units didn't come with a bag...they had straps, instead, with a cheesy rubber pad that was supposed to tension a little, and the usual fastex buckles.

In ANY case, the shell on the Drager is too weak to really support any of the above, inclusive of the stock "straps", without some reinforcement...unless you happen to really enjoy solvent welding the cracks back together again. The previous suggestion of large fender washers is a very good idea, or, you can do what I did: I machined (er, laser cut) a piece of 1/4" plastic with two holes in it for the screws to go through, and when I bolted things to the shell, I backed it on the inside with the extra inch thick piece of plastic. Appropriate sheet metal would also work and be thinner. Turns out there's just a bit over 1/2" spare, side to side, inside the shell, so it's not a problem to fit the scrubber in.

You can, for a while, get away without backing the hard mounts, but sooner or later, you _will_ be out there with solvent weld. I don't think I would risk clamping down cam-bands without some sort of reinforcement, as the pressure would probably crack the plastic immediately.

Obviously, depending on your mechanical skill level and desire, there are lots of other cooler designs; lately, I've been pondering some myself, too. I'm thinking of an mCCR conversion, as it seems a shame to leave it sitting in the garage gathering dust (which it's been doing for the last three years).

18th April 2008, 07:53	#3 (permalink)
camerone New Member Current Rebreather/s: Evolution Dolphin Other Rebreather/s: Dolphin Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 77	Re: Mounting Bailout Bottle to Draeger Shell Quote: (Originally Posted by 4ster) This is a special flat base bracket that mates well to the relatively flat sides of the Dolphin shell. Others work well, too - Reef Scuba makes the "Pony Tamer" which works great, if you drill the female side of it with a countersink bit and then bolt it to the Drager shell. I used this for an argon bottle for a while, and had much success. Also, the _really_ cheap metal snap-mounts work really well, too. That place costs too much - they should be around $35 - $40 if you look hard enough. Again, they're not really curved enough to matter, and you just drill through the Dolphin case with a couple of SS screws; use a nyloc on the inside to hold things secure. There's more than enough clearance between the two halves to clear a screw head just fine if you look carefully when you drill for proper placement. I found one at a flea market for around $15 and used it for two years on my Dolphin to hold a 19cf on the other side from the argon bottle. The shell is actually set up for just a pair of straps (sort of pseudo-cam-bands) through the slots in the side, by the way. The very early Atlantis units didn't come with a bag...they had straps, instead, with a cheesy rubber pad that was supposed to tension a little, and the usual fastex buckles. In ANY case, the shell on the Drager is too weak to really support any of the above, inclusive of the stock "straps", without some reinforcement...unless you happen to really enjoy solvent welding the cracks back together again. The previous suggestion of large fender washers is a very good idea, or, you can do what I did: I machined (er, laser cut) a piece of 1/4" plastic with two holes in it for the screws to go through, and when I bolted things to the shell, I backed it on the inside with the extra inch thick piece of plastic. Appropriate sheet metal would also work and be thinner. Turns out there's just a bit over 1/2" spare, side to side, inside the shell, so it's not a problem to fit the scrubber in. You can, for a while, get away without backing the hard mounts, but sooner or later, you _will_ be out there with solvent weld. I don't think I would risk clamping down cam-bands without some sort of reinforcement, as the pressure would probably crack the plastic immediately. Obviously, depending on your mechanical skill level and desire, there are lots of other cooler designs; lately, I've been pondering some myself, too. I'm thinking of an mCCR conversion, as it seems a shame to leave it sitting in the garage gathering dust (which it's been doing for the last three years). Last edited by camerone : 18th April 2008 at 07:57.
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