| Re: Drager Questions
Erik,
I had a similar problem with my Drager. Like you I bought it new in 2005. My buddy had one so I would always compare his gas usage to mine. He would always get around 30% better gas efficiency than me. My unit was like this from my first dive.
I thought I was clearing my mask to much, then I thought I was wearing the Drager to tight, then I thought it might be the bypass next I looked into the OPV. It was none of these. It was driving me crazy.
On my last dive last year I was doing the flow meter test. As always it checked out perfectly. For the hell of it I left the flow meter in the mass flow controller with the gas still on and walked away. Ten minutes later I checked the meter and that little ball was pegged against the top of the tube. I repeated the test and the same thing happened.
Over the winter I brought in to get repaired. The shop said the high pressure seat was shot. The repair cost $300 (Drager parts are expensive). I took the unit home, did the flow meter test a couple times and it seems to be fine. I haven't dove with it yet but when I do I'll let you know how it went.
I am convinced I bought a defective Drager. I only had about 60 dives on it and it never got good gas efficiency. My buddy has at least 300 dives on his unit and never had to replace the high pressure seat.
Good luck finding the problem.
Bryan |