My thoughts on the rEvoII

***Decodiver*** · 17th December 2006, 12:54

Last Thursday, I drove from Strasbourg over to Bruges to visit Paul Raymaekers and take a closer look at his rEvo II.

The rEvo II is a constant mass oxygen flow manual closed circuit rebreather.

Paul explained his journey through the world of CCR and how he had decided to make his own rebreather starting with the rEvo.

This has been a popular MCCR in France, with some 30 or so units in the field.

Paul showed me around his factory and I was able to see the multiple components for the 100 units he plans to build next year.

Paul did a strip down of the rEvo II for me and I was impressed by its simplicity.

There are only four points of entry to the loop, the P-Port connections for the breathing hoses, and the two scrubber pods.

The unit has dual bag rear-mounted counterlungs and when gas is exhaled it goes into the exhale lung through the first scrubber, along channels in the scrubber cover, through the second scrubber and then into the inhale lung.

Loop direction is counterclockwise, like the Meg and the MK15 series.

The exhale lung also sites the ADV, a simple lever design like a second stage and the orifice, set for a flow rate of 0.80l/min (though adjustable to cover the range of 0.62 to 0.88l/min). Also here we find the manual oxygen and diluent addition piping that is activated by cleverly thought-out and placed buttons on the bottom of the case. Diluent is added with the left hand and oxygen with the right, the buttons have a very strong spring and like a trigger they have play so simple touching does not activate, you have to take up the slack first (a bit like gliding for anyone who knows the principle!).

The inhale lung contains up to four oxygen cells that may be connected in pairs or singularly to two independent rEvodream PPO2 monitors that are fixed to the diluent and oxygen pressure gauges and also have independent HUDS. There is also adequate room for a moisture sponge. The cells are cleverly positioned so that even after extensive gas flushing the cells remain dry (more later).

All of this is contained in a configuration that with backplate wing, rear mounted counterlungs, scrubbers and cylinders increases your profile by no more than 15 centimetres!!

Weight fully loaded, 28 Kgs with steel tanks and 17.5Kgs without.

There is also a titanium shell version which when married up with some exciting carbon fibre 3 litre cylinders I saw, that will weigh considerably less.

Paul also showed me the mini-rEvo which will take 2 litre cylinders.

By now I was extremely eager to give this unit a spin and see if it’s WOB and swim positioning would live up to my high expectations.

We went to Paul’s local swimming pool after setup and calibration I jumped in and swam to the bottom of the 5 metre Olympic swimming pool which would be my home for the next hour or so.

Firstly, I hate swimming pools, the chlorine, the plasters on the bottom, the lighting, I just hate it. However, I didn’t even notice the environment as I started to put the rEvo through its paces.

She swims like no other rebreather I have dived, her compactness when swimming horizontally is perfect, I am looking forward to scooting along with this beauty and my UV-26 for sure.

WOB is very good when horizontal and changeable but manageable when you move away from this position. The hydrostatic work of breathing IMHO is very good, of course if you spend the whole time on your back you may find it difficult!

One important test for me was how the unit breathed in the vertical plain. The rEvo uses a Draeger Ray hoses assembly and a modified Ray mouthpiece. The hoses are agreeably short and the unit is fitted with a gag retainer for the mouthpiece, nice!

My reasoning for this is that I sometimes ascend up a shot line and it is important that I can breath comfortably while doing so. There was no problem the unit breathed well in this position.

There were 3 other rEvo divers in the pool and I was also able to see how the unit profiled on them and again I was impressed.

One of the guys was using a 2 cell rEvodream configuration and a plumbed in VR3 and the others were dual rEvodreams like myself.

The unit was very easy to use to maintain my selected PPO2 using the voting logic in my skull, the rEvodreams gave me all the cell values and worked flawlessly.

Diluent flushing on the unit brought the PPO2 down remarkably quickly, and like the Ouroboros, the small bore plumbing on this unit means that manual control of the O2 given an orifice failure would be easily achievable.

Everything is compact and reachable by hand, you can even get your hand to touch the OPV which is situated at the base of the unit on the inhale lung.

Just a point here, this is a unit that demands the correct use of a minimum loop volume policy, due to the siting of the OPV if you are not diving the unit in this fashion, manually added gas will just blow out of the OPV.

However rest assured that this unit is easy to feel when lungs are overfull.

I also tested the ADV a number of times and was more than pleased with its use and flow properties.

HUDs were very easy to read and well positioned.

Post-dive verification of the cells showed they were bone-dry, this is no mean feat given the amount of gas I was flushing through the unit whilst going through my drills.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera!! Doofus!

Paul Raymaekers will be presenting this unit at the Dive Shows in Paris, Germany and at LIDS where he will share a stand with Greenforce.

I cannot recommend highly enough that you should pay him a visit.

Finally many thanks to Paul and Johann for your welcome, explanation and guidance during my try-dive.

As soon as Paul accepts orders I am hoping to be high on the list.

This is a unit to watch, I am very impressed.

Cheers,

Dave Cooper.

***Decodiver*** · 17th December 2006, 12:54

Louby Lou can you please put this into the library as an atricle and then just have this thread for comment.

ta,

Dave.

Nad · 17th December 2006, 13:30

Actually, I read the manual and it look interesting, thans for sharing your impressions. I look forward to have the possibility to drive up there and have a try.

Best,
Nad

paulraymaekers · 17th December 2006, 18:07

hello Dave, thanks for the nice 'wright-up'!

orders will be taken from the start of 2007, for europe, by our Swiss reseller Horus trading, for the rest of the world, by the rEvo company

first instructors that do a cross-over will be supplied (march 2007), after that endusers (june 2007) (if we have extra, enduses can be supplied earlier if they find an instructor ready: at the moment there are 3 in europe, but w're working to increase that!

actually a batch of 100 units is in production, for delivery starting march 2007, at a rate of +/- 15/month

for europ/switserland:

intruder@worldcom.ch

and info at

Untitled Document

for the rest of the world:

info@rEvo-rebreathers.com

soon the rEvo website will be active with all the info you can download:
www.rEvo-rebreathers.com

regards
paul

CharlieT · 21st December 2006, 16:52

Dave

Thanks for the interesting article.

Would you recommend the HUD from the evodream as an additional O2 monitor for my Vision?

Charlie

Dutchy · 21st December 2006, 17:07

Interesting question Charlie. In general it makes sense to use different sensors, actuator, processors, OS's (if any) and languages as well as designers and testers. The strategy is applied in many aerospace systems. A failure in Space Shuttles computer no1 is not likely to occur in the other 3. The worst case ever that occurred was a 2-2 vote after which No5 had to decide. (Never choose an even total number

) From an engineering viewpoint it's a big yes. Whether it is practical to drag another supplier into the game or whether it is worth the money is anoter thing. But in this case it is all about your life so.....

Mdemon · 24th December 2006, 10:20

Inspo/Vision + rEvoDream is what a couple of us use here. Dive on the HUD and know that you have two other systems working in the background keeping you alive.

Nice report Dave. I'd love to play with one of these things.

paulraymaekers · 24th December 2006, 11:14

Quote: (Originally Posted by Nad)

Actually, I read the manual and it look interesting, thans for sharing your impressions. I look forward to have the possibility to drive up there and have a try.

Best,
Nad

Hello Nad, you'll be able to see the rEvo II from 2-4 feb 2007 in Geneva, salon à Palexpo :-)

regards
paul

ps

also:

salon de la plongé Paris 12-15 jan 2007
BOOT Dusseldorf 20-28 jan 2007
Geneva 2-4 feb 2007
LIDS London 10-11 march 2007
Oztek Sydney 17-18 march 2007
Ekeren (Belgium :-) 14-15 april 2007
...
some more :-)
...

DEMA (Florida) 1-2-3.. nov 2007...

lots of opportunities :-)

bubnotbub · 24th December 2006, 11:40

HI Paul,
you forgot the EUDI Show in Rome 9/12 March 2007

Regards

Aldo

paulraymaekers · 24th December 2006, 13:31

Quote: (Originally Posted by bubnotbub)

HI Paul,
you forgot the EUDI Show in Rome 9/12 March 2007

Regards

Aldo

hi aldo, IF I have enough demo-units out at that time...

all cross-over instructors want their units ASAP, and even sooner :-(

regards
paul

17th December 2006, 12:54	#1 (permalink)
*Decodiver* Administrator Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Geneva Posts: 2,200	My thoughts on the rEvoII Last Thursday, I drove from Strasbourg over to Bruges to visit Paul Raymaekers and take a closer look at his rEvo II. The rEvo II is a constant mass oxygen flow manual closed circuit rebreather. Paul explained his journey through the world of CCR and how he had decided to make his own rebreather starting with the rEvo. This has been a popular MCCR in France, with some 30 or so units in the field. Paul showed me around his factory and I was able to see the multiple components for the 100 units he plans to build next year. Paul did a strip down of the rEvo II for me and I was impressed by its simplicity. There are only four points of entry to the loop, the P-Port connections for the breathing hoses, and the two scrubber pods. The unit has dual bag rear-mounted counterlungs and when gas is exhaled it goes into the exhale lung through the first scrubber, along channels in the scrubber cover, through the second scrubber and then into the inhale lung. Loop direction is counterclockwise, like the Meg and the MK15 series. The exhale lung also sites the ADV, a simple lever design like a second stage and the orifice, set for a flow rate of 0.80l/min (though adjustable to cover the range of 0.62 to 0.88l/min). Also here we find the manual oxygen and diluent addition piping that is activated by cleverly thought-out and placed buttons on the bottom of the case. Diluent is added with the left hand and oxygen with the right, the buttons have a very strong spring and like a trigger they have play so simple touching does not activate, you have to take up the slack first (a bit like gliding for anyone who knows the principle!). The inhale lung contains up to four oxygen cells that may be connected in pairs or singularly to two independent rEvodream PPO2 monitors that are fixed to the diluent and oxygen pressure gauges and also have independent HUDS. There is also adequate room for a moisture sponge. The cells are cleverly positioned so that even after extensive gas flushing the cells remain dry (more later). All of this is contained in a configuration that with backplate wing, rear mounted counterlungs, scrubbers and cylinders increases your profile by no more than 15 centimetres!! Weight fully loaded, 28 Kgs with steel tanks and 17.5Kgs without. There is also a titanium shell version which when married up with some exciting carbon fibre 3 litre cylinders I saw, that will weigh considerably less. Paul also showed me the mini-rEvo which will take 2 litre cylinders. By now I was extremely eager to give this unit a spin and see if it’s WOB and swim positioning would live up to my high expectations. We went to Paul’s local swimming pool after setup and calibration I jumped in and swam to the bottom of the 5 metre Olympic swimming pool which would be my home for the next hour or so. Firstly, I hate swimming pools, the chlorine, the plasters on the bottom, the lighting, I just hate it. However, I didn’t even notice the environment as I started to put the rEvo through its paces. She swims like no other rebreather I have dived, her compactness when swimming horizontally is perfect, I am looking forward to scooting along with this beauty and my UV-26 for sure. WOB is very good when horizontal and changeable but manageable when you move away from this position. The hydrostatic work of breathing IMHO is very good, of course if you spend the whole time on your back you may find it difficult! One important test for me was how the unit breathed in the vertical plain. The rEvo uses a Draeger Ray hoses assembly and a modified Ray mouthpiece. The hoses are agreeably short and the unit is fitted with a gag retainer for the mouthpiece, nice! My reasoning for this is that I sometimes ascend up a shot line and it is important that I can breath comfortably while doing so. There was no problem the unit breathed well in this position. There were 3 other rEvo divers in the pool and I was also able to see how the unit profiled on them and again I was impressed. One of the guys was using a 2 cell rEvodream configuration and a plumbed in VR3 and the others were dual rEvodreams like myself. The unit was very easy to use to maintain my selected PPO2 using the voting logic in my skull, the rEvodreams gave me all the cell values and worked flawlessly. Diluent flushing on the unit brought the PPO2 down remarkably quickly, and like the Ouroboros, the small bore plumbing on this unit means that manual control of the O2 given an orifice failure would be easily achievable. Everything is compact and reachable by hand, you can even get your hand to touch the OPV which is situated at the base of the unit on the inhale lung. Just a point here, this is a unit that demands the correct use of a minimum loop volume policy, due to the siting of the OPV if you are not diving the unit in this fashion, manually added gas will just blow out of the OPV. However rest assured that this unit is easy to feel when lungs are overfull. I also tested the ADV a number of times and was more than pleased with its use and flow properties. HUDs were very easy to read and well positioned. Post-dive verification of the cells showed they were bone-dry, this is no mean feat given the amount of gas I was flushing through the unit whilst going through my drills. Unfortunately I forgot my camera!! Doofus! Paul Raymaekers will be presenting this unit at the Dive Shows in Paris, Germany and at LIDS where he will share a stand with Greenforce. I cannot recommend highly enough that you should pay him a visit. Finally many thanks to Paul and Johann for your welcome, explanation and guidance during my try-dive. As soon as Paul accepts orders I am hoping to be high on the list. This is a unit to watch, I am very impressed. Cheers, Dave Cooper. __________________ CCR/OC Trimix Instructor Trainer CCR Training to Mixed Gas in Switzerland, France, UK & Germany on Megalodon/COPIS-Megalodon/KISS/Sport KISS/Ouroboros/rEvo/Inspiration/Evolution/Sentinel www.zerogravitydiving.com Rebreather World Terms & Conditions Last edited by Decodiver : 17th December 2006 at 13:02.
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17th December 2006, 12:54	#2 (permalink)
*Decodiver* Administrator Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Geneva Posts: 2,200	Re: My thoughts on the rEvoII Louby Lou can you please put this into the library as an atricle and then just have this thread for comment. ta, Dave. __________________ CCR/OC Trimix Instructor Trainer CCR Training to Mixed Gas in Switzerland, France, UK & Germany on Megalodon/COPIS-Megalodon/KISS/Sport KISS/Ouroboros/rEvo/Inspiration/Evolution/Sentinel www.zerogravitydiving.com Rebreather World Terms & Conditions
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17th December 2006, 13:30	#3 (permalink)
Nad Rebel to the Bone Current Rebreather/s: Ouroboros Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Inspiration Classic Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Europe Posts: 1,041	Re: My thoughts on the rEvoII Actually, I read the manual and it look interesting, thans for sharing your impressions. I look forward to have the possibility to drive up there and have a try. Best, Nad __________________ The Impossible is often the Untried
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17th December 2006, 18:07	#4 (permalink)
paulraymaekers rEvo's daddy Current Rebreather/s: rEvo Other CCR Home Build Other Rebreather/s: rEvo Other CCR Home Build Join Date: May 2005 Location: belgium Posts: 1,699	Re: My thoughts on the rEvoII hello Dave, thanks for the nice 'wright-up'! orders will be taken from the start of 2007, for europe, by our Swiss reseller Horus trading, for the rest of the world, by the rEvo company first instructors that do a cross-over will be supplied (march 2007), after that endusers (june 2007) (if we have extra, enduses can be supplied earlier if they find an instructor ready: at the moment there are 3 in europe, but w're working to increase that! actually a batch of 100 units is in production, for delivery starting march 2007, at a rate of +/- 15/month for europ/switserland: intruder@worldcom.ch and info at Untitled Document for the rest of the world: info@rEvo-rebreathers.com soon the rEvo website will be active with all the info you can download: www.rEvo-rebreathers.com regards paul __________________ www.rEvo-rebreathers.com .... the earth is flat, Elvis is alive, and radial scrubbers give longer dwell time than axials...
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21st December 2006, 16:52	#5 (permalink)
CharlieT RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: London Posts: 450	Re: My thoughts on the rEvoII Dave Thanks for the interesting article. Would you recommend the HUD from the evodream as an additional O2 monitor for my Vision? Charlie
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21st December 2006, 17:07	#6 (permalink)
Dutchy Rene Warries Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Nieuwegein (The Netherlands) Posts: 891	Re: My thoughts on the rEvoII Interesting question Charlie. In general it makes sense to use different sensors, actuator, processors, OS's (if any) and languages as well as designers and testers. The strategy is applied in many aerospace systems. A failure in Space Shuttles computer no1 is not likely to occur in the other 3. The worst case ever that occurred was a 2-2 vote after which No5 had to decide. (Never choose an even total number ) From an engineering viewpoint it's a big yes. Whether it is practical to drag another supplier into the game or whether it is worth the money is anoter thing. But in this case it is all about your life so..... __________________ = This post is environmentally friendly. It is composed of 100% recycled electrons only. =
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24th December 2006, 10:20	#7 (permalink)
Mdemon SiegeEngine II Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Home Build Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: SWUK Posts: 1,946	Re: My thoughts on the rEvoII Inspo/Vision + rEvoDream is what a couple of us use here. Dive on the HUD and know that you have two other systems working in the background keeping you alive. Nice report Dave. I'd love to play with one of these things. __________________ www.southwestmafia.com "small minds talk about people, Average Minds Talk About Events, GREAT MINDS TALK ABOUT IDEAS!" The WRONG Attitude will get you killed. "Once the agenda-monkeys and perfect-worlders have moved on, perhaps we can do some diving?"
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24th December 2006, 11:14	#8 (permalink)
paulraymaekers rEvo's daddy Current Rebreather/s: rEvo Other CCR Home Build Other Rebreather/s: rEvo Other CCR Home Build Join Date: May 2005 Location: belgium Posts: 1,699	Re: My thoughts on the rEvoII Quote: (Originally Posted by Nad) Actually, I read the manual and it look interesting, thans for sharing your impressions. I look forward to have the possibility to drive up there and have a try. Best, Nad Hello Nad, you'll be able to see the rEvo II from 2-4 feb 2007 in Geneva, salon à Palexpo :-) regards paul ps also: salon de la plongé Paris 12-15 jan 2007 BOOT Dusseldorf 20-28 jan 2007 Geneva 2-4 feb 2007 LIDS London 10-11 march 2007 Oztek Sydney 17-18 march 2007 Ekeren (Belgium :-) 14-15 april 2007 ... some more :-) ... DEMA (Florida) 1-2-3.. nov 2007... lots of opportunities :-) __________________ www.rEvo-rebreathers.com .... the earth is flat, Elvis is alive, and radial scrubbers give longer dwell time than axials...
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24th December 2006, 11:40	#9 (permalink)
bubnotbub Silent diver Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Evolution Megalodon Ouroboros rEvo Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Sport Kiss rEvo Other CCR Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: France Italy Posts: 395	Re: My thoughts on the rEvoII HI Paul, you forgot the EUDI Show in Rome 9/12 March 2007 Regards Aldo __________________ Aldo Ferrucci *Trimix and Rebreather IT* *Expedition Leader* *www.bubnotbub.com* I like bubbles only in my glass of Champagne
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24th December 2006, 13:31	#10 (permalink)
paulraymaekers rEvo's daddy Current Rebreather/s: rEvo Other CCR Home Build Other Rebreather/s: rEvo Other CCR Home Build Join Date: May 2005 Location: belgium Posts: 1,699	Re: My thoughts on the rEvoII Quote: (Originally Posted by bubnotbub) HI Paul, you forgot the EUDI Show in Rome 9/12 March 2007 Regards Aldo hi aldo, IF I have enough demo-units out at that time... all cross-over instructors want their units ASAP, and even sooner :-( regards paul __________________ www.rEvo-rebreathers.com .... the earth is flat, Elvis is alive, and radial scrubbers give longer dwell time than axials...
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