My New Hammerhead CCR!

Beanie

From what I saw and was shown yes

__________________
Beanie
Gallery Admin & Library Assistant.
www.outlawdivers.org.uk
www.beandiving.co.uk
www.beanengineering.co.uk
www.divelife.co.uk

decoweenie

Thanks Mark.

My personal impressions of your new unit is that it incorporates a lot of improved features (from the Meg) that I like:

• Ridges on the can prevent the hose clamps from sliding down, which happens to my Meg no matter how hard I tighten them. If tighten too much, it becomes harder to push the sorb holder into the can as the clamps does pinch the can slightly
• Symmetrical hose placements on the lid
• Engraved instructions on inside of lid
• Better STA to mount BP/wing
• Manifold included
• Nicer tank mounts
• Better lid retainer system (no clips)
• 4th cell ready
• Radial scrubber
• Dual deco-able handsets
• Cleaner inside of lid

But there are some features (IMHO) could be better still:

• Electronic placements on top of lid on inside of breathing hose for better protection against impact
• I prefer permanent connection instead removeable for the HUD
• Cell o-ring separating inhale/exhale gases

But overall, it should give the Meg very strong competition if the HH battery issues are sorted.

Mark Chase

Christ i hope the electronics work

It looks great. Can we have a frontal pic of the unit being worn?

What does it weigh without lime or cylinders?

Is there a final price yet?

ATB

Mark

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Is it supposed to make that noise ?

I took my unit to the dive shop and demanded they bolt on every thing that would fit.

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"Doing It Chasey"Hammerhead Eccr Advanced Diving System

heyydude

Of course the electronics work, Mark - just don't go drilling holes in the wrist units like the last time you owned a HH...


Now, on to the serious part. Here's a shot of yours truly wearing the rig in my shop:

P1010033.JPG.jpg

There are a number of important things about this unit, which we believe make it an attractive choice for CCR Divers:

1) The Head: The Head utilizes a detent-lock with a large spring-loaded delrin ring. There are 6 positive-locking lugs to hold the head in place. This eliminates clips and other items that can tangle or cut wet fingers.

P1010044.jpg

----> In keeping with the philosophy that we pioneered in the original Hammerhead for Inspiration, there is a 4th Cell built-in. You can use this 4th cell port for any 3rd party monitoring device. Again, we feel that it is a good thing to verify your ppO2, and rather than forcing you to trust just us, we give the diver the option to "trust, but verify."

P1010051.jpg

----> We are making a broad attempt to target one of the increasingly common issues with CCR's - Salt Water Corrosion of the internals to the Solenoid. This is not just a civilian problem - as everyone now knows, I have been working on the Mark 16's for years, and it is a problem common to all systems, military and civilian. The Hammerhead CCR has 2 stage filters in the O2 Line to help stop water from getting to the solenoid internals.

P1010052.jpg

Secondly, we have made the Solenoid relatively easy to replace. This is an important first step toward what I consider a future requirement on all CCR systems - a REGULAR replacement of the O2 Solenoid. Those of you who own Optima's can see the genesis of this idea in the Brady connectors linking the Solenoid to the Banana Block. When we designed the Optima Head, this was beginning to be a concern to me, so we incorporated a connector for easy replacement of this vital component.

----> The Banana Block : Again, a part which we pioneered - this allows you to throw away the part which corrodes the quickest - the "loom" as our English buddies call it, or the "O2 Sensor Harness" as it is called in our parts list. In any 100% humidity environment, wires WILL corrode. There is very little you can do to stop it, and any mitigating action you may take only compounds the complexity. The easiest answer is found in the Banana Block. The Female part (strangely called the "Jack") is made of solid Brass, which is Gold plated. This means that it not only resists corrosion, but has enough mass to be cleaned often. The male part (the "Plug"), is much more fragile, with small bent "wings" for compression inside the Jack - as such, it corrodes quicker. The solution, throw it away when it is too corroded.

P1010048.jpg

There has been a fair bit of talk about the Molex connectors used in the R-22's - the beauty of the O2 Sensor Harness idea is that you can make them up to suit whatever style O2 Sensor you happen to be using, even to the point of mixing and matching to each individual sensor (not something we recommend, but you get the idea).

---> mCCR/eCCR/meCCR : Which do you want? The idea behind the Hammerhead CCR was to give the end-user choice. You can use the Auxilliary port for an Orifice, and order the unit with a Secondary/DIVA only, or you can do the same and have the system equipped with the whole shebang (Primary/Secondary/DIVA/Orifice).

AuxPortHH.JPG.jpg

---> Pre-Scrubber Injection : Again, something we started with the Optima, and carried on with the Hammerhead CCR. I know there is a fair bit of discussion about this, whether or not it is necessary, but from tests I've done on the Viper E, it seems to have smoothed out the ppO2 control, so we went ahead and incorporated into the new rig as well.

P1010049.jpg

2) The Scrubber: Radial Scrubber : Spring-loaded compression plate, 7.8 lbs. A big scrubber, for sure. But we also have available a smaller <5 lb. "shortie" scrubber, and we are now working on an ExtendAir Cartridge design, all of which will be available in the coming months.

P1010059.jpg

P1010062.jpg

3) BOV (otherwise known to us old-timers as "OC/CC DSV"). One of the beauties of the Optima was the merging of successful technologies by 3 different companies (Micropore Cartridges, Dive Rite Gear & Design, Hammerhead Electronics) - in the new Hammerhead CCR, rather than try to design our own BOV, we took what works - the Golem model - and incorporated it on EVERY unit as Standard Equipment. Many divers want an integrated BOV on their rigs these days, and one of these (a Tracy Robinette model) saved my life on a deep dive many moons ago, so we decided that we're going to make it a standard feature of the set.

P1010085.jpg

4) Tank Attachment : Again, why invent something that someone else does better? We elected to use MetalSub Tank Attachments as standard equipment on the large canister model (Tiger Mounts are required for the shortie canister). These clip on and off like a dream, allowing you to keep extra tanks at the ready for your next dives. The thinking is thus: Why not make it really stupidly simple for a CCR Diver to just change tanks between dives? That way, each dive is started off with a fresh fill?

P1010050.jpg

5) ADV : An ADV must be tough, must work in any position, and flow as fast as a diver needs. I remember well watching Farb and McKenney diving their 15.5's and riding the Diluent button on the way down. Since I was diving a 16, I couldn't understand what they were doing. Turns out the 15.5 has an IP of around 130, and the 16 I was diving had an IP of 275 or so. Carrying a camera, or other gear and having to ride a Manual Add just to get a full breath is NOT an option in my book, so the new ADV needed to keep up with a divers demand. This one is super, and flows like a champ.

P1010077.jpg

Of course, we also included niceties like in-line shut-off valves for those times when you want to keep the ADV from messing with your buoyancy. Again, Options, Options, Options, all STANDARD on the Hammerhead CCR.

6) Electronics : What can I say? The Hammerhead has become the standard for replacement electronics in nearly every system out there. There are well over 300 Optimas now in service worldwide, on top of hundreds of Hammerhead for Inspiration/KISS/Meg/Mark 15, etc, etc. We are in CONTINUAL development of our system, constantly taking input from our customer base, listening to criticisms (as much as they may hurt), and trying to make our controls better for all.

Our sister company, Juergensen Defense Corporation now builds the total electronic system for the US Navy Mark 16 Mod 2 and Mod 3 (NSW), as well as the NATO Viper E. The core knowledge developed during the creation of these electronics only enhances our continued development of the civilian systems at Juergensen Marine, Inc. Not to mention that the stability we have gained through our association with Carleton and the USN means that our company will be around for a long time.

In the Hammerhead CCR, we use the latest Rev. C+ Electronics, which incorporate many new features (Battery Monitoring/Alarms, Stack Timers, etc), with BOTH Primary and Secondary capable of running Decompression.


Last point of this long post: I have touched upon the collaborative effort point above, but it's importance cannot be over stated. Many other CCR Manufacturers try to utilize only their technology to make a system. While this can be very successful, my personal feeling is that it can cause a condition I refer to as "falling in love with your own ideas." Recognizing that there are better ways of doing things, and working to avoid falling in love with ones own ideas is the hardest part of creation - I know, since my professional training as a Film Director gave me enough experience to see this first-hand.

With that in mind, and after a very successful collaboration with Lamar Hires and Tom McKenna on the Optima, we worked to develop the Hammerhead CCR with Jakub Rehacek and Bretislav Vaisar. Jakub is the owner of Golem Gear, as most people know, and a very experienced diver and inventor. Bretislav is lesser known, but a brilliant engineer and designer, and a extraordinarily capable diver to boot. When these two have an idea for how to make the system better, *I* listen.

As we move along in sales of the Hammerhead CCR, there will be new features, like Back Mounted Counterlungs (shown off at DEMA, and now being perfected), new Rev. D Electronics (which, like ALL of our upgrades in the past, be made available to all users of our system), ExtendAir cartridges (so you can have both options at once, loose-fill or cartridge, with just the change of a can). You can be assured that spare parts will be available from multiple sources - service will be available that is fast, and support will come from many different corners of the technical diving world (Joe Radomski is currently writing the Manual, and is a regular contributor to Hammerhead subjects on this board).

I'm sure there will be quite a few questions after this post - I'll do my best to post answers, but as more Instructors receive their units (the first run is completely sold out, and we are now building the second for end-of-the-year delivery) there will be more folks to field inquiries.

The Web Site is being updated too, and a link will soon be available which discusses these features in depth, as well as Prices, Ordering Info, etc.


Take care, and safe diving to all.

Kevin Juergensen
Juergensen Marine, Inc.

Mark Chase

NOTE: I have never done anything to any Hammer head hand set/head or any other part EVER. Especialy not drilled holes in them. I think your refering to the broken unit i purchased and sent you (undived by me) for repair.

Apart from that, excelent write up Kevin.

Could you tell us how heavy without tanks please and how much?

ATB

Mark

__________________
Is it supposed to make that noise ?

I took my unit to the dive shop and demanded they bolt on every thing that would fit.

Join my elite diving teem and get a Tshirt

"Doing It Chasey"Hammerhead Eccr Advanced Diving System

heyydude

Oh, gee, sorry. You just bought one that had big giant monster-sized holes drilled into it... heh, heh...


Ahem... Again, to your questions:

The unit weighs - without tanks - 32 lbs.

Retail on the unit is $10,500

Availability is 45 days for the next batch of units (the first dozen are already gone).

We're still working out the ordering methodology. Right now, it's best just to send an e-mail to <kevin@rebreather.us> and we'll take down your information and put you on a list for deliveries.

Take care,

Kevin.

Frankie Pellegrino

Kevin... that is one super sweat looking KIT!

The whole time Mark was assembling it …..I was putting finger prints all over it......

Lets just say I got yelled at more then once …..

That’s okay….. I know he loves me any way.

After looking at it…. the only question I have …is…Why does the whole head have the ability to rotate once it’s locked in to the canister? What’s the reason? pros and cons to this design feature?

I like your teams ideas and out look on design and function. I really look forward to seeing it’s performance.

I’m very… very… interested in seeing your back mounted counter lung model . For those who didn’t see one yet ….it reeks of quality!

Rebreather world members

This is one Kit that comes with a lot of options/features that I want in a rebreather. If it’s performance matches it’s quality looks I would seriously consider getting one! Time will tell………?

Best of luck . Kev

Your Kit has my attention!!!

trob09

Kevin, after:
- Buying a meg
- replacing the electronics with HammerHead electronics
- replacing the BOV with a Golem Gear BOV
- adding a manifold for plumbing in gas
- replacing the axial scrubber with a radial scrubber

all I can say is I wish you'd done this years ago!

T

kiwidiver

kevin why is it designed with the cells sealing of unscrubbed and scrubbed gas many of us have criticized this design of the meg?

caveseeker7

Good write-up and pics, Kevin, thanks.

Looks good on you. Now that you finally can discard that ugly black one in your profile pic let me PM you my adress.

Half the reason he got that thing was so you would keep his fingers off him.

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Cheers
Stefan



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