Baby Booster...Your Thoughts

Beanie

mine's 3 yrs old I think Outlaw Divers, Baby Booster

mine does need a new HP seal though but that may because I put it in the wrong way round at one point

apart from that its run fine for years I've been very happy with it, despite the abuse I've given it

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louisrankin

I have had my baby booster now for two years and it has worked faultlessly, I boost O2 and helium with it came fitted with the filter.

Louis

teksimple

The baby booster I have had since 2005 is a fantastic piece of kit. The #20 O-ring on the head goes out on occasion because I have "supercharged" it with a much larger CEJN drive gas fitting that really speeds up boosting, but taking it apart in just minutes is a breeze.

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sunnyboy

I've had mine (Jetsam) for a couple of months now, and I love it. I was driving it from a scuba cylinder as per their design, but now that 150psi oil-less compressors are readily available on the market, I am now boosting with that. Much easier to get 3000 psi if you want, and it doesn't seem to overburden the compressor. Time will tell, but so far I'm quite pleased.

-S

Lancer4545

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the input. It would appear almost everyone who has one is happy with it.

And that's good enough for me.

Now off to see who will do the best deal and I'll go and order one.

Thanks Again.

Lance

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onetime

Well, just to throw in my .02 for the heck of it....

I've had a Jetsam baby booster for about 3 years as well. I added the filter based on advice from Techblue before ever putting gas through it and haven't had a single issue with it.

I had a minor issue of it not boosting to 3k psi any longer, could only get to about 2800 , but realized it was my own stupidity as I had grabbed the wrong first stage for the drive gas that had a really low Intermediate Pressure.

camerone

Just to throw my two cents in: I'm also a very happy user of the Baby Booster. I have a very early unit - serial 101, that I bought used, and it lacked the input filter. I added a five micron unit from the local Swagelok dealer here in Seattle ($60-ish), and it's been pumping fine ever since. Never had to do a lick of maintenance on the unit itself, including the reed valve or piston seal -- although the whips did have a nasty leak that wouldn't hold helium.

I just got back from a week on the Nautilus Explorer with Alan Studley of Jetsam, and he was pointing out all the differences between the new ones and the old school units, all of which center around manufacturing techniques designed to drive quality into the unit and remove tolerance errors that can lead to repairs. Apparently, they've done wonders for smoothing out the HP piston bore and aligning it even tighter/straighter, to the point where they're not expecting rebuilds on them for many years, even with daily dive-shop style use.

For me, it's a great piece of kit; I can get gas fills at the dive shop once every few months, at best, and I'm always ready to go at home with full fills. For the remote diving we do out on the WA coast, it's a godsend for logistics.

I consider the booster to be an essential piece of any Rebreather owner's gear collection...

Philippe GERIN

I will not take the liberty to talk for Alan or Kim on the net, but I know for a fact that what you're saying does not apply only to the booster but also to the rest of the product line: CK, SK and particularly displays for these units as well. Improving manufacturing quality for a consistant quality of the products. Another good point for Jetsam in my mind.
Best
Philippe

chunter

Unless you are certain that you will travel with it (and traveling with a booster isn't that easy as there are whipps, etc. attached), I'd buy a full sized Haskel AG-30. It may cost a bit more, and it is bigger, but it makes up for it in reliability and ease of service. I have known quite a few people on Oahu alone who have had to send back Jetsam and HI boosters.

Good luck,
Charlie

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Drmike

I wanted a properly isolated (safe) gas booster designed and suplied by people who are professional gas booster designers. I got a HI and am happy with it. Would have preffered a Haskel but too heavy.

Never tried a baby booster - but when I looked at the design and materials selection I wasnt overly confident as to degree of safety.

Had mine pumping up AL80s of O2 until it was too hot to touch.....

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