"71" Disaster! Help Needed!

Mossyback

Hi Folks,

I was going to post pictures of my "71" with my Kiss valve (Dave Sutton type), and my new diluent tank that I managed to stuff inside.
Before doing so I just had to "test" it in the pool without my O2 sensor unit which I'm currently working on.

The dive went well (wife on surface making sure I continued to move) and everything seemed to function properly. We found one small leak on the LP O2 feed to the CL but other than that - perfect! It was late when I finished so I put the unit back in my shop.

This afternoon I decided to tear it down and fix the O2 leak and discovered that the middle scrubber was full of water! I've got the CL out and have put it through some water rinses as the sorb is extremely caustic. What else should I do? I've emptied the scrubber. Should I rinse fresh water through it and then let it dry?

Since I was breathing steadily during the test and heard no gurgles, has anyone any suggestions about where the leak could have been. The fact that it was only one scrubber makes me think that one of the gaskets going into the CL failed.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Hank

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"Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are."

jaap

Yes rinse and dry. One likely leaking point would be the filling port of that scrubber. Is not that hard to trap a grain of some dust when closing it.

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My initials: JAAP

Dave Sutton

Agreed.

Just wash and dry and re-try.

Dave

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"Silent Diving with No Bubbles and No Politics".... www.nobubblediving.com

Mossyback

Thanks Guys,

I guess I just panicked. After all the work of getting to this point I was afraid that I'd ruin something that I couldn't replace. I'll get it all rinsed out and dried and then start again.

Hank

__________________
"Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are."

carcharodon1957

Hello,
As they said,
rince and dry it,

if you've got some sofmoline fixed against scrubber inside you can add 10% of wigite wine vinegar to solve it!
After that rebuilt your ida without sorb, plug tanks and everything on, and make a over pressure test, spray some soap added to water on it to chek any bubbles!
And replace or repare your link
best regards
Bernard

jmhardingjr

Hank,

Just for future reference. The simplicity of the IDA lungs lend themselves to copying pretty easily. A reasonable faximile could be made, with slight differences to accomodate a different material, for a fair price.

That said, I know how you feel about messing something up. I like them stock as well. I agonized over cutting the hole in my IDA-59 lung for the p-port.


Cheers,

Jay

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". . . the sea's in my veins, my tradition remains, I'm just glad I don't live in a trailer . . ."

Mossyback

Good suggestion, Bernard. I'll leave the sorb out until I'm convinced that I've fixed the leaks and then I'll fill it up and dive the unit again.

Jay, it's good to know that the CL could be replaced if necessary. The thought of damaging it was foremost in my mind. After I sort out this leak problem I'm going to post pictures and get suggestions on how I can further modify it to make the unit easier to maintain.

Hank

__________________
"Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are."