help

ira

hi every one
i hope every one is happy and doing well.
i have a question and a problem, i hope i can fined some answers here.
a friend of mine just came back from a diving trip and he made a MEG ccr diver,i had a long chat with him and he was asking me to sell my Inspiration that i luuuuveeeee and buy a meg, i know there is some better specification in the Meg over the Inspo, but i am not sure what to do.

so if u don't mind i want from u an answer of what would u do,if u are me?

my problem now ( that is driving me crazy ) is:

i have a leak in my inspiration, actually i don't but what is happening is
i make a positive test it hold and i make a negative test its fine
i took it to a pool dive there is no leak at all, i even dive it and its totally normal when i open it there is no drop of water in it except that near the cells, and there is no sign of bubbles of leak anywhere BUT in my room at home it wont hold a positive test for more then an hour max i know in every manual i read it says if it hold up to 45 min that is fine,
but the thing is my friend his ccr stay positive for days some times.
so i am confused . any idea what should i do.

i would like to add one more question please.
how often u lubricate your Orings in the inspiration and how often u strip the mouth piece.
thanks for the help

Blomman

What do you think is so much better with the Meg and what does your friend say is so much better? - Is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence?

The water you find close to the cells are most likely from condensation. This is a common issue among rebreathers and not only a problem related to the Inspiration. If your rebreather can hold a +/- test for at least 10min then I don't see any reason to worry.


// Blomman

ira

thanks Blomman

yes that what i said that i dont have water inside excpet thsi condension water and i know that is normal, ... so 10 min is fine, how come then my friend his mashine can hold positive test for days?
anyway. yesterday i changed every single oring it my Inspo the ones needed to and even the new ones , its holding a bit more but as u said its ok.

concerning the meg, you know the canister is better made for leack and stuff and its life time is much more then 3 hours, and so on.

what about the Oring questin?

anyway dear thanks alot for yr answer,
have a nice day.

scubanimal

IRA,
Relax. There are pros and cons for each of the units out there. Plus as time passes there are going to be improvements that eventually will draw you to a newer system. Most owners believe that the unit they purchased is the best, that is very normal, but does not in of itself mean you need to switch and get new training. Learn the unit you have, gain experience with a lot of dives and continue learning about the technology. That way when you are ready for your next rebreather you can make an informed decision with your head.

As far as lubricating o-rings etc, the manual gives a recommendation, I do it when I ever I suspect an issue or peroidically when I do a full detailed inspection (~50 dives). I'm one that is concerned I might introduce a problem if I do it too often. There are a lot of O-rings and depending on how you store the components, the environment you store it in, the lubricants you use, and how clean you keep the unit will all affect o-rings. A simple piece of hair from an animal or human can cause a problem or slow leak. My Inspiration holds a postive test over night just fine, but my Optima barely holds it for 15 mins. Neither leak so I'm not worried.

The more you understand the technology the more comfortable you'll be with your maintenance and which ever unit you have.

Good luck and go dive, help your friend to become a safe Rebreather diver,

JCdesign97

What?!?! A Meg diver saying that your unit is inferior and suggesting the only course of action is to sell it and buy a Meg? I find that hard to believe ...

ps - the animal speaks the truth.

__________________
Cheers,

John Cogan

jradomski

use some commercial leak detection fluid.. a common culprit is the OPV.. I have seen alot of very small leaks through it.. next is to check the t-pieces where they connect to the c/l and then of course where the manual ads connect to the c/l.. many people overtighten the valve and loosen the base from the c/l..

On a solid system the INSP wil hold a better negative and positive test than the meg since the meg has no o-rings in the dsv unless its really lubed up will eventually fail and gain/loose gas.. If the dsv is routinely serviced its pretty gas tight..

many times a system has a gas leak but the leak is small enough that the surrounding water "seals" it..

also are all your gases turned off, adv disabled and all regs connected??

do a leak check on the manual ads by pressurizing them then submerging them in a cup of water.. if they don't leak, then you can do a loop test with the manual add hoses dis-connected.. The INSP manual adds are far superior in this respect since they can be easily tested and quickly serviced..

There are alot of placed for leaks and you have to systematically elimate them one by one if you want a perfectly tight system even though its not really necessary..

If you have ever removed a t-piece or loosened the manual add the best coarse of action is to replace that protector since it gets grooves and never seals the same..

__________________
Joe Radomski
CCR Trimix Instructor Trainer
ANDI Instructor Trainer Director #10

All posts are personal opinions and DO NOT reflect any affiliated agency unless specifically stated.

Blomman

My Inspiration can sometimes hold a negative test for 10h or more, other times only a couple of minutes. Don't focus too much at this, it's not a big deal as long as your machine can do at least more than what your instructor taught you.

I don't agree that the Meg's scrubber is a lot better. The Inspiration and the Meg have the same duration (3h in cold water) and that is enough for most of us. You should focus on the good parts instead; You have a yellow cover protecting the vital parts when wreck/cave-diving, you don't have the manual O2-injector on the inhalation-side and your machine can hold setpoint so you don't have to run your eccr manually


// Blomman