Sport KISS

Andy M

Well, I took delivery of my Sport KISS at the end of January. I finally did my Mod 1 course all this week with Martin Robson in Stoney Cove. 8 hours of diving in 4C water. Lots of people came over to ask about the unit...

It dives good. Its light. I like it very much. WOB is great, doesnt seem to matter how high I mount it on my back. My Sport KISS is the black anodised aluminium casing because I wanted it to be light for airportability.

Couple of things:

Once when I jumped in, the whole scrubber and counterlungs came flying out of the casing, causing much hilarity amongst divers on the shore because the velcro strap gave way with the rush of water coming in the bottom of the casing. Anyone else had this? How did you fix it.

Also, I had this problem with the CL restrictor flap coming loose and suddenly forcing a very shallow breathe. I'm a big guy (tall not wide!) and need it on its max, so I might just take it out completely.

I'm a bit bothered about the red pods being so exposed, this is an issue for UK wreck divers. I need more protection at the top of the unit. Maybe a new stainless steel casing with a wrap around at the top. Have been talking to a local metal fab shop. I have this vision of a red pod getting broken off inside a wreck and flooding the loop. lovely.

The manual says 2.5 hours with the large rocks. If I put sofnoline 797 (small rocks) in, is it reasonable to expect 3 hours scrubber life in cold water? One normally expects more life with small rocks.

Also, this 50m "limit" - perhaps people who have taken the sport Kiss further could let me know, by PM if necessary, how is the WOB/scrubber at deeper depths? I have a lot of diving to do before taking it deeper, but would like to know what to expect.

cheers

Andy

caveseeker7

Hi Andy, good of you to join us. I, unfortunately, can't answer your question but at least one board member has been diving his unit past its depth rating in warmer water and also adressed the unprotected connector issue.

In regards to the velcro strip, try a safety wire on the quick release or replace it altogether.

Cheers

__________________
Cheers
Stefan



"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority,
and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,
which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.!"

decoweenie

Andy,

You should have access to the KISS Owner List archive. There you should be able to find the report I made when I first received the Sport-KISS and dove for 2 weeks in Sharm diving trimix.

Regarding the velcro coming loose, either make sure it is tight or use something stronger if you are in the habit of jumping from high places.

Regarding the protection of the red pods, I have finished my own case design for that and in the process of posting the pictures on the net soon.

Regarding the CL adjustment, I use the smallest setting and no one I know has it past the mid-point. So make sure you have the CL straight inside the housing. Once installed, reach in and make sure they are OK and not folded/etc

caveseeker7

Andy, decoweenie posted the pictures of his case.

__________________
Cheers
Stefan



"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority,
and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,
which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.!"

Andy M

Yes, good article, I read it. Doesnt seem to say how deep or give any hints on scrubber life. I am wondering if the small kitty litter will give 3 hours. Jetsam only make recommendation for large kitty litter for 2.5 hours. I guess I could try it somewhere shallow to see where the scrubber breaks through, but this doesnt necessarily equate to deeper depths.

But you are somewhat smaller than me I read in a report somewhere, that Gordon dives with it wide open. I had it on the mid position at start of course but found my breathing too restricted. Maybe I will experiment some more. Yes, we checked for folding etc, all was fine.

decoweenie

Did you read the correct one ? The numbers were mentioned clearly! Max 92m, would have done 110m but buddy didn't want to deco in Blue Hole, etc...

Since you are not an experience Rebreather diver yet, I would recommend to keep to the spec of 2.5 hours. But the unit has been dived for more...
Correct that I am smaller, but again everyone I know (including Gordon and Alan Studley who is 6'5") dive it in the middle setting. Again, this is only your first week of diving the unit so give it some time for you to get used to diving a Rebreather and start to recognize how to dive with minimum loop volume.

Andy M

Fair enough. We were told on course that we must dive with MLV, and it was checked by instructor. Maybe I was breathing too deeply... I could however feel the O2 being consumed from the CL volume when I turned off O2 and dil, surely this must be close to MLV. As you say, time will tell.

cheers