Little Help....

diverreb

I picked up my new Optima FX today and was attempting to put it together. All seems OK except the tank position. Using the 27's. They seem to be too close to the foot.

What kind of clearance should there be between the regs & the foot?

I only have one more hole to drop down. Some of the pictures I've seen have them just about on the bottom. My concern is on a choppy sea with the boat pounding a bit that there should be some clearance there....

My class isn't for another month and a half and I won't be trying the unit out until then, but I'm just getting a feel for assembly & disassembly ahead of time. Also want to see how it fits with my current wing & harness set up.

Thanks,

Richie

diverklondike

Richie,

Glad to see you on the list...

Just sent you a PM with some comments etc..

Mark

SiscoKid

My 13 or the same way, makes it a little heard to screw the regulator on.

diverreb

Actually it is on the longest setting..... Just tried to move it down & it won't go any further... The over pressure valves actually fall below the foot... Somethings not right....

Helium_diver

Ritchie,

If you would have bought the KISS you wouldn't be having this problem .
See ya next week in Fl.

Helium_diver

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"If I look unconscious I probably am " Bill Hartman

Jordan

It sounds like your tanks need to be sitting higher in the unit (closer to the scrubber).... the tanks should be about as close to the scrubber as possible without the dil tank putting stress on the O2 LP hose fitting where it goes into the solenoid/head. Just move your S/S hose clamps on your tanks. I end up having about 1/2 inch between the foot and the OP valves.

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n2diving

Agreed, the rounded ends of the cylinders should be practically touching the canister.

JCdesign97

Thanks for the feedback, guys - Rich's (Diverreb) Optima and mine were shipped together and I am in the process of familiarizing myself with and putting mine together, as well ... so consider this my official introduction to Rebreather World, at the same time. It's not my style to make a full intro to the whole board, so hey to all of the Optima pilots!

I moved the foot down from the as-shipped position and mounted the tanks on the remorah, etc. to see the clearance Rich was talking about. I am sure there's no major issue and we'll get it all sorted out before we finish our training, but two things that I noted - 1) is that the cylinders naturally stop before they can come into contact wth the scrubber based on the tank valleys molded into the frame, so that's as far as they can go, positioning of the remorah or otherwise. 2) I looked at the pictures on your website, Mark, and there appears to be a good 3/4" or so between the cylinders and the scrubber; and a similar dimension between the valves (minus the regs) and the foot. The next picture with the regs installed shows more clearance than mine has to the OPRVs, as well. As I have it put together now, the OPRVs are dead-even with the foot and only don't interfere because they're at a 45 degree angle and stick out just past the edge. In other words the fingerwheels on the first stages are pretty much wedged against the foot.

That said, though, I may not have the foot at it's furthest 'south' position and I'm not sweating it - we have a month or so before our training yet and I know we'll get everything sorted out. Maybe you guys can tell me the approved procedure for having the unit in your possession and NOT fondling it too much before you can use it!

Thanks for all of the good info/reading so far and hope to be contributing soon!

John

n2diving

Note those pictures are showing the Steel 13's, not the 27's...

JCdesign97

Aaah, it's hard to tell it's the 13s unless you look closely. At any rate, I got it all worked out - the foot was able to move down one more position. It doesn't look like it can because the bracket comes into contact with the lower frame bolt, but now I have about a 1/2" or so between the tanks and the scrubber and the same between the foot and the regs/OPRVs - all good. Now I just have to wait to dive it ...