Optima ExtendAir Duration Experiences?

sfldiver

I realize this subject has been discussed before on this site, but it has been a while. Now that there have been many new additions to the Optima diving community, and consequentely more divers with experiences to share, I thought it might be good to hear some updated user feedback:

*How long have you been using your EAC's for?

*How long will you store your previously used EAC before you use it again?

Personally, I've continued to utilize the method I adopted from Howard (scubadadmiami), which has been diving his Optima longer than any recreational diver in the area that I am aware of. I limit my scrubber to approximately four hours, and once it's been openned, I store it no more than a week.

I recognize that my approach is probably a bit on the consevative side, because if I do not dive week after week, I often throw out a scrubber that is probably still good to use, but that's just what I do to ensure that I sleep good at night, because from my perspective, $30 is not worth the potential problems that might otherwise arise by pushing the unknown. I have heard more and more about people that are extending both the scrubber time and storage time, so I am curious what you folks out there have been up to?

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diverreb

Adrian,

I agree with you and pretty much follow the same practices.

In cold water I drop the time down to three hours.

Richie

human

I usually do 5-6 hours on a EAC, depending on where the last dive ends in that time range. The longest that I have stored one so far, is 2-3 weeks. I have not had to store one longer than that up to this point.

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phreaticus53

Did an hour and a half one day, stored it at room temp. (75 degrees), then used it just shy of four hours a week later....no issues at all. This was a couple weeks ago in Eagle's Nest and at Weeki Wachi.
Water temps. were in the low 70's on both dives, work load was moderate, depths from 210' to 120' (mostly in the 10-60' range, however), respectively.

c5vette13

I have no problem putting 5 hours on a cartridge. I have stored opened cartridges for more than a month and still used them. I won't do any technically challenging dives on a partially used scrubber, but I have had no problems to date....If anyone is looking for a dive buddy for eagles nest/weeki wachee let me know, right in my backyard...

Dsix36

I get 6 hours out of a cartridge very consistantly. This is with mild to low workload. This is using 3/4 of the cartridge and leaving me 1/4 a buffer.

I have reused cartrides that were 8 weeks old with no problems. I keep the used ones sealed and labeled to prevent confusion.

I used to deduct a little from the duration of an opened cartridge for each week that it has been opened. I have found that this is not necessary, as the time frame does not effect the cartridge usage.

AND NOW THE DISCLAIMER:
This is for my metabolism - not yours.
You may/may not be able to get the same duration

.

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SeaBass

This has probably been discussed before but how do you tell what part of a cartridge has been used vs. unused?

Also wouldn't it be better to guage usage by the amount of O2 consumed per cartridge? Test figures are done based on time due to the ability to measure CO2 passed through the scrubber. However this leaves us guessing what the real numbers are.

Thom

Dsix36

The way that I was taught is to unroll the cartridge and feel for the hard/soft difference. The scrubber material that is hard is the used stuff. It is not difficult to tell the difference.

As far as telling by the amount of O2 used. I quess that will work as long as there is no mask clearing, nose breathing etc.

The number differ from diver to diver since we all metabolise O2 at a different rate.

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diverreb

Guys, I hate to rain on your parade here, but you are really pushing it.

I spent a while with Micropore at DEMA and talked to them about the method you are using to determine used scrubber. While it is a very rough guide, you can't base your usage on it. The line which divides the good from the bad can't be accurately determined. When you are down to the last quarter of the EAC it's basically done. They can never be used 100%.

All you need to do is get caught in an unexpectedly high workload while you are at the end of the five hours and you have a good chance of becoming a statistic.

Isn't your life worth more than an extra $30.00 every once in a while? I know mine is. The idea isn't to see how long you can get on an EAC, but to survive the dives & enjoy the sport for the rest of your life.

There is a reason Micropore rates the EAC's at 2 hours cold & 3 hours warm. Is it padded a little for safety's sake... sure, but not by 100%!

We all stretch it a little bit, but going out on the edge and using EAC's weeks after they've been opened is inviting trouble.

Just because you've been getting away with it so far, doesn't mean your luck will continue. We've all got families, and we owe it to them to be reasonable and not push the envelope too often.

Richie

Nemo1957

Well said Richie