Diver one of sixteen to die using high-tech gear

[DiverMole]

DRE: And since we're at it: weight must be placed on the top of the rebreather in order to balance the trim.

Dont you need to add weight and get the positions of your tanks right when on OC. This is called trim and ALL divers need to do it. One big advantage of a RB is the buoyancy characteristics stay the same throuout the dive, unlike OC which gets lighter as you burn the air

DRE: If divers put to much gas in the counter lungs the upper body is lifted and trim is then off center.

Yes, but trained divers dont, just like you dont put too much in your drysuit or BC

DRE: Gas in a counter lung is just another source to administrate, along with drysuit, BCD, PO2 on handsets, pressure in O2 and DIL cylinders.

Can easily be dealt with and with ADV and autodump can be fully automated. Just take the word of someone who does this regularly, it is NOT an issue at all.

DRE: The mouthpiece does not have OC bailout built into it,

Mine does!

DRE:bailout is a time of increased stress so it is pertinent the transition should be smooth without chance for a mistake.

True on OC as well

DRE: The bailout procedure on the factory unit uses a device called an Auto Air, this duals as a breathing device and BCD inflator. I couldn't imagine this being an effective tool for gas sharing, nor proper bail out for the user either, as the CCR mouthpiece has to be effectively closed before the transition to OC bailout is performed or it will flood the breathing loop making the diver negatively buoyant. Bailout should be in the form of a combination unit on the mouthpiece to facilitate safe transition.

Auto air is an OC device!!! and was on sale way before the Inspiration come about. Its the same as an Air 2 and it works. Personally I hate it and removed it fairly early on, but it does work and gives quick and easy access to OC bailout. The argument here is the usual Air 2 V normal OC reg argument and not particularly relevent to RB's

Most folks fit a long hose Reg on their diluent and/or carry side slung stage cylinders for bailout. OC/DSV are easily available and I have one fitted. I can go CC to OC in about 1 second and my buddy can also do the switch for me

I agree with you that the loop must be closed and that the Inspriation original mouthpiece could do this better (The dragers, azimuths etc have much nicer mechs for this)

DRE: If the O-ring on top of the cartridge lid is dirty or not aligned properly CO2 will take the path of least resistance and bypass the carbon dioxide scrubber therefore breathed back into the loop. Hypercapnia begins and the diver is faced with another problem to solve.

You are trained to inspect and lube this O ring at each repack. There is a spacer ring that sits on it to prevent it coming out. You do a 3 min pre-breath before each dive to check for this. Not an issue on a dive if you do you dive checks.

DRE: The Inspiration does not have SS backplate and utilizes many plastic fastex clips, which I view as failure points. There are seven quick releases on the soft harness including the crotch strap and handset clips. The clips that hold the yellow casing lid on the unit break frequently so spares are required as well.

Old GI3 quote and not true. The harness does have the plastic buckles, and there has NEVER been a reported breaking of one of these. APValves are famouse for producing bomb proof kit. A made up issue that just doesn't exist

Personally I hated the harness and swapped it for a SS backplate and webbing, so that it was the same as my OC kit. The Insp uses a standard bolt spacing so the options are yours

DRE: Scrubber canister is small (2.45 Kg of 8-12 mesh, 797 diving grade sofnolime) and does not facilitate the use many of the mixed gas Inspiration divers put it through. At depth CO2 breakthrough is rapid even with a resting diver, if breathing resistance is elevated the scrubber is near void. With increased CO2 build up the diver is of course exposing oneself to further malady. Diving high helium concentrations assist with this problem as it is less dense than air, easier to breath therefore less CO2 buildup and the scrubber should last longer but it is playing on the edge. High PPN2 should be ultimately avoided.

The scrubber has been extensivly tested by third party government test houses to a standard set in Europe (CE). It has a 3 hour duration. If users choose to use it over that, then its their problem. Note than the Azimuth and Drager units have also undergone these tests and are also 3 hour rated. No other unit has been tested to this standard and so figures quoted by the other manufacturers are estimates and not measured. Folks have done 10 hour dives on the Inspiration scrubber (they are mad!!!)

DRE: If the counter lungs are not situated adequately they will float above the divers shoulders and increase breathing resistance. It is taught in the basic course to watch for this ... But they are clipped down with fastex buckles which as we know do fail on occasion. With the diver already quite
task loaded on the CCR it is easy not to notice the lung has crept up, CO2 will then increase from breathing resistance.

No one has ever reported this buckle breaking. The lung placement on the inspiration is superb and as the harness goes through the bas of the lungs if this buckle where left undone the lung would move about 2" which would not effect breathing at all. A imaginary problem that doesn't exist

DRE: The LP hoses which feed the diluent and the oxygen inlets on the counter lungs use a different end than the BCD inflator. The BCD is inflated with diluent gas, the same which you are adding into the counter lung, there is no sound reason not to have the same end on this for diversity.

The different fitting was for the Auto Air, a normal schrader suit/bc fitting cannot flow enough air for breathing at depth, thats why its different. I have no Auto air on mine and have a standard inflator here

DRE: The reason the end is different on the BCD inflator is to supply a greater amount of gas to the Auto Air regulator used as a bailout/inflation device. This Auto Air is prone to free flow situations and can dump the diluent gas if not tended to quick enough. Most Inspirations divers discard this Auto Air early into their CCR career.

44% have thrown it, so the majority keep it. It free flows if the interstage pressure if to high, which you can easily adjust (covered in training and an IP guage comes with the unit).

This is an individual choice argument. I binned mine as I considered I had a better way of doing it

DRE: If both handsets shut off in the water the diver is faced with a series of questions in order to "reboot" the system. One of the questions ask if you would like to calibrate "yes or no" if the diver is stressed and chooses "yes" they will effectively be adding 100% oxygen into the breathing loop no matter what depth they are at in the water column.

WRONG: it is impossible to recalibrate under water, the handsets wont allow it (only the very early units could do this)
Why would you turn off both handsets??? On the early uinits, you can actually calibrate underwater safely, you have to tell the unit the correct percentage of O2 in the mix. at 6m this would be 160%


DRE: If the battery is low it will not supply enough EMF for the oxygen solenoid to open the valve and add life sustaining gas.

Thats why there are double redundant batteries! You can also do it manually if needed

DRE: The control handsets are secured to the canister via rubber hose, the wiring is run through this conduit down to the electronic handsets that are monitoring the dynamics of the oxygen sensors. These rubber conduits enter into the scrubber/O2 sensor compartment where it is humid and if not perfectly sealed will allow condensation to migrate into the hose and wreak havoc with the electronics in the handsets. Many electronic problems with the handsets have involved this scenario.

What eletrical problems with the handsets?, none reported!!!
There have been handsets smashed and cracked. All the electronics are potted in resin so water is not an issue

DRE: If anyone feels that there still is misinformation, bad information, unfounded allegations, backstabbing and drive-by-shootings going on, please take it up personally with me.

I am. You have done nothing in this post than quote a very old, out of date and untrue post by George Irvine III (Also not Inspiration trained). You are not trained nor have used or probably even seen an Inspiration yet see yourself as an expert and are spreading half truths and rumours about the units as fact. Please download and read the user manuals for several units from the web (check my site for links) and get some real information instead of taking as gospel what you hear on the web