It lives! The Hasslehuff.

[Woz]

So. Have converted one of Dr Duncan's D5 sidemount rebreathers to a backmount and it was worryingly simple. Here's a little tour...



So. My design spec was something I could lob on a standard backplate with 11" holes just like a normal twinset. And that I can. The RB bits are mounted to a back-to-front ally backplate I had knocking about with a Frog single tank wing sandwiched in between.



Here's the view from the right. Dil and O2 add on the pushbutton block with a needle and ball valve on a seperate line. Hoses come in on the right hip and go up the right shoulder strap. All jolly neat and tidy. O2 gauge on the right too.



And the view from the left. Dil feed goes from the cyl behing my arse to the dosing block. Wing feed is an octopus length hose with a Scubapro reg to wing inflator adapter- dead handy for making up custom lenght hoses. Displays are driven by 2 standard Inspo R22 cells into a P-port on the counterlung with a folding holder. Displays are completely independent Dave Mager jobbies in clear tubes, magnetically activated.



Here's the back view. The long black tube has the counterlung case in teh top half and the scrubber in the bottom half, a bit like an RB80 but cheaper cos it's made from an army rocket tube and a kitchen extractor pipe.



From the top you can see the exhale (black elbow) and inhale (red elbow) with the O2 and Dil feeds going into the exhale side. The exhaled gas goes down the inside of the counterlung case, through the middle fo the scrubber then back up through the lime, all 5kg odd of it. Bog standard diving hoses used throughout.



The displays are a temporary unit till I get something fancier sorted. On-off is done by sliding the big black mount on the left over the displays which also handily protect the plastic from getting scratched.

So. First trial of it back mounted in the pool tomorrow. CL is set quite low so it should be about level with my gob if I'm a bit head up. Have tried it sidemounted in Stoney which worked fine but a bit Hamster Cheeks.

[tom]

That's a great name for a rebreather.
Do you mind if we start a poll on how long you're going to live?

[thehappychappy]

lol, go Woz, I give you 30 minutes :-) (please do not attempt this until after you have posted me my harness)

[ardhill]

Well done Woz, it looks the part. That's what I call a 'home build'. Take a home build breather, add a few bit, modifiy it a bit and turn it into a different sort of breather at you home - excellent.

I hope the WOB is OK. Unless of course you were thinking of being a bit head up, and feet down and not having 'perfect' trim

[Woz]

Will see what the WOB is like. As a sidmount it was very good but very hamster cheeks as the CL ended up under my armpit.

The CL is as close to my back as I can get it- it's in the front of the case in the bottom of the backplate vee.

[Dave Crampton]

Very good, and with one Steel and one Ali, you'll be swimming in circles... Will you me carrying bailout?

[Woz]

Originally Posted by Dave Crampton

Very good, and with one Steel and one Ali, you'll be swimming in circles... Will you me carrying bailout?

Bail what?

Yes. I have a stage cyl I'll be using for bailout while I am playing. One ally one steel as that's what I had handy. Would prefer 2 steels.

[ardhill]

Originally Posted by Dave Crampton

Very good, and with one Steel and one Ali, you'll be swimming in circles... Will you me carrying bailout?

Dave, I heard that this was intentional, he was clipping his negative steel bail out tank to the same side as the buoyant ali O2 bottle to balance out the sideways trim.
Wasn't that the plan Woz

[Adrian Kelland]

Does it have red LEDs that flash backwards and forwards?

[Woz]

Originally Posted by ardhill

Dave, I heard that this was intentional, he was clipping his negative steel bail out tank to the same side as the buoyant ali O2 bottle to balance out the sideways trim.
Wasn't that the plan Woz

Ummmmmm yes. Of course. Ahem.