SCR (SUBMATIX) & the VR2

[londonsean69]

Originally Posted by JonDive

Saw your piece on another board. Interesting choice, what drew you to this unit. I was drawn to the Submatix on ease of use (for the type of diving I do) and price had a big influence.

I have an inherent dislike of electronics in water, especially those that control your destiny I like the idea of a purely mechanical rebreather, no active parts like the Draegers etc. Mine only has 3 proper moving parts (plus mushroom valves etc.), if I can hear and feel gas been injected and exhausted, then it is working, simple as that.

Cost was OK (about £3300 finished) but I did add some 'goodies', gas switching block, KISS OC/CC DSV etc, although so far I have no PPO2 monitoring (then again neither does Db8us for 11 hour cave dives).

Only real problem is there is no course, the only course available for this type of RB is GUE RB80 training, and you have to be at least GUE Tech 2 qualified to do that. My course consisted of getting into Wraysbury with 2 very good friends and accomplished divers shadowing me, just in case.

So far have only had 1 crap out, see here but am getting more and more used to the way it sounds and feels on dives.

[NotDeadYet]

Originally Posted by londonsean69

Cost was OK (about £3300 finished)

Wow!!! How much are they now? They were only about £1200 when I was looking at buying one last year. Did you go for the double unit?

[JonDive]

Cost was OK (about £3300 finished) but I did add some 'goodies', gas switching block, KISS OC/CC DSV etc, although so far I have no PPO2 monitoring (then again neither does Db8us for 11 hour cave dives).

Your a braver man than me, I want to know what Im breathing ALL the time and have seen how that can change with work load I'll stick with as much monitoring as I can. (course I won't be in a cave!)
(Or does your kit have some other way of allowing for that) Scubber on the Submatix good for couple of hours or so (CE'd) I belive there are big claims on the RB80's scrubber life. What sort of life per fill are you hoping for in the cold UK?

[nigelH]

Looking at this thread I'm wondering about fitting a cell to the Oxygen rebreather as a back up but running FO2 mode would be a nicer display so would buying the SCR upgrade be a good move?

There is no such thing as deco on an oxygen rebreather but will calibration (I assume you do calibrate things some how) be a problem?

Also does anybody know a nice mounting system so I can put an Inspiration type R22D cell into the bag so I don't have to add yet another consumable to dive-shop sized spares box.

[wreckweasel]

http://www.tecme.de they do various bits for slapping sensors into bags.

so the EDO is now 3.3k? good luck to them, its primary appeal to me was cost, which now seems to have gone. For that, I could have a Classic KISS and change left over...

[londonsean69]

Originally Posted by NotDeadYet

Wow!!! How much are they now? They were only about £1200 when I was looking at buying one last year. Did you go for the double unit?

No, only the single.

The basic unit is 2900 euro's. (£1900 when I got it, sh1tty exchange rate)

To that you have to add hoses, DSV (about £400 for the set from jetsam), cylinders (About £220), backplate, wing, harness etc.

I also got the gas switching block (476 Euro's), as well as a few connectors from them.

I also made up 6 Swagelok hoses, and the fittings are £30 a pop !!

So, all told with delivery charges (UPS ain't cheap ya know), import duties (grr ) and VAT (double grrrrr ) it was about £3300. It could be done cheaper, no gas block, Draeger Ray hoses and DSV etc. but now I have a rebreather I like, and more importantly I know how it works !!

The guys at STDE actually put on the delivery note it was only 900 Euros, which 'might' have saved me some import duties and VAT .

I also strongly considered the KISS, but in the end it was personal preference, due to the mechanical nature of the EDO. But lets not start a debate about CCR vs SCR.