Dolphin rebreather instructor notes

[atty17]

I have recently taken the plunge and bought a Dolphin rebreather and currently undergoing a P.A.D.I. rebreather course which is going well so far,
The instructor is doing a grand job (im still here) We have been given a set of course notes however i would like to find out if anyone has a power point presentation on rebreathers as i would like to go through it in finer detail at my own leisure i am a bsac adv instructor and have access to most of our presentations on pp but no rebreather stuff or for that matter any calculation programmes etc anything !!!! would be appreciated
P.S. I could not find a B.S.A.C scr course run locally and no info on the net regarding 2006 courses (only looked on the net though)
advice on o2 sensors for the dolphin where to buy how much etc to run off an aladin air z o2
THANKS IN ADVANCE i can be contacted on phillip.adkins@tiscali.co.uk

[Odin]

PM sent

[Mike Rowley]

I have recently taken the plunge and bought a Dolphin rebreather and currently undergoing a P.A.D.I. rebreather course which is going well so far,
The instructor is doing a grand job (im still here) We have been given a set of course notes however i would like to find out if anyone has a power point presentation on rebreathers as i would like to go through it in finer detail at my own leisure i am a bsac adv instructor and have access to most of our presentations on pp but no rebreather stuff or for that matter any calculation programmes etc anything !!!! would be appreciated
P.S. I could not find a B.S.A.C scr course run locally and no info on the net regarding 2006 courses (only looked on the net though)
advice on o2 sensors for the dolphin where to buy how much etc to run off an aladin air z o2
THANKS IN ADVANCE i can be contacted on phillip.adkins@tiscali.co.uk

The BSAC PowerPoint presentations are only available to BSAC approved SCR Instructors I'm afraid. They are also subject to copyright to prevent them being used by other agency instructors.

The BSAC Draeger course manual is available to purchase from HQ as a stand alone document. This does include all calculators necessary for the course.

There is a list of BSAC approved instructors on the BSAC website at http://www.bsac.org/techserv/rrc/Instructors.pdf

Cheers

Mike Rowley
BSAC Technical Chief Examiner.

[atty17]

Thanks Mike
I will contact H.Q. , The info was intended for my use only and not for another agency instructor but i fully understand .
do you have any info on courses , as i have obviusly havent been able to find one locally hence the P.A.D.I. Course which i am happy with so far.
Phill

[Wills]

If you're going to use an OXY2. you may want to equalize the loop's length by adding an adaptor to the exhale hose - see http://www.tecme.de

A good source of sensors: http://www.vandagraph.co.uk/oxygensensors/oxygensensors.html - R22-D are about £55

Other rebreather sites you may find interesting:

http://www.smartgroups.com/group/group.cfm?GID=257650
http://www.rebreatherworld.com/
http://www.yorkshire-divers.com/forums/
http://www.nobubblediving.com/
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/
http://mitglied.lycos.de/dg8fz/rebreather/index.htm

[MarkA]

Phill
I have some old Star Wars Annuals if you want
just give me a ring
M

[Odin]

Atty17 did you get my PM?
Let me know if you want a copy of my PADI slides.

[Mike Rowley]

Thanks Mike
I will contact H.Q. , The info was intended for my use only and not for another agency instructor but i fully understand .
do you have any info on courses , as i have obviusly havent been able to find one locally hence the P.A.D.I. Course which i am happy with so far.
Phill

Hi Phil

Sorry to take a while to reply, been away for a couple of days. We haven't got any courses planned on a national basis. However, there is a list of instructors on the website http://www.bsac.org/techserv/rrc/Instructors.pdf whom you can contact individually for a course. This is similar to contacting instructors from other agencies.

Currently we don't have a Draeger instructor in South Wales. The nearest instructor who runs regular courses is probably Dennis Wigg.

Cheers

Mike

[atty17]

cheers Mike
thanks
Phill

[atty17]

I will appreciate the slides if possible
thanks
PHILL:)

[atty17]

Thank you
for the information i have seen the oxy2 adaptor to extend the hose as you suggest this rebreather lark seems quite intense but these sites are informative once you sift through the the people adapting their units

[Mike Rowley]

Thank you
for the information i have seen the oxy2 adaptor to extend the hose as you suggest this rebreather lark seems quite intense but these sites are informative once you sift through the the people adapting their units

One option you might consider is using a VR2 or VR3 connected to a cell which is plumbed into a port in the inhale counterlung. With this option you not only get PO2 monitoring but also a real time decompression computer based on actual gas partial pressures.

Cheers

Mike

[magentaseas]

Hi

I too wanted to do a BSAC Dolphin course but couldnt find one nearby, I was told of a place that did it up north which was no good for me.
I ended up doing a PADI one which I thought was very basic and wasnt 100% happy with it.
Having just got a copy of the BSAC course manual I'm not a happy bunny as the PADI course I did covered only a fraction of the BSAC one. :(

One question I do have though is:
In the BSAC manual it mentions that Sofnolime is identical to Divesorb which lasts 3 hours. Ive been told that Sofnolime in a Dolphin lasts about 2 1/2 hours but that can depend on temperature.
If its the same stuff then surely Sofnolime will last 3 hours aswell?

cheers
Sharon

[Mike Rowley]

Hi

I too wanted to do a BSAC Dolphin course but couldnt find one nearby, I was told of a place that did it up north which was no good for me.
I ended up doing a PADI one which I thought was very basic and wasnt 100% happy with it.
Having just got a copy of the BSAC course manual I'm not a happy bunny as the PADI course I did covered only a fraction of the BSAC one. :(

One question I do have though is:
In the BSAC manual it mentions that Sofnolime is identical to Divesorb which lasts 3 hours. Ive been told that Sofnolime in a Dolphin lasts about 2 1/2 hours but that can depend on temperature.
If its the same stuff then surely Sofnolime will last 3 hours aswell?

cheers
Sharon

Sharon

Draegersorb and Sofnolime is the same material, ssodium hydroxide combined with a clay base.
Depends which grade of Sofnolime you are using. Draegersorb is 2.5mm - 5mm granual size. Sofnolime comes in two sizess, 2.5 - 5.0mm and 1.0 - 2.5mm. The latter is used in the Inspiration/Evolution and can be used in the Draeger Dolphin when it will give a 3 hour duration. Using the 2.5 - 5.0mm grade in the Inspiration reduces the recommended duration to 2.5 hours.

Cheers

Mike Rowley
Technical Chief Examiner

[Wills]

Having just got a copy of the BSAC course manual I'm not a happy bunny as the PADI course I did covered only a fraction of the BSAC one. :(



May I ask what wasn't covered?

[magentaseas]

May I ask what wasn't covered?

Hi

The PADI course i did seemed to be a more basic entry level course.

Referring to the BSAC course manual this is what WASNT covered, or it was just touched on:


Half day theory: Dive Conduct & Potential problems, WOB, Inspired O2 Formula. Very basic Dive Planning. Kit configuration (Gas Blocks?), Dive marshalling, First Aid,Ownership of a Dolphin. Equipment Care touched on.

Half day sheltered water lesson: pretty much similar

One day OW: 3 dives in a pit no deeper than 8m! As it was cold we did the minimum time of 20mins for each. I did Bailout drills static and horizontal. No rescue skills at all.
Back at center we quickly went through CNS % and UPTD levels for the day.

I also didnt get a course manual.


cheers

Sharon

[PeteM]

I also didnt get a course manual.

I thought that was a major no, no with the HSE for any diving course

[Wills]

I also didnt get a course manual.



Sharon Hi,

I don't think PADI do a student manual for the semiclosed rebreather specialty, so don't feel too bad that the instructor didn't give you a copy of it.

I did the course quite a few years ago so I could be wrong, but as I remember it was quite detailed. I'm not surprised dive marshalling isn't included - it is taught at the PADI DM level and as Nitrox is a pre-req. it seems fair only to do a quick refresher of that.

I am surprised the rest was skipped over. I can have a look through the specialty instructor manual over the weekend and check what should have been included if you'd like to know.

I suggest you contact the instructor and give them the opportunity to remediate the missing bits, if you feel strongly that the course was inadequate PADI have a Quality Assurance mechanism you can use.

All that a-side, welcome to SCR diving. You'll have loads of fun with the Dolphin.

Dive safe and ALWAYS know your ppO2.
Wills.

[Odin]

I did the PADI course. Excellent instructor - Johm Merriman.
I already had a copy of the TDI manual, and had aquired quite a lot of info from various sources prior to my course.

I now have a copy of the BS-AC manual. When it arrived I though £25 for that! Then I opened it and read it... Excellent. Clear easy to read, and lots of relevant info, especially tailored to the BS-AC system of branch diving.
But... I did think the history session was a long winded.

Just waiting for part two.. CCR conversion ;-) Oopps too late...

[Wills]

Just waiting for part two.. CCR conversion ;-) Oopps too late...



A short 1 page document should cover it...

If you can't work it out for yourself... don't do it :)

I swapped from my DIY valve to the hydrogom, nice bit of kit.

[Odin]

Yes I used a KISS valve, the hydrogom on the Tecme site looks good!
I used the injector to exhale mount on the scrubber from tecme too!
But... have converted it back to SCR!

[Mike Rowley]

Sharon Hi,

I don't think PADI do a student manual for the semiclosed rebreather specialty, so don't feel too bad that the instructor didn't give you a copy of it.

I did the course quite a few years ago so I could be wrong, but as I remember it was quite detailed. I'm not surprised dive marshalling isn't included - it is taught at the PADI DM level and as Nitrox is a pre-req. it seems fair only to do a quick refresher of that.

I am surprised the rest was skipped over. I can have a look through the specialty instructor manual over the weekend and check what should have been included if you'd like to know.

I suggest you contact the instructor and give them the opportunity to remediate the missing bits, if you feel strongly that the course was inadequate PADI have a Quality Assurance mechanism you can use.

All that a-side, welcome to SCR diving. You'll have loads of fun with the Dolphin.

Dive safe and ALWAYS know your ppO2.
Wills.

Wills

In addition to the elements of theory that the BSAC course covers over and above that contained in the PADI course that Sharon has already mentioned (Physics & Physiology of rebreather diving is an important ommisssion) the BSAC course involves dry practical sessions of unit build and prep and unit maintenance. It also gives advice on travelling with your rebreather and implications of CE marking.

The BSAC course requires 120 minutes of sheltered water diving concentrating on basic rebreather skills plus 6 open water dives with a minimum of 300 minutes in water time. The PADI course only requires a sheltered water session plus 3 open water dives with no minimum time specification.

I will leave it to others to judge the value of a student manual with a rebreather course.

Generally the PADI course is considerably thinner than the BSAC course. This probably reflects the fact that BSAC is responsible for the diving as well as the training.

Cheers

Mike

[GeoffB]

Hi,

I've just completed a try dive, possibly joining the Hartlepool dive club tomorrow...but heres an interesting link I found on rebreathers, may be of use..

http://www.ccrb.co.uk/downloads.html

[Wills]

I will leave it to others to judge the value of a student manual with a rebreather course.



I got a very useful manual with my Dolphin, 'Mixed Gas Rebreather - Instructions for use' ;)

[Odin]

I suppose you have mixed the gases a bit - NITROX!

[Smudge]

Other rebreather sites you may find interesting:

http://www.smartgroups.com/group/group.cfm?GID=257650
http://www.rebreatherworld.com/
http://www.yorkshire-divers.com/forums/
http://www.nobubblediving.com/
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/
http://mitglied.lycos.de/dg8fz/rebreather/index.htm

Hi,
I've tried to have a look at the smartgroups site but I can't find it on a search and the link just puts me to either a login page or to my own details page which links to the groups I'm a member of but not the rebreather one :confused:
Could someone send me a link/group name/invite or whatever please?
Ta,
Smudge
smudgegs "at" hotmail.co.uk
(yeah I know it'll probably get spam harvested but such is life :( )