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A couple of weekends ago, I was Ice diving with Greg Zambeck and got some good underwater pictures of the double AGA regulator block he designed for the AGA FFM. He has made them with 2 aga regulators and with 2 Odin regulators. both work well. If someone wants a couple of Underwater pictures of this setup, he may be able to send them to you after I send them on to him. We both use a gas switching block in conjunction with our AGAs. Although some may not like the idea of a gas switching block, I have personally had it save me from a major hassle 2 times... one was with a 2nd stage freeflow that I was able to reduce, and one with with a first stage malfunction on a stage bottle that caused a freeflow. In both cases, the equipment provided much valued service. Tim Olson Underwater Ventures Eau Claire, WI deepdive@sa*.cv*.or* On Sun, 3 Mar 1996, Curt Smitka wrote: > The AGA FFM can be modified to handle two independent second stages > elimenating the need to switch masks when you have a regulator failure. > The modifications require you to make or purchase a custom mounting block, > the best Iv'e seen is made by Greg Zambeck and incorporates two second > stages, communications, and hydration ports. > Curt > > At 2:50 PM 3/2/96, <HeyyDude@ao*.co*> wrote: > > * I'm sooooo glad to be able to talk a little about diving... > * > * Andy, > * > * I've been using the AGA mask for about a year now - the real concern most > * divers who have even more experience with them than I do express is that if > * you have a second stage failure - I mean TOTAL failure - no air coming outta > * it - you have to bail out of the entire mask, and take your octo in your > * mouth without protection for your eyes (basic OW scuba class). > * > * I'm told (since this has never happened to me) that should you need to do > * this in very cold water, it can create a kind of shock to your system that > * makes you inhale, thereby causing you mongo problems. > * > * I developed a sort of backup system for this when I was wreck diving in the > * South Pacific - It is simple, but since it is my own invention, and I'm not > * "Mr. Joe Diver" or even remotely related to Mike Nelson - use it at your own > * peril: I attached a second hose to my LP line, and on the end connected one > * of those "air-blower" attachments (for cleaning photo gear, etc.). Should I > * have a prob with the second stage, I practiced slipping the little rubber > * tube into my mask, and blowing air periodically. This would allow you get > * the hell out of whatever situation you were in, without requiring you to bail > * on your FFM. > * > * Now there are a lot of people who would screech at this, but it was the > * simplest, quickest approach I could see to a near impossible failure of the > * second stage (more than likely, the second stage would fail in a free-flow > * manner, which would just puff your face up with a lot of air - for those of > * you who wear FFM's try it sometime - it's kinda cool to bug your eyes > * out...). > * > * Of course, the ultimate is to have some kind of switching block on your mask > * to switch to a back up second stage, but so far I've only seen that on FFM's > * designed for rebreathers. > * > * As for CO2 buildup - the AGA has a "oral/nasal" isolator cup that keeps the > * CO2 buildup to a minimum. Since I was appearing on camera in my latest film, > * I took mine out so the audience could see more of my beautiful mug. I > * experienced only one problem that I attribute to excess CO2 - on an 85 minute > * dive to 55 feet (on a sunken airplane) - I was breathing pretty shallow, I > * guess (BTW- I had stopped smoking, and it was AMAZING how much my gas > * consumption improved) - anyway, I got one MONSTER headache by the end of that > * dive. > * > * Later, I took the mask down to about 150' and experienced no problems like > * that one dive. It is MUCH SAFER and RECOMMENDED that you DO NOT do what I > * did - and if you don't have to appear on camera, then there is no reason for > * you to do this. > * > * Anyway - I'm glad if this info helps you. > * > * Later. > * > * Kevin. > * HeyyDude > * -- > * Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@terra.net'. > * Send subscription/archive requests to `techdiver-request@terra.net'. > > Curt W. Smitka Phone: (313) 747-0252 > Administrative Manager Fax: (313) 936-8620 > Reproductive Sciences Program Email: cwsmitka@um*.ed* > University of Michigan > 1109 300 North Ingalls Bldg > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0404 > > > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@terra.net'. > Send subscription/archive requests to `techdiver-request@terra.net'. >
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