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> pyle - the solenoid sticks open due to computer malfunction.explain to me > how you even know its stuck open before its too late. You've never been diving on a rebreather, have you? Let me ask you this: On open circuit scuba, when you blow an HP hose, how do you know it "before it's too late"? I mean, you can't see it, can you? Oh, but you DO hear it. On a rebreather, not only do you hear the solenoid click, but you also hear the rush of gas - sort of like punching a purge button. Maybe on some rebreathers this is barely audible, but when you don't have to listen to a gurgling rush of bubbles going past your ears every few seconds, your ears get *very* sensative. But besides hearing the gas, you also feel it as a slight pressure burst in the loop. If it stuck open, you would definitely feel the back-pressure in the loop before long before it becomes a physiological concern. Now, suppose the solenoid does stick open (incidently, this would virtually always be a mechanical failure, not an electronic one). O2 starts flushing into the loop. Unless the O2 injection point is just upstream of the mouthpiece, it will take a few breaths on the loop for the high O2 to move around to your lungs. When you notice this happenning (and unless you are already brain dead, you *will* notice this happening), you do as I suggested in my last message. If the rebreather doesn't allow you to easily do what I suggested in my last message, then it is a poorly designed rebreather. If you're not intelligent or observant enough to respond to this sort of situation in a calm and timely manner, then you are inadequately trained for rebreather diving. Thus, for adequately trained divers on well-designed rebreathers, computer systems are *NOT* life-support. Aloha, Rich
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