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Peter, You are on the cavers list pal. Yes, you are right. I am not a "noted expert" on electronic rebreathers, but as anyone with shred of sensibility in our project knows, you do not dive CCRs (including electronic ones) in caves if you value your life. I might enlighten you that 4 of the designers of the EX-19 and project engineers on the MK-16 are members of the WKPP and actually work on this stuff at Coastal Station on a daily basis. Of course to you this means nothing because you have long ago put the cotton in your ears with regard to our message. None of these folks will dive electronic rebreathers in caves. In your mind these people probably do not qualify as "experts" either. Among those in our project, you would be characterized as a "12 inch dick". You strut onto dive boats with your bootleg (read: went home with a soldier) military rebreather and display to the "awestruck" audience your technical preeiminence. The problem is that people will listen to you, because you are a very inteligent and well informed guy (and a physician). Some of these people will get the impression that CCRs are basically no different than conventional scuba and probably just as safe and end up as a forgotten statistic. Take for instance the 3 recent deaths on the Inspiration CCR. In the "Alice in Wonderland" world of CCR electronic breathers nobody really wants to acknowlege this tragedy. Petey, why don't come on down to Wakulla and bring your little MK 15 and show us how to cave dive with it, smartass. You and Smithers can be a real comedy tag team. From behind the clouds of Smither's cigarette smoke you can quote to us from the US Navy's MK-16 manual and tell us all how naive and ignorant we are. Even better, why don't you join up with the USDCT. You and Zumrick will make a great pair. Petey, are you still diving air in your rebreather or have you learned how to dived mixed gas yet? Sounds like you are the now rear admiral of the fleet of battleship mouths and rowboat asses. Regards, Bill pH wrote: > > At 02:12 PM 7/28/98 +0100, John Grogan wrote: > >>One small correction, the US Navy course for the MK16 UBA (Navy electronic > >>rebreather) is two weeks in length. It is worth noting that the > >maintenance > >>and set up time for a MK16 is about 6 hrs per dive. > > At 02:12 PM 7/28/98 +0100, John Grogan wrote: > >>One small correction, the US Navy course for the MK16 UBA (Navy electronic > >>rebreather) is two weeks in length. It is worth noting that the > >maintenance and set up time for a MK16 is about 6 hrs per dive. > > That certainly is not the way the Navy's manuals do it. The duration and > prep does depend on when you dived the machine last. If it's been some > time, then I can see that you might want to strip down and completely > overhaul the machine, but for a week of diving (3-6 hrs/day in the water) I > will spend at least 6 hours prior to going on the trip, but only 30-45 mins > each day during the trip. > > >> To the best of my knowledge from reading annual diving safety summaries, > the MK16 >>has been involved in 2-3 fatalities in the Navy in the past 5 > years or so. As I > >>recall the primary problem has been flooding in the electronics package. > > This doesn't make sense. The 15/16 are designed to be flown manually and > taught that way. Flooding the electronics - due to leaving the set-screw > open - is possible, but means that the pre-dive checks were not followed. I > believe that this is the way the US Navy floods happened. But that still > should not kill you - see my post to the rebreather list re Dive Log: > Catalina 7/27 > > >As Bill Mee has often said - Electronics and water don't mix. > > Yeah, from a noted "expert" on electronic 'breathers ;-) > > pH -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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