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On Wed, 8 Mar 1995 bmk@ds*.bc*.ca* wrote:

> What does it cost to run a fully closed circuit rebreather?  
> Someone from BMD claimed that at tek Howard Hall said over 
> $100/hour.  Does anyone know if this is true?  The person
> at BMD suggested that the unit needed an 8 hour profesional 
> cleaning once per week.

We've had two Cis-Lunar Mk4 fully closed rebreathers out here in Hawaii
since December. I've personally logged over 60 hours on the rig so far.

When considering costs of *ALL* expendables/replaceables (helium, oxygen,
sofnolime absorbent, batteries, oxygen sensors, O2-compatable lubricant,
betadine solution, and even cable-ties :-) ) we find that we pay
approximately US$10-12 (retail prices) per hour of use.  Maintenance time
includes about an hour combined pre- and post-dive stuff (mostly rinsing
the rig after a dive) for each day of diving, about an hour once a week or
so to change absorbent and other scheduled maintenance, and an additional
90 minutes each month (of use) for full breakdown & disinfecting.

Because of the constant PO2 allowed by fully closed-circuit rigs, I've
done 20 minutes of narcosis-free time at 180-225fsw and owed less than 20
minutes of decompression, with *NO* pre- or proto-DCI symptoms afterward
(better than 1:1 ratio of bottom time:Decompression time...scary as HELL
climbing out of the water with so little decompression after such a long
deep dive!)

My open-circuit trimix dives cost *MUCH* more money, require about twice
as much pre- and post-dive time, require more maitenance, have less margin
for error, and are much less efficient for decompression purposes.

No, I am not employed by Cis-Lunar; nor do I own any stock in their
company (although I WAS first in line to give them a downpayment check for
a Mk5).

Aloha,
Rich

deepreef@bi*.bi*.ha*.or*

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