What "must" upgrades for an Inspiration Classic?

T

tubeglower

New Member
Hi all,

I am a Trimix OC diver, and a total newbie with rebreathers. I got hold of a Classic unit that I will use for my MOD1, and I would like to get suggestions on what upgrades you, experienced guys with this unit, really think worth considering.

I've been investigating, and while the electronics of my Classic seems to work properly, I know that APD is not supporting those units anymore, so I understand that an upgrade on that aspect would be something interesting.

- Option 1: Vision electronics. I think possible, easy and cheap, since it should be plenty of them available while a lot of people is adopting the Vision 2020
- Option 2: Vision 2020. Apparently not possible? Any thoughts?
- Option 3: AV1

The order doesn't reflect any specific preference. I am just interested on knowing your opinions and experiences on the different options.

What other parts you would consider to upgrade? (the unit comes with an aftermarket stainless frame)

Thanks in advance.
 
If you want to go the AV route, I am selling an AV head with AV1C, HUD, temp stick and fischer cable to run an external SW off it if you want
 
tubeglower said:
- Option 1: Vision electronics. I think possible, easy and cheap, since it should be plenty of them available while a lot of people is adopting the Vision 2020
-
Click to expand...

Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. To upgrade a mono vision to 2020, you send the whole lid in, they replace the pertinent electronics, and return the upgraded lid. You do not get the old electronics back, so there isn't a surplus of cheap, unwanted vision electronics out there. There are some relatively inexpensive vision mono's being sold as whole units, but those are complete units, not just a set of old electronics that can be installed in your classic.

A few other thoughts:

- the classic and vision have different height scrubber buckets and lids, and the connecting system is different. You cannot use a vision lid with a classic scrubber.

-AP used to install vision (mono) electronics in the classic lid, years ago when the vision first came out. I doubt they do this, but it's worth asking AP.

-I'm not sure if it is possible to get certified on an av1 Inspo, as it does not meet manufacturer's stock configurations. For that matter, it might be difficult to find someone who will certify you on a classic. I'd recommend finding a few potential instructors to see what they've got to say about certification.

Jim
 
moose_grunt said:
Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. To upgrade a mono vision to 2020, you send the whole lid in, they replace the pertinent electronics, and return the upgraded lid. You do not get the old electronics back, so there isn't a surplus of cheap, unwanted vision electronics out there. There are some relatively inexpensive vision mono's being sold as whole units, but those are complete units, not just a set of old electronics that can be installed in your classic.

A few other thoughts:

- the classic and vision have different height scrubber buckets and lids, and the connecting system is different. You cannot use a vision lid with a classic scrubber.

-AP used to install vision (mono) electronics in the classic lid, years ago when the vision first came out. I doubt they do this, but it's worth asking AP.

-I'm not sure if it is possible to get certified on an av1 Inspo, as it does not meet manufacturer's stock configurations. For that matter, it might be difficult to find someone who will certify you on a classic. I'd recommend finding a few potential instructors to see what they've got to say about certification.

Jim
Click to expand...
Thanks moose_grunt for the info.
 
Honestly, the "must have" upgrade is a Narked at 90 external monitoring kit, with a (computer of your choice) monitoring the 3 cells via Fischer cable and calculating inline deco. A nerd2 would be really slick, especially since the classic doesn't have a HUD. Maybe go with a different frame (Silent Diving travel frame, G-Box, PLDT, etc.) and/or BMCL if those suit your fancy and you have money to burn.
After that, I'd dive the snot out of it. You can get a loooooot of dives out of it like that. Eventually, when the handsets die, add an orifice or needle valve and another Fischer cable, and dive it as a MCCR.

Jim
 
tubeglower said:
that is boring... I prefer upgrading the unit I have and learn things in the way
Click to expand...
honestly Nick is correct.
I had a classic, then fitted a shearwater pursuit with the narked@90 kit, then fitted an alibox, then fitted a JJ BOV (utter rubbish), then sold it.
Then bought another classic with a Deep Pursuit with two hardwired predators in a home made box, then fitted BMCL's and MAV's and a golem shrimp BOV. I still think it's a joy to dive but I still ended up buying a JJ because it's more compact.
saying that the JJ was instantly rehosed with an offboard feed and the HUD exchanged for a NERD and a hollis BOV fitted before it even got in the water as I like it that way and arrived at that configuration after a lot of playing with various setups
But fill your boots with a classic as sometimes the journey is as much fun as the destination and I learned an awful lot and had a lot of fun messing with rebreathers along the way.
Though if cash is the motive it would still be cheaper in the end to buy a JJ.
 
Had classic for last 15 years - (was second hand when I bought it)
Use a DT box and a steel back plate with billy clips on the harness to aid stage mounting. (I did also take the AP padding and strap it to the bottom of the box to extend the backplate and add lumber support to stop back ache.
Got rid of auto air and use a dive rite rec wing and route the inflator under my arm - easier to inflate deflate quickly.

Tried mounting O2 on the bottom of the unit and 7ltre 50 and 7ltr tmix on the unit with no extra bail out - worked ok but heavy unit and also was a little bottom heavy.

When using boxes - make sure you trim them properly (I ended up with syntactic foam on the bottom of my unit and weight on the top) .

Also top tip is get your buoyancy right on the unit. Ie if you are weighted right the unit is way easier and nicer to dive.
 
tubeglower said:
Hi all,

I am a Trimix OC diver, and a total newbie with rebreathers. I got hold of a Classic unit that I will use for my MOD1, and I would like to get suggestions on what upgrades you, experienced guys with this unit, really think worth considering.

I've been investigating, and while the electronics of my Classic seems to work properly, I know that APD is not supporting those units anymore, so I understand that an upgrade on that aspect would be something interesting.

- Option 1: Vision electronics. I think possible, easy and cheap, since it should be plenty of them available while a lot of people is adopting the Vision 2020
- Option 2: Vision 2020. Apparently not possible? Any thoughts?
- Option 3: AV1

The order doesn't reflect any specific preference. I am just interested on knowing your opinions and experiences on the different options.

What other parts you would consider to upgrade? (the unit comes with an aftermarket stainless frame)

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I went down a similar route... in all honesty you can spend a fortune on additional external monitoring but it's still going to be old technology... I initially got various bits from narked and added external monitoring... then just bit the bullet and upgraded to the new Vision. It cost £2800ish and for that you get a brand new head and stack with vision 2020 handset, rechargeable batteries, mk3 solenoid, tempstick etc. That will then go straight into your existing chassis. So provided you didn't get robbed on the price you bought the classic you'll effectively have a brand new unit at a bargain price. If I was doing it all again I would have just dived the classic in standard trim then upgraded to the 2020.
 
Guys, after some time of this thread, an update...

My buddy and I got certified MOD1 + Deco (air diluent) with the old inspirations. My buddy found a nice offer in facebook and bought a backup unit from someone that sold him a vision 2020 (only electronics and scrubber), so perfect match for him. I still dive the classic, but got "black death" in the copper of the wiring, so after some investigation I rebuilt the unit. I also figured out how to solve the endemic problem of the case cracking that makes getting wet the switch of the hand held disabling it. Honestly, I have the personal wish of building up experience in the classic, at least my first 100 hour (covered already more than 30), and I will eventually investigate a nice conversion to mCCR. Right now I am diving it with only one hand held and a Nerd and I am actually loving it... I have some changes for when I am back after some days of business trip (new aluminum frame and BMCL)...
 
My first rebreather was Classic. Dived 5 years with it and sold it for an upgrade. Instead of an upgrade I got a pause in diving for several years.

Now getting back to diving. I bought a working Classic for 500€. It already got a BOV. I already got an OSTC CR which I will connect to the rebreather. I haven't decided the cell arrangement yet (parallel, some dedicated cells etc.). The computer will add a nice handset with decos. Maybe I'll also add a HUD.

The original harness will be replaced with a backplate. Maybe the Kent Tooling version as it gives a lower profile.

IMHO more upgrades is unnecessary for a machine that old. If I can keep on actively diving then I'll probably upgrade to a more modern unit. I have test dived rEvo, JJ and Triton.

Here's a photo of my first unit with 6mm backplate and argon tank mount. I'll add the modifications also to my new unit.
IMG_6169.jpg
 
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