Scrubber tube material

I also had a look for someone who could do syntactic coatings on this side of the Atlantic. I found a firm in Gloucestershire but didn't contact them.

I know the grey pvc by an old trade name (darvic) and I believe it can be glued using "Tangit" (tm) so that might help create a sticky surface.

I also considered using two plastic tank meshes as a cheap means of trapping a layer of water close to the canister, reducing the flushing and helping it hold temperature.
 
Would anyone else be interested in getting their scrubber tube coated in syntactic foam ?

I have contacted KISS and I'm trying to find the best way to handle the shipping etc.

It might be more cost effective to ship several together.
 
Would anyone else be interested in getting their scrubber tube coated in syntactic foam ?

I have contacted KISS and I'm trying to find the best way to handle the shipping etc.

It might be more cost effective to ship several together.
You might consider just buying a second tube vs shipping your existing one back and forth (plus losing dive time).

The foam is nice and definitely seems to work for me in a sidewinder.
 
I found the 2021 pdf price list.

The syntactic coating is $350 and the bare tube $149.

Shipping may be less than 150. It may also result in different customs costs.
 
I agree scubascooby, you would most likely better off both time wise and cost to simply purchase a new scrubber tube.

Should you take that course, be sure to notify KISS as to the year your Classic was made. The importance of this is that the inner diameter of the camper of the scrubber tube is slightly larger (a change that was made a few years back) than the original models manufactured between 1990 and 2013.

Living in South Florida, it is somewhat of a rarity for me to encounter water temps below 65°F/18°C, therefore my Classic’s scrubber tube only has the Rhino coating, which does add a miniscule amount of added insulation. Diving cooler climes, I would most highly recommend adding the Syntactic foam option to that purchase.

While the Syntactic foam layer applied by KISS Rebreathers is a 3mm thick, this non-compressible layer of foam (along with the rhino guard coating on top) increases the overall wall thickness to a full .39-inches/1cm. While that might not sound like much, the added layer does render a highly significant improvement to the sorb’s efficacy and duration in water with temps approaching the freezing point of 32°F/0°C.
 
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The highest temperature we get around the British isles is about 18C but 12C is more typical and inland lakes down to 4-5C in early Spring.

I'm planning for a return trip to Norway next year where it's about 10-11C
 
I finally decided to just order a new canister tube.

It was delivered very quickly and looks good.

I will try to measure the buoyancy difference before taking it for a dip.
 
I finally got a few dives with the new canister.

I usually dive with about 4lb with an aluminium backplate and 1 ali stage. I don't like having so little weight and with 2 stages I have no weight.

With the syntactic canister I used about 8lb which is much better.

I expect with 2 stages I will need 2-4lb which is better.
 
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