Contents
Whatever the Mind Can Conceive & Believe,
It Can Achieve
You’ve decided to build your own rebreather. Congratulations! That statement might seem a little like “You’ve decided to fly a 747” or “You’ve decided to teach yourself quantum physics” — but I’m here to tell you that this guide was especially written to make it both easy and (believe it or not) fun to build your own diving rebreather with an electronic oxygen monitor (Oh, and don’t forget that you’re likely to save a significant chunk of cash as well).
To sum up, I explain the mysterious parts in the box in plain English, with a little humour and without too much jargon — and then help you build the rebreather that’s perfect for you!
You’ll find that each section in this guide acts as a reference for each type of rebreather component that you can add to your rebreather; some are required components, and others are optional devices that add extra functionality to your rebreather. You can start at any point — each section is self-contained — although the sections are arranged in a somewhat linear order that I recommend that you follow.
The guide also includes a glossary of rebreather terms and an appendix with information about the various types of rebreathers, which comes in handy if you haven’t decided on upon the type. Each chapter also provides the general information you need to make a buying decision between different flavours of the same component. For example, in section 3, I discuss both bare-bones and advanced oxygen monitors (without resorting to engineer-speak)
This guide is divided into 5 major parts. The first five are made up of a number of chapters, and each chapter is further divided into sections. You’ll find all the nasty acronyms and abbreviations, part names, and relevant items in the index; important topics and information that appear elsewhere in the book are cross referenced to make them easier to find. The book also has a spiffy full-color photo shoot of a rebreather assembly that would please even the pickiest supermodel.
In Part I, I introduce you to the tool (yes, only one tool) of the rebreather assembly trade (a screwdriver, which tells you how complex the hardware really is), what components make up a rebreather, and how they work together within your rebreather. You also determine what type of rebreather you should build by examining your current and future needs.
In Part II, you assemble the required components to build a bare-bones breathing loop — it won’t be possible to dive yet with all the visual bells and whistles, but it will have all the basic features that you need. Next, you’ll be able to add your choice of oxygen gas injection system after you’ve finished this part.
In Part III, we cover the addition of gas to your rebreather — such as a manual addition valves (MAVs), Automatic Diluent Valves, Flow Orifices, stereo sound card, a DVD drive, and a dial-up modem. After you’ve completed this part, you can use your new PC to access the Internet or watch a DVD movie while you work. Or you can finally play that latest 3-D shoot-’em-up game with every last visual bell and whistle turned on.
In Part IV, I introduce you to advanced hardware that pumps up the performance of your rebreather, including home networking (both the wired and the wireless type), cable and DSL Internet connections, digital scanners, and SCSI devices. (If the acronyms sound like Egyptian hieroglyphics, read all about them here.) Not every computer owner needs the technology found in this part, but after you’ve read these chapters, you’ll be familiar with the enhancements that you can add to create a power user’s PC.
The five chapters in Part V are a quick reference of tips and advice on several topics related to the assembly of PCs. For example, you’ll find a chapter devoted to potential problems and a chapter to help you speed up your new computer.
Some things that you encounter while building your Rebreather are just too important to miss. To make sure that you see certain paragraphs, they’re marked with one of the following icons.
Warning
As you can imagine, the Warning icon steers you clear of potential disaster. Always read the information under this icon first!
Warning
As you can imagine, the Warning icon steers you clear of potential disaster. Always read the information under this icon first!
Warning
As you can imagine, the Warning icon steers you clear of potential disaster. Always read the information under this icon first!
Sensible safety precautions to take when building your own rebreather
Before you take the plunge (pardon the pun) and begin to build your new rebreather, be sure to take note of the following precautions and advice we offer (often as a product of a painful and/or expensive experience!)
When building a rebreather, the total system design must be considered to ensure safe, trouble-free performance. Function, material compatibility, adequate ratings, proper installation, operation, and maintenance are the responsibilities of the system designer and user.
While we make every effort to ensure that the information we supply here is correct to the very best of our knowledge, we cannot be held responsible for any injury or damage to any persons or property as a result of the use or misuse of this information and/or advice.
Building rebreather is a relatively safe procedure, but please be sure to take ALL necessary safety precautions when handling power supplies, sharp tools etc.
Thank you.
"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration"
In This Section
Everything you see around you - every item you own, every book you’ve read, every app you use, every website you browse—was once nothing more than an idea in someone else’s head.
That airplane thousands of miles above you. The memory foam pillow on your bed. The headache pills. The toothbrush. Your guitar. The Internet. All of these things began as dreams.
The great thing about starting to see the world as an overstuffed library of ideas is that you couldn’t have any better proof that inventing is for everyone. If someone else can dream something and turn it into a reality, time and time again, you can too.
But, when it comes to inventing things, the real trick is sticking the journey through or going from idea to invention to market. In this case, Thomas Edison said it best, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
So, if you think you’ve got a genius idea, be prepared to put in the legwork to see it through. It’s not as hard as you think!
That’s where this handy little guide comes in.
We’ll walk you through the 12 things you need to do to get your ideas to reality, and give you a number of useful resources to help you figure out everything you need to know to do it. All you have to do is read (and learn), develop a good sense of focus, do your research, test, test, test, and stick it through!
"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong"
Though similar statements and concepts have been made over the course of history, the law itself was coined by, and is named after, American aerospace engineer Edward A. Murphy Jr.; its exact origins are debated, but it is generally agreed it originated from Murphy and his team following a mishap during rocket sled tests some time between 1948 and 1949, and was finalized and first popularized by testing project head John Stapp during a later press conference. Murphy's original quote was the precautionary design advice that "If there are two or more ways to do something and one of those results in a catastrophe, then someone will do it that way."
Also called: potential failure modes and effects analysis; failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA)
source: https://asq.org/quality-resources/fmea#Use
Begun in the 1940s by the U.S. military, failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is a step-by-step approach for identifying all possible failures in a design, a manufacturing or assembly process, or a product or service. It is a common process analysis tool.
"Failure modes" means the ways, or modes, in which something might fail. Failures are any errors or defects, especially ones that affect the customer, and can be potential or actual.
"Effects analysis" refers to studying the consequences of those failures.
Failures are prioritized according to how serious their consequences are, how frequently they occur, and how easily they can be detected. The purpose of the FMEA is to take actions to eliminate or reduce failures, starting with the highest-priority ones.
Failure modes and effects analysis also documents current knowledge and actions about the risks of failures, for use in continuous improvement. FMEA is used during design to prevent failures. Later it’s used for control, before and during ongoing operation of the process. Ideally, FMEA begins during the earliest conceptual stages of design and continues throughout the life of the product or service.
There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.
In This Section
A rebreather, like any sort of contraption (a car, a bike, a computer) is just a collection of different parts put together to form a complete assembly. Some of these parts that are made by various different manufacturers and other parts are specifically made (i.e. fabricated) just for the device.
Ask most people what they know about rebreathers, and they’ll tell you that a rebreather is a complex, sealed box full of confusing parts that you need an engineering degree to understand — something like a cross between an unopened Egyptian pyramid and a rocket engine. Ask those same people whether they want to try their hand at actually building a rebreather, and they’ll probably laugh out loud. Even if you did buy all the mysterious parts (which techno-types affectionately refer to as rebreather components), where would you start? Where do you buy everything? How do you fit the components together? Nobody but an honest-to-goodness rebreather nerd (or Rebreathologist) could possibly put a rebreather together!
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have great news: If you can handle the tool shown in Figure 1-1 — yes, the humble Phillips screwdriver — you can safely assemble your own rebreather (and even enjoy doing it!). After you discover how to build your own rebreather and start to use it, you’ll probably agree with me: Building a rebreather is easier than figuring out how to use some of the complicated software that the computer can run. The idea that building a rebreather is as difficult as building or repairing a car is just a myth (probably encouraged by rebreather manufacturers).
In this section, I introduce you to the standard rebreather and accessories that you can use to build your rebreather, and then I show you how they fit together. (And after you’ve successfully built your first rebreather, drop me an e-mail at hello@rebreathology.com, and I can congratulate you personally!)