Dave's CCR Converted Dolphin

Starting with the semi closed Dolphin on the left we will look at some of the parts and mods required to turn an off-the-shelf Dolphin into a fully closed rebreather capable of so much more than the original

 
An oxygen clean, environmentally sealed  apeks DS4 is used with a delrin plug installed to defeat the depth compensating feature of the reg. This is crucial to the operation because the KISS CMF orifice is designed to reduce the oxygen delivery as depth increases.

Other conversions I know of use a Poseidon 1st stage with a bolt threaded in to defeat depth compensation
Standard Draeger orifice housing with sonic orifice removed to serve as oxygen injection to dosage device
Bypass regulator/dosage device. This shows oxygen injection from the KISS valve on the left. The diluent demand valve is connected at the bottom.
This is an older version of the KISS valve. The most recent production is smaller and lighter. Contact http://www.jetsam.ca/ for information about purchasing. Swagelock fittings with barbed ends are used to connect the hoses to the KISS valve and filter
Complete gas delivery circuit looks like this with O2 side on left and diluent side on right of picture
Here we have 18" regulator hose and 36" LP hose with air2 fitting These adapters are available from www.tecme.de and are used to connect standard regulator hose ends to the Draeger bypass/dosage device fittings
These aluminum shells were purchased from John Dalla-Zuanna jdz@paintandcustom.com.au

When I first converted I used 13cuft aluminum tanks but opted for LP steel 20s since I don't own an O2 booster. The steel tanks were a little much for the plastic shell
The steel tanks are held in by aluminum channel with slots cut in and holes drilled in the shell. I tried using tanks straps and cam locks but prefer hose clamps. The shell and tank holders have been powder coated and have yet to show any scratches and sign of wear
PPO2 monitoring is a kit from Mark Monroe at www.ppo2.com The housing is also available from www.tecme.de

Backup monitoring is an HS Explorer http://www.hs-eng.com/ which also takes care of decompression monitoring duties

 
This is a backplate I purchased from Ron Micjan at www.tmishop.com Ron is somewhat of a CCR/Dolphin Guru and is who inspired and helped greatly with my conversion.

Due to my large lung capacity (I'm 6'3" 240lbs) I re-folded the tabs at the top and extended the bolts to allow the counterlung to give me a full inhale/exhale cycle without hitting the ADV or OPV
This is what it looks like when ready to dive. The backplate and harness is the same I use with my OC rig so it is all very comfortable and familiar to me.

If anyone wants to comment on this or ask questions I can be reached at dave@wedivebc.com

 
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