THE NANOBOOSTER
HANS AND FRANZ GONNA PUMP YOU UP
Last week I received Gordon Smiths Nanobooster pump number 006 with a licence to pump. I ordered it as soon
as I heard about it. Gordon put me in the second group to be built.
Phi has already crowed about his so this could be old hat.
I have named the nanobooster Hans and Franz. I did not get a chance to play with it last week.
No manual but only three holes. One was for a BC or Drysuit inflator....The other two were marked I & O.
I sent a teasing e-mail about I & O to Gordon and he patiently explained that I was for Inlet
and O was for Outlet. Sorry Gordon, I guess American humor (especially mine) sometimes does not translate into Canadian.
This thing is a beauty. One of my machinists marveled at the workmanship, especially the CNC engraving.
Hans and Franz weighs just over 6 pounds and is going with me on my dives to all
those places where high pressure O2 is simply not available. Read most of the US,
the Bahamas, Honduras, the tropics home of warm clear water..etc. Most of the places I go mix nitrox so they have Oxygen, but often it
is not at high pressure....the best you can get is about 2300 psi...just over two thirds of a full tank.
To test it I had to call in a favor. About 4 or 5 years ago, I gave up my standard tanks.
I had 5 of them. As a traveling diver...mostly by air...I found that I never used them
and getting them VIPed and keeping up with Hydro was a pain.
I now just rent tanks on site. I gave them to Ron at Reef and Ridge Dive Shop.
The deal was that on the limited occasions I would need a tank, Ron would just loan me a full tank.
Until Saturday I never even borrowed a tank. Saturday afternoon I got one to test out the booster.
Saturday turned into a long test day at the pool for my latest revision ot the RGU CCR.
As usual I made one modification and caused three new leaks. I never got near the
booster this weekend. Monday morning was going to be the day to play.
The outlet and inlet are clearly marked. I & 0. These are 1/4 inch female pipe making connections really easy.
Using SCUBA filler yokes at each end of my filler whip and a
few SCUBA yoke block adaptors, I have really good flexibility in what I can hook to what.
Dave Sutton describes this approach so well I can really add nothing.
Dave Sutton Adaptor Page
First I connected a DUI drysuit inflator hose to the low
pressure port of Hans and Franz. This is the same as a standard BC inflator hose.
It is smaller than the fitting for a Scubapro Air 2 regulator/BC inflator.
Gordon really
came up with a great idea here. All those OC divers who are commanded to come back on the
boat with at least 1000 pounds of air have just what you need to operate the booster.
One short whip goes between the supply bottle and the inlet port....
in this case it is one of my many medical oxygen bottles for my rebreather experiments.
I connected a yoke block to the outlet port.
Then I attached the all purpose filler whip,
It connects the outlet port of the booster to the 200 bar RGU tank.
At this point it is the job of Hans and Franz to pump it up.
The first step is to flush the system with clean
oxygen. I shut all relief valves and loosened the connection to the rebreather tank.
Then I slightly cracked the supply tank. After a little hissing at the rebreather tank end I shut off
the supply tank.
Then I tightened all the fittings and opened the rebreather tank. Next I cracked the supply tank valve
and was rewarded by a flow through the booster. So far, all I have accomplished is to add the booster as
a passive element in the transfill system. I opened the valve of the scuba tank after the
two tanks equalized and was rewarded by a quiet but steady
Hiss....thump....hiss....thump...hiss...thump...
It was music to my ears. With each hiss, the gauge went up.
Hans and Franz were pumping me up.
Almost finished. The gauge is
at a very satisfying 2800 psi. More than what I needed for todays tests.
You do not need to read between the lines. I love this dude and it is going
on a lot of dive trips.
A couple of last points...I almost busted a gut carrying that regular tank. Those
things weigh 40 pounds each. More than my rebreather and weight belt combined. Yuck.
I'm going to set it up so it can use shop air for the low pressure side here at the
office. That should make life easier.
Ok here is Gordons Website for the two of you guys that do not know it.
The Kiss Rebreather Website
Hiss....thump....hiss....thump...hiss...thump...Hiss....thump....hiss....thump...hiss...thump...
I'm Hans the big piston and I'm Franz the smaller piston...we are going to pump you up. Hear us now and dive long later.
Hiss....thump....hiss....thump...hiss...thump...Hiss....thump....hiss....thump...hiss...thump...
