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Post by surflung on Feb 14, 2017 7:19:27 GMT -8
- Good to know about that 82 foot depth limit. On one of its first dives (for me), the green hosed Snark III I have pictured above was breathing so nicely that I forgot I wasn't using one of my more tried and tested regs. I was swimming along a ledge at 56 feet and on a whim I just soared over the edge down to 117 feet at Fortune Pond. The Snark III worked perfectly.
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 14, 2017 8:40:01 GMT -8
Found my 1998 Nemrod catalog, the catalog says the Snark III is not recommended to use past 25 meters, 82' They show a WOB graph and the WOB at 40 meters is 2.30. So they say you should not go below 25 meters but they tested it at 40 meters. On the WOB graph it shows most of the breathing effort to be on the exhaust side of the loop. Tom Tom, This was caused most probably by the small intake and exhaust wagon wheels in the mouthpiece, not by the regulator's performance itself. That, and the venturi hitting the diaphragm and causing it not to be as effective is it could be, would lead to these WOB problems. With a USD hose loop, and with a guard to deflect the venturi air directly down the intake hose, this regulator performs extremely well. The mushroom on the exhaust is so large that I'm pretty sure it does not cause WOB increases; in fact, it is so large that in the vertical position, my Snark III leaks a bit as the breaking effort is less than the radius of that exhaust. Two years ago, I received a Heinke mouthpiece from Vintage Frank when I visited Germany and we met. He told me that this mouthpiece went onto the Nemrod Snark III's hoses best, and so I made that change. With the Heinke mouthpiece, and my mod in the case to deflect air, the Snark III is a really great regulator. It's like breathing on a USD Mistral at 500 psig for the whole dive. But, I have not used this regulator at depth. SeaRat Diving the Snark III with the Heinke mouthpiece.
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 14, 2017 13:23:08 GMT -8
This was caused most probably by the small intake and exhaust wagon wheels in the mouthpiece, not by the regulator's performance itself. That, and the venturi hitting the diaphragm and causing it not to be as effective is it could be, would lead to these WOB problems. With a USD hose loop, and with a guard to deflect the venturi air directly down the intake hose, this regulator performs extremely well. The mushroom on the exhaust is so large that I'm pretty sure it does not cause WOB increases; in fact, it is so large that in the vertical position, my Snark III leaks a bit as the breaking effort is less than the radius of that exhaust. Two years ago, I received a Heinke mouthpiece from Vintage Frank when I visited Germany and we met. He told me that this mouthpiece went onto the Nemrod Snark III's hoses best, and so I made that change. With the Heinke mouthpiece, and my mod in the case to deflect air, the Snark III is a really great regulator. It's like breathing on a USD Mistral at 500 psig for the whole dive. But, I have not used this regulator at depth. SeaRat John, it's information like this that we are indeed fortunate to have you on this forum--so thank you! JB
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 14, 2017 16:13:16 GMT -8
Here is a better photo of the Heinke mouthpiece Vintage Frank gave me on the Snark III hoses. I just got my Snark III out, and confirmed that it does breathe quite nicely off the tank. The Heinke mouthpiece with it's large wagon wheels and flexible non-returns helps this regulator a lot. Remember that the U.S. Navy used the Snark III in its training of Underwater Swimmers School candidates in the 1990s when the USD/Aqualung Royal Aquamaster was no longer available, and before the Aqualung Mentor was available. One other thought I have is that this regulator would be a good candidate for the DSV Mouthpiece on USD hoses from VDH. That, with the interior mod, will give a very good performing regulator with a modern mouthpiece. John
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 14, 2017 16:46:31 GMT -8
Remember that the U.S. Navy used the Snark III in its training of Underwater Swimmers School candidates in the 1990s when the USD/Aqualung Royal Aquamaster was no longer available, and before the Aqualung Mentor was available. John This fact is very easy to forget, as it's not something that most people will mention due to it being one of them "fereign relgalterz" an' it ain't Aaaaamerc'n, hmmmmmm I don't think the USN would use something with such a limited depth capability, so yes, a new mouthpiece probably makes these these things totally rock! JB
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 14, 2017 17:36:11 GMT -8
Remember that the U.S. Navy used the Snark III in its training of Underwater Swimmers School candidates in the 1990s when the USD/Aqualung Royal Aquamaster was no longer available, and before the Aqualung Mentor was available. John This fact is very easy to forget, as it's not something that most people will mention due to it being one of them "fereign relgalterz" an' it ain't Aaaaamerc'n, hmmmmmm I don't think the USN would use something with such a limited depth capability, so yes, a new mouthpiece probably makes these these things totally rock! JB BUDS using the Snark III. John PS, please don't do this with your hose loop! For U.S. Armed Forces training only. This was uploaded in 2009.
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 14, 2017 17:48:25 GMT -8
Not quite Davey Crockett catching a bullet with his teeth, but... JB
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retpo
Senior Diver
Posts: 63
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Post by retpo on Feb 15, 2017 10:10:20 GMT -8
I know what you mean JB, I got me one of them store bought fereign motorcycles up here in Harley country :-) Yeah when I put hoses on the Snark, I used the new larger opening wagon wheels. I gotta look for my macro lens and will take a picture of the WOB graph/loop. Couple interesting things in the 1998 Nemrod catalog. If you look under the New and Optional signs, there is a box in which it states that an optional balanced first stage kit is available. Even gives a part number for it. Even more interesting to me, is the photo's of the regulator. The horns are orientated down. In one photo, the intake and exhaust sides would be switched, in the other where the regulator is shown more in the background, the exhaust side can is rotated. The only thing about the Snark that I didn't like was the high profile regulator body sitting on top of the valve. This would seem to give the Snark's offset intake a huge advantage by lowering the regulator. I could get giddy thinking how easy it would breath on my Sportsways twins. Might need some longer hoses.
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 15, 2017 10:41:19 GMT -8
Even more interesting to me, is the photo's of the regulator. The horns are orientated down. In one photo, the intake and exhaust sides would be switched, in the other where the regulator is shown more in the background, the exhaust side can is rotated W'll yeah but, I... you... ummmm... WHAT THE HECK! I'm rilly kunfoozed now! Can't help but wonder if they sent the parts to be shot by an outside source an' no one wanted to say anything cuz it was the big boss' girlfriend, and it also looks like the label is peeling off in the corner... HUH?!?!?!? JB
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 15, 2017 10:43:07 GMT -8
Retpro,
It looks to me that all they did was to place the label upside down, and take photos of it for the catelog. In order to make that upside-down orientation work, they would need to take the mouthpiece off, turn it over (it's an offset mouthpiece), take out the non-return wagon wheels and re-orient them to the new mouthpiece orientation, then put everything back together. But in doing an upside-down orientation, they would gain a couple of inches decrease in water pressure on the lungs. But this orientation probably would not work with some tank valves and manifolds.
The one company which did capitalize on the regulator orientation was Sportsways, with their Duel Air and Hydro Twin regulators.
John
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 15, 2017 10:53:53 GMT -8
Cheese and crackers--lookit the other reg, the label is oriented in yet another direction! WOW: I think I'm correct in my assumption...
JB
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 16, 2017 12:46:28 GMT -8
I went out to the garage, where I have my small (52 cubic foot) tanks right now, with a sherwood single tank valve on each one, and tried to put my Snark III onto the tank upside down. It would not fit. The regulator contacted the tank, and I could not get a seal on the valve. So I think Jaybird is correct:
I think the marketing people flumboozled this one.
John
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 16, 2017 13:11:52 GMT -8
I used to have a friend who was really into Ferraris; he was telling me that it's not uncommon to find things inside the doors and other places like cigarette butts or chewing gum, because the people putting them together really don't care. The catalog cover just reminded me of that story JB
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retpo
Senior Diver
Posts: 63
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Post by retpo on Feb 17, 2017 10:54:29 GMT -8
John I found some tanks and valves that work while others do not. The photo shows the Snark III mounted upside down an a classic steel 72 Aqua-Lung tank. The valve is their K valve with metal handle. I like these valves because they have an SPG port on the valve. I tried a Dacor J valve with the metal knurled handle and it worked too but a Sportsways K did not. Looks like it would fit on my doubles too but might need to drop a bands a little. The bac pac on those would have to be taken off (one bolt) and replaced after the regulator is attached. I did a crude measurement and mounting the regulator upside down would lower the diaphragm a pinch over 2", not to mention the spiffy streamline look. Problem is, and maybe this really isn't a problem, but this would put the intake horn on the left side versus std. right side orientation. Looking straight on, it looks a little like a puppy being scolded with its ears down, this makes a kinky bend in the hoses on its way up to the diver. The best solution might be to have the hoses more straight across from each other and mount the reg at a slight angle off to the side. So what problems would reversing intake and exhaust hose positions make??? I will make a venturi deflector but want to try things upside down first. It breathes so easy now, if I mount it upside down, put in a venturi like yours, it just might blow the glass out of my mask with the first deep breath.
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Post by regulator68bj on Feb 17, 2017 13:28:10 GMT -8
Hi retpo, Would it be possible to have a PDF of your 1998 "Nemrod" catalogue??
My Email litremeter@talktalk.net
Regards john68
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