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Post by dogsbodydiving on Dec 22, 2004 9:54:15 GMT -8
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Toze
Regular Diver
Posts: 47
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Post by Toze on Dec 22, 2004 11:09:19 GMT -8
Hello Dogsbodydiving,
I got one PIRELLI Explorer in my collection, but unfortunatilly I dont Know much about it.
Toze
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Post by John C Ratliff on Dec 22, 2004 11:17:00 GMT -8
I believe that I have an old SDM advertisement for the Pirelli Explorer regulator. I also remember that it was used in a "world record" deep dive of something around 400 feet in the 1970s. More later.
SeaRat
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Post by dogsbodydiving on Dec 22, 2004 11:46:27 GMT -8
Okey Dokey SeaRat excellent..Can't wait  Well Toze looks like we're both going to learn something. ;D Kim |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Dec 22, 2004 13:05:29 GMT -8
I have a 1967 Pirelli sporting goods catalogue featuring the Explorer. There appear to be two models, the "Standard" and the "Minor". The former comes with twin corrugated hoses, the latter with one corrugated hose and one (high pressure?) hose, or so the illustrations show. Here are the Italian-language descriptions:
A.R.A. Pirelli Explorer mod. Standard (brev. Novelli-Buggiani)
Ad aria compressa, a ciclo aperto. Costituito da: polmone erogatore, tubi corrugati, raccordo a tre vie con boccaglio, riduttore di pressione, blocco rubinetto con valvola di riserva, bombola con fondello di gomma (capacità 10 litri - 150 atm) e relativa armatura con cinghiaggio. In cassetta di legno, con le istruzioni per l'uso et la manutenzione. Monobombola/Bibombola.
Polmone erogatore Standard
Completo di: raccordo a tre vie con boccaglio: riduttore di pressione; tubo di gomma di collegamento alle bombole; tubi corrugati. In scatola di cartone, con le istruzioni per l'uso et la manutenzione.
A.R.A. Pirelli Explorer mod. Minor (brev. Novelli-Buggiani)
Ad aria compressa, a ciclo aperto. Costituito da: polmone erogatore con boccaglio incorporato, tubo corrugato di scarico, riduttore di pressione, blocco rubinetto con valvola di riserva, bombola con fondello di gomma (capacità 10 litri - 150 atm) e relativa armatura con cinghiaggio. Caratterizzato da valvola di carica e scarica incorporate nel polmone erogatore. Di minimo ingombro, pronto impiego, in cassetta di legno, con le istruzioni per l'uso et la manutenzione. Monobombola/Bibombola.
Polmone erogatore Minor
Completo di: boccaglio, riduttore di pressione; tubo di collegamento alle bombole, tubo corrugato di scarico. In scatola di cartone, con le istruzioni per l'uso et la manutenzione.
My Italian is extremely basic, but I can tell that "brev. Novelli-Buggiani" is a reference to a patent. The catalogue I'm quoting from didn't come with a price list.
Hope this helps.
David
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Post by dogsbodydiving on Dec 22, 2004 13:56:58 GMT -8
BLESS YOU DAVID  Thank you so much for taking time and effort to pass that info on. I would like to, on behalf of???..I'm not sure but prob 99% of the board ask "What the FCUK" does that mean? lmao Kim |
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Post by dogsbodydiving on Dec 22, 2004 14:06:30 GMT -8
An Italian that speaks English would be handy right now. |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Dec 22, 2004 14:57:35 GMT -8
>"What the FCUK" does that mean?<
OK, I'll give it a go... My French might help... This is going to be very literal and stilted... I'm not really into regulator vocabulary.
Pirelli Explorer breathing set Standard Model (Novelli-Buggiani patent)
Compressed air, open circuit. Consists of regulator, corrugated hoses, three-way connector with mouthpiece, pressure reducing valve, tap block with reserve valve, tank with rubber base (10 litre capacity - 150 ats) with attached harness and belt. In a wooden box, with instructions for use and maintenance. Single tank. Twin tanks.
Standard regulator
Comprises: three-way connection with mouthpiece; pressure reducing valve; rubber hose connecting to tank; corrugated hoses, In cardboard container, with instructions for use and maintenance.
Pirelli Explorer breathing set Minor model (Novelli-Buggiani patent)
Compressed air, open circuit. Consists of regulator with mouthpiece incorporated, corrugated exhaust hose, pressure reducing valve, tap block with reserve valve, tank with rubber base (10 litre capacity - 150 ats) with attached harness and belt. Characterised by supply and exhaust valves incorporated in the regulator. Minimum of encumbrance, ready for use. In a wooden box, with instructions for use and maintenance. Single tank. Twin tanks.
Minor regulator
Comprises: mouthpiece, pressure reducing valve; hose connecting to tank; corrugated exhaust hose. In cardboard container, with instructions for use and maintenance.
Does the above make any sense at all? I know French and German, but I've never had an Italian lesson in my life...
David
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Post by SeaRat on Dec 22, 2004 18:23:29 GMT -8
Okay, I found the ad I talked about above. Here's what it says: This was on page 19 of something; I think it was Skin Diver Magazine, but don't know for sure. I'm scanning this ad, and will send it to Linda to be put into this message. I was never sure how the heck they got this thing to work. Cousteau's patent had to do with placing the exhaust at the diaphragm, and this one simply does not do that. I can only figure out two ways around this from a physics standpoint. 1. This regulator breathed so hard that it took 8 inches or so of water pressure to activate the diaphragm and gain air. 2. They simply let it free-flow in certain positions, and moved the duckbill around to prevent that. But I saw this duckbill mounted on their mask strap in some photos from yesteryear, so this simply doesn't seem right. The billows diaphragm was mounted to the shoulder strap of the tank, so there was a difference in water pressure between the billows and the duckbill in certain positions. Anyway, I think there was a good reason this one never caught on. When you see the photo above, or the ad's photo, you'll see what I'm talking about. If it was competing with the DA Aqualung, which by itself drew about 8 inches of water, plus the tank mounting, which totaled about 12 inches of water (the US Navy in its old manuals said that the diver had to develop his chest muscles for breathing), then having the chest mount would decrease the breathing resistance. But once the Aqualung Overpressure breathing single stage regulator, and then the Mistral, came out, I think this regulator concept was dead. John  |
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Post by dogsbodydiving on Dec 23, 2004 1:31:29 GMT -8
Thanks to you all...Excellent ;D
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Toze
Regular Diver
Posts: 47
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Post by Toze on Dec 23, 2004 11:38:10 GMT -8
Very good job, thank you, everybody.  |
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Post by pnuytten on Dec 23, 2004 23:45:04 GMT -8
Re: The 'Explorer' reg "defeating the laws of physics" - The explanation is undramatic . . .there's a stainless cable-operated shuttle valve in the mouthpiece tee that's attached to the moving external plate (case) of the reg. As you exhale, the unused or undepleted trachea and upper lung gas fills the bellows. When it full or very nearly so, the shuttle valve is pulled closed and the balance of your exhalation ( about 2/3rds) goes out the duckbill/flutter valve into the water. On the inhalation, you take in the contents of the bellows first - until the moving plate ( case) contacts a demand lever in the fixed plate and the rest of the breath ( about 2/3rds) is from your HP gas supply. The supply gas to trachea gas ratio is adjustable to a degree - as is the bowden cable ( the stainless cable) I'ved used this, and similar rigs ( 'Gas-Stacker'), at up to 50/50 quite a bit, and it's OK as long as you're not working hard.
The 'Explorer was a problem to clear if you did get water in the bellows, though.
PN
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Post by SeaRat on Dec 24, 2004 9:34:39 GMT -8
Ever had one of those "Ah-Hah!!!" moments. This regulator now makes sense, and that's where they got the extended dive times. PNuytten, thanks as that explaination puts the regulator on the map. Not only was it a chest-mount, but the diver re-breathed some of his/her exhalation. Now I wished I had tried the regulator.
John
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Post by Bryan on Dec 24, 2004 9:59:59 GMT -8
John, what manual is the information about the Aqualung pulling 8" wc in ? I've never seen that one. They are a bit of a bear to get set right but even the worst of them I've been able to get below 3"
If it was competing with the DA Aqualung, which by itself drew about 8 inches of water, plus the tank mounting, which totaled about 12 inches of water (the US Navy in its old manuals said that the diver had to develop his chest muscles for breathing), then having the chest mount would decrease the breathing resistance. But once the Aqualung Overpressure breathing single stage regulator, and then the Mistral, came out, I think this regulator concept was dead.
John
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Post by SeaRat on Dec 24, 2004 10:21:30 GMT -8
Bryan,
That was my own experience with the one that I have. I have never been able to get it to work well, and I have tried many times over the last 30 years. I have bent the levers to get better leverage, gotten the springs balanced at ~125 psi interstage pressure, and done everything I could to make it work, including recently modifying a housing so that the LP port was adjascent to the inhalation hose (usually it is opposite, but I saw one on e-bay that was not). Nothing has made that regulator work in a manner consistent with what I feel are safe levels for breathing.
John
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? Piccy at
? Piccy at
Thank you so much for taking time and effort to pass that info on. I would like to, on behalf of???..I'm not sure but prob 99% of the board ask "What the FCUK" does that mean? lmao 
