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Post by SeaRat on May 8, 2021 9:50:43 GMT -8
I'm bored, waiting on a Xfinity TV technician to fix our TV, so I've been looking at my Flikr account, and saw that I have many different photos of tripple tank systems. Mostly out-of-favor now, but I've used a couple. Here they are:  IMG_1042 by John Ratliff, on Flickr My LDS, Pacific Watersports, has this set on display.  _MG_5119 by John Ratliff, on Flickr This is a set from the museum in Tacoma.  _MG_5130 by John Ratliff, on Flickr That same museum, which features Ryan Spence's collection, has this set of Cousteau tripple tanks, the same ones we saw in The Silent World movie.  _MG_5131 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here's the valving of the lower valve for the Cousteau original tripple tank system. Note that the fill valve was also the reserve, as that was closed, and only opened after the two other tanks were drained. This provided a 1/3 reserve for the divers.  _MG_5123 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here's another set from Ryan's collection, showing the type of tripple tank/valve system that was first available in the USA. I've seen photos of the U.S. Navy using this set.  Screen Shot 2019-02-18 at 6.00.06 PM by John Ratliff, on Flickr For their dives on the Brittanic, the Cousteau divers used this tripple tank system, with the Mistral regulator on the left hand cylinder. Because of that, it needed an extension of the exhaust hose too. Note the curve to the cylinder placement. This kept the pressure of the center cylinder off the spine (a problem with conventional tripples).  Screen Shot 2019-02-18 at 8.00.20 PM by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here we see that the hoses on the Mistral are reversed, and that the inhalation is the left hose while the exhalation is the right hose (note also the upside down La Spiro logo).  Triple tank offset002 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here I've noted the advantage of this system over the conventional center post. Note also that by simply swimming slightly left-side down, the regulator is in allignment with the center of the diver's lungs.  Clear Lake Research Dive1 by John Ratliff, on Flickr In 1971, I had just returned from Vietnam, and gotten out of the USAF. I went almost immediately to became a research subject for a physiological project, and had to wear this tripple tank system. Well, Xfinity is here. So I'll leave it at that. John |
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Post by vance on May 8, 2021 13:35:39 GMT -8
Triples! I don't even want to carry doubles! It's hard enough to carry a single...
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Post by scubalawyer on May 8, 2021 15:13:18 GMT -8
Karl Ghering graciously offered to let me dive his tripples one time, but I got busy that day and never got around to it. Hopefully I'll get another chance someday.  |
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Post by SeaRat on May 8, 2021 21:43:26 GMT -8
I'd be remiss if I did not include the UDS-1 (Unified Diving System-1) from U.S. Divers Company. This unit came about because USD wanted to cash in on the Cousteau series, and decided to design a great new system. The UDS-1 was designed in France, but spected in the USA. So it had a couple of problems. Here's what the system looked like after I corrected those problems:  UDS1bal by John Ratliff, on Flickr The valving and cylinders were unique to the USD-1. The opening in the cylinders were huge, not the normal 3/4 inch for the manifold, but rather a bit over 1 inch in diameter. This allowed for a really large valve interior opening, the biggest ever designed into a scuba system. The cylinders were not manifolded flat, but rather curved to allew the exterior surface to nicely fit a norm human back. Here's the manifold.  UDS-1 Valve inside case by John Ratliff, on Flickr Taking the back case cover off, this is what it looked like:  UDS-1 with top case off by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here's where the UDS-1 designers got it wrong:  UDS-1 by John Ratliff, on Flickr The valve on the bottom meant that the unit floated off the back, and "caught" the water. This was such a problem, along with the really low waist strap, that divers cinched the unit up tight, rather than having it looser. I corrected that with two 3-pound weights taped into the fold between the two cylinders up high. I got rid of the waist strap, and either used the weight belt buckle (which came with the unit) or my own harness system (a 4-point contact system which had two shoulder straps and two "hip connectors" which interfaced nicely with my Para-Sea BC). If you compare the first with the last photo, you'll see the difference a bit of work does to make the system work. And work it did, with the best-breathing scuba ever developed. If I breathed it down to no air coming out, I had only 4 breaths warning that I was low on air (where I then tripped the J-reserve, which was oriented such that it could not be accidentally tripped). John |
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Post by broxton coalition on May 9, 2021 12:19:50 GMT -8
Most excellent post John, thank you!!!  |
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Post by snark3 on May 22, 2021 2:45:27 GMT -8
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Post by scubalawyer on May 22, 2021 5:17:48 GMT -8
Triple tanks? this guy has lost his mind. I hope this link works. That's just Alec's sense of wanting to see if he could actually pull it off. He sent me the following photos a few weeks ago. When I spoke to him last week on another vintage dive issue he said he had been working off and on with the plumbing aspect for about two years. He just wanted to see if he could do it.    |
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Post by SeaRat on May 22, 2021 8:04:01 GMT -8
Wow, this is what happens when we're really bored. I had to laugh, hard, when I watched him trying to get into the water. Alex is wonderful!
Thanks for giving us a laugh during this pandemic!
John
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Post by snark3 on May 22, 2021 11:55:57 GMT -8
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Post by Michel on May 23, 2021 9:20:38 GMT -8
Thanks Searat for this thread. I've been searching the world for a set of Cousteau triples from the 'Silent World' era and did not know Ryan Spence had finally obtained an illusive set! I knew he had a twin set but from that era but to obtain a triple WOW . I'd like to know how he managed it and if he could give us an idea of the cu.in. displacement of each cylinder and operating pressures? Finding a triple set of Cousteau's is like trying to get Aqua-Lung to sell me a Mentor regulator!!! Anyway 'Tanks' again!(Pardon the pun) Michel.
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Post by SeaRat on May 23, 2021 13:48:40 GMT -8
From Navegante, via Scubaboard:  John |
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Post by SeaRat on May 23, 2021 14:15:06 GMT -8
From what I can tell, Ryan Spence received these tripples from André Labon in 2014.  (Photo from the Flashback Scuba Museum’s Facebook page.) John |
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Post by fishnbeer on May 23, 2021 19:46:26 GMT -8
snark3 It looks like we have a similar set of triples with the outside thread tanks   |
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Post by Michel on May 25, 2021 7:48:12 GMT -8
From Navegante, via Scubaboard: John Amazing pics of the Cousteau triples! I've always wondered how big the tank block was compared to an average build guy and that pic with Andre Laban and Spence really puts things into perspective! It seems those tanks were pretty small and at about 30cf gave u only 90cuft of air at 2100 psi which they used for dives well beyond 200 feet! amazing. I mean it's like diving a modern 80cuft alum to 200 feet and beyond, can u imagine?! It's reassuring to note that US divers were smart to develop the 72s as twins with about 144cuft of air for serious deep diving etc. but the triples still have the 'cool' factor a lot more! Now if only I could hook up with Laban or others around Marseilles and snag a set! I'm not about to give up. Michel. |
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Post by SeaRat on May 25, 2021 18:05:12 GMT -8
Michel, I think these tanks are even smaller than that. I think that the 5 liters per tank is a volume of the tank without air pressure. In order to get the actual cubic feet of air, we need a calculation.
Here's my calculations:
5 liters equals 0.176573 cubic feet of volume. Each bar measurement effectively doubles the amount of air in the tank, so 150 bar is 150 times the volume of the tank, which equals about 27 cubic feet. This assumes that 150 bar equals 2205 in each tank.
150 bar in psi is: 150 bar x 14.7 psi/bar = 2205 psi in each tank.
5 liters = 0.176573 cubic feet.
0.176573 cubic feet per liter times 5 liters equals 26.49 cubic feet per cylinder. Multiply that times three gives a total of 79.46 cubic feet. Another way of calculating this is:
0.176573 cubic feet per tank x 2205 psig = 389.34 psi / 14.7 psi/atm = 26.49 cubic feet per tank.
26.49 cubic feet per tank x 3 = 79.46 cubic feet total, or 80 cubic feet.
So the Cousteau divers were diving about 80 cubic feet of air to depths of 200 feet for their operations shown in the film The Silent World, and in the book of the same name. They also reserved the 1/3 rule, as one cylinder was their reserve cylinder. When that cylinder was opened everyone heard that the diver was on reserve air as it equalized into the other two tanks. And, when that happened, they started up. It was the equivalent of us diving a single 80 cubic foot tank to 200 feet, repeatedly, during their expeditions.
John
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