Diver Daves' Filling Adapters

Diver Dave's Filling Adapters Made Easy

(Or, how to blow yourself up in one easy lesson, as taught by Joe Dituri)

Transfilling gas is a part of life for rebreather divers. There are a number of reasons for this ranging from dive-shops not wanting to fill non-DOT cylinders (like the Mark-15 spheres) to the issue of carrying gas aboard a boat for an extended trip, to finally "How do I get 3000 PSI oxygen anyhow?" There are a bunch of different connections needed, and then there is the issue of a gas-transfer pump. Hopefully this area will shed some light on the fittings needed. The booster pump issue will be dealt with separately. This is NOT a substitute for good instruction on how to transfer gas. This is a subject that is best to really learn do do correctly, as several near-disasters have come to light among our rebreather family members lately. BE CAREFUL!

The first issue to deal with when deciding how to transfer gas is to decide what fittings your transfill hoses will have on them. The second issue is then to build a kit of adapters that can then be used on those hoses to connect to nearly anything. Since my Mark-15 spheres use the old yoke-clamp, and since I often bring 80 ft/3 bottles at 3000 PSI out on the dive-site to transfill from, I standardized on the yoke-clamp on my hoses. Here you can see that my inert gas adapter and my 02 adapter are fitted with yoke-blocks to allow the hoses to be connected to large storage bottles when needed. This way I can decant from supply cylinders fitted with yoke or either 02 or Helium CGA fittings.

Taking that idea one step further, I wanted to be able to connect my hoses to standard first-aid bottles as well. Although I doubt that I would rob the dive-boats first-aid 02 supply to fill my spheres, I can use this adapter to fill my own first-aid cylinder if needed. Again, this is an adapter to yoke fitting. If your main system uses DIN, then just substitute a DIN adapter for the yoke and it'll be the same.

The rarest of the rare has always been a LAR-V adapter. These were custom machined as we never found any commercial source. I'm sure there are LAR-V's around not being dived due to lack of these. It also turns out that these fit the East German MEDI RGU/FM rebreathers. Let me know if you need one.

Still not exotic enough? How about an adapter to fill Russian cylinders? Interestingly, the Russians use this same fitting for 02, air, and inert gas. It makes it simple, but could lead to inadvertent mis-filling if you are not careful.

Here's the complete dive-boat and expedition kit. It contains, in addition to the above, two fittings to allow DIN cylinders to be connected to a yoke-clamp. One other fitting hiding up at the top left is a Dreager Dolphin adapter. You can see that this kit will just about fill anything from anything else. Of course, I keep the entire kit 02 clean, and it lives in a waterproof and dustproof Pelican case.

That's it for my own kit of adapters. As you can see, careful selection of components will provide a flexible system able to handle about any transfilling need. All that's needed is either a cross-fill hose and gauge, or a booster pump (or both). I assembled my system from components purchased from Global Divers. I have established a Global dealership, and if anyone would like a hand selecting and obtaining the proper parts at a very fair price just email or call. Heck, if you just want help picking the right stuff to order from your local dive shop email or call anyhow. I'd rather talk about rebreathers than work anyway and I don't care where you buy the stuff.

Thanks!

Dave Sutton

Back to the Projects Page

Back to the Booster-Pump Pages

	The first issue to deal with when deciding how to transfer gas is to decide what fittings your transfill hoses will have on them. The second issue is then to build a kit of adapters that can then be used on those hoses to connect to nearly anything. Since my Mark-15 spheres use the old yoke-clamp, and since I often bring 80 ft/3 bottles at 3000 PSI out on the dive-site to transfill from, I standardized on the yoke-clamp on my hoses. Here you can see that my inert gas adapter and my 02 adapter are fitted with yoke-blocks to allow the hoses to be connected to large storage bottles when needed. This way I can decant from supply cylinders fitted with yoke or either 02 or Helium CGA fittings.
	Taking that idea one step further, I wanted to be able to connect my hoses to standard first-aid bottles as well. Although I doubt that I would rob the dive-boats first-aid 02 supply to fill my spheres, I can use this adapter to fill my own first-aid cylinder if needed. Again, this is an adapter to yoke fitting. If your main system uses DIN, then just substitute a DIN adapter for the yoke and it'll be the same.
	The rarest of the rare has always been a LAR-V adapter. These were custom machined as we never found any commercial source. I'm sure there are LAR-V's around not being dived due to lack of these. It also turns out that these fit the East German MEDI RGU/FM rebreathers. Let me know if you need one.
	Still not exotic enough? How about an adapter to fill Russian cylinders? Interestingly, the Russians use this same fitting for 02, air, and inert gas. It makes it simple, but could lead to inadvertent mis-filling if you are not careful.
	Here's the complete dive-boat and expedition kit. It contains, in addition to the above, two fittings to allow DIN cylinders to be connected to a yoke-clamp. One other fitting hiding up at the top left is a Dreager Dolphin adapter. You can see that this kit will just about fill anything from anything else. Of course, I keep the entire kit 02 clean, and it lives in a waterproof and dustproof Pelican case.