Customer notice from Ambient Pressure Diving

The two areas we don't conform:

1) there is a requirement for the breathing hoses to stretch 10-30%. On the test sample our hose stretched by 7.1% but following successful user trials this was deemed acceptable by SGS.

2) the APD products meet all the breathing performance requirements at all the specified test rates with the exception that the exhale pressure and inhale pressure must not exceed 25 mbar each. While the peak to peak pressure of the APD rebreathers is well under 50 mbar at all breathing rates, due to the slope of the pressure/volume loop - which you get with all rebreathers, the end tidal positions are offset from ambient which means it is very difficult, near impossible, to achieve the required inhale and exhale pressures. This is the very point which the experts could not agree on during the production of the EN14143 but the standard was launched anyway with a caveat in the Introduction -

The production of the standard has raised new questions regarding the interpretation of the physiological and equipment acceptance limits for the diving application which have not been fully answered. However, this standard has been published to provide a level of safety for re-breathing diving apparatus.

The EN14143 is now being reviewed by TC79/SC7.

The new manual will be available for download from Monday.

Customers will also receive direct email (if we have their up to date contact details),