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I’ve been
thinking back on some of the discussions of diver lockout operation and the
need for a “high pressure” compressor to decompress a lockout when at
depth. I may be headed down the
wrong path in my thinking but I believe a relatively low pressure / low
amperage / low volume compressor would suffice as far down as 200 fsw. It only needs to be able to pump
against approximately 100 psi of outside water pressure and must have somewhat
of a low flow so that the lockout can be decompressed slowly. I’ve been looking at the specifications
on the 12V air compressors used by 4WD enthusiasts to air tires back up after a
day of running them off road at 6 – 10psi. These are huge tires.
The pumps that they use can put out about 1.7cfm of air at 90psig, in
fact, they put out enough air to run a lot of basic air tools. Many are rated to 150psig. Considering that their cost is a few
hundred dollars for a high quality pump and at least one of them only consumes
about 10A at full rating, it seems to me that decompressing a diver lockout
would not be that big of an obstacle.
Am I missing something here? Best
Regards, Cliff
McDonald |