A Learner's Guide To Closed-

Circuit Rebreather Operations

by Richard L. Pyle

This article was originally submitted to the Rebreather Forum in September of 1996
and is reprinted here with the permission of Richard L. Pyle and the organizers of the
forum. This article is contained within the published proceedings of the Rebreather
Forum along with quite a bit of other useful information on rebreathers.

You can obtain a complete copy of the proceedings by phoning 1-800-729-7234, ext.
525; or email: [email protected]. This publication is highly recommended.

*note- there will be accompanying pictures to this article which will be added at a
later date.

A Learner's Guide To Closed-Circuit Rebreather

Operations

by Richard L. Pyle

Abstract
I have been using a Cis-Lunar Mk-4P mixed-gas, closed-circuit rebreather since 1994 for
exploration of coral reefs at depths of 200 to over 400 ft /61-122 meters (the "Twilight
Zone"). On a recent expedition to Papua New Guinea, my diving partner and I discovered
nearly 30 new species of reef fishes as well as several new invertebrates. Among the most
important lessons I have learned about decompression diving using rebreathers are: 1) the
importance of knowing the oxygen partial pressure in the breathing loop at all times; 2) vast
amounts of open-circuit diving experience does not help one learn how to dive with a
rebreather as much as a solid understanding of gas physics and diving physiology does; 3)
rebreather training regimes should place emphasis on manual operation and bailout
procedures; and 4) divers should always have an alternate safe route to the surface, even in the
event of a catastrophic, unrecoverable breathing loop failure. I have developed an assortment
of protocols for conducting decompression diving using multiple diluent mixtures with
closed-circuit rebreathers, as well as procedures for various emergency bailout scenarios. I
believe that it is vitally important that past, current and future rebreather divers maintain an
open line of communication in order to share experiences and techniques, in an effort to
minimize the potential for fatal or otherwise harmful accidents.

Introduction
My interest in advanced mixed- gas diving technology, including closed-circuit rebreathers,
stems from my ongoing endeavor to document marine life inhabiting deep coral reefs.
Biologists using conventional air scuba have been limited to maximum depths of about 130-
190 ft /40-57 m for productive exploratory work. Scientific research utilizing deep-sea
submersibles has primarily focused on habitats at depths well in excess of 500 ft /150 m. The
region in between, which I have referred to as the undersea "Twilight Zone" (Fig. 1), remains
largely unexplored (Pyle, 1991; 1992a; 1996a; 1996b; Montres Rolex S.A., 1996).

In an effort to safely investigate this region, I designed an open-circuit mixed-gas diving rig
that incorporated two large-capacity cylinders, two pony cylinders, five regulators, and a
surface-supplied oxygen system for decompression (Pyle, 1992b; 1996c; Sharkey & Pyle,
1993). Using this open-circuit rig, Charles "Chip" Boyle and I discovered more than a dozen
new species of reef fishes on the deep coral reefs of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands (e.g., Pyle,
1991; 1994; Pyle & Randall, 1992). The extent of these discoveries was remarkable not only
because of the extremely limited amount of time spent at depth (12-15 minutes per dive), but
also because Rarotonga lies far from the center of coral reef species diversity (Fig. 2).

Given the une xpected wealth of diversity in the "Twilight Zone", it was clear that I would
need to conduct dives with longer bottom times in order to adequately explore this region,
especially if I was to examine the deep reefs of the more species-rich western Pacific.
Unfortunately, transporting large quantities of oxygen and helium to remote tropical islands
can be extremely expensive and logistically difficult, if not impossible. The obvious solution
was to use closed-circuit mixed-gas rebreather technology.

In 1994, Cis-Lunar Development Laboratories provided me with two of their MK-4P closed-
circuit, mixed-gas rebreathers, so that my diving partner John Earle and I could continue
exploration of deep coral reefs. After nearly a year of training in Hawaii, we shipped the
rebreathers to Papua New Guinea for a series of exploratory dives on the deep reef drop-offs.
Diving from the M/V Telita (live-aboard vessel), we logged a total of 96 hours on the
rebreathers, including 28 trimix dives to depths of 200-420 ft/61-122 meters. Although we
only intended to conduct preliminary observations during this expedition, we nevertheless
discovered nearly thirty new species of fishes and several new invertebrate species (e.g., Gill
et al., in press; Earle & Pyle, in press; Allen & Ra ndall, in press; Randall & Fourmanoir, in
press).
 Staying Alive on a Closed-Circuit Rebreather
Having spent the past two years developing my own procedures and protocols for
decompression diving using closed-circuit rebreathers, I have learned some important lessons
(Comper & Remley, 1996; Pyle, 1996d). After my first 10 hours on a rebreather, I was a real
expert. Another 40 hours of dive time later, I considered myself a novice. When I had
completed about 100 hours of rebreather diving, I realized I was only just a beginner.

Now that I have spend more than 200 hours diving with a closed-circuit system, it is clear that
I am still a rebreather weenie. In my experience, the underlying quality that divers must have
to consistently survive rebreather dives is discipline. The first step in exercising this discipline
is to realize that it takes a fair amount of rebreather experience just to comprehend what your
true limitations are. You should leave a wide margin for error between what you think your
limitations are, and what sort of diving activity you actually do. To help new rebreather divers
survive the early overconfidence period, I offer these suggestions:

1. Know your PO2 at all times.

Without doubt, the single most hazardous aspect of closed-circuit rebreathers is the fact that
the oxygen content of the breathing mixture is dynamic. With open-circuit scuba, inspired gas
fractions are constant. Thus, as long as gas mixtures are not breathed outside their respective
pre-defined depth limits (assuming proper filling and mixture verification procedures have
been followed) an open circuit diver can be confident that the inspired gas is life-sustaining.

One of the fundamental advantages of closed-circuit rebreathers is their ability to maintain an

optimal gas composition at all depths. However, the disadvantage of this dynamic gas mixture
system is the potential for oxygen content to drop below or exceed safe levels without any
change of depth. The real danger is the insidious nature of hypoxia and hyperoxia. Neither
malady has any reliable warning symptoms (although see Pyle, 1995), and both can be deadly
in the underwater environment. It is therefore of utmost importance that rebreather divers
always know the oxygen partial pressure inside the breathing loop.

Simply checking the primary electronic instrumentation on a regular basis is not sufficient.
Most electronically-controlled rebreather designs incorporate at least three oxygen sensors,
and most will provide divers with at least two different displays of the oxygen sensor values.
Many people refer to these as the "primary" and "backup" displays; however, I prefer the term
"secondary" to "backup" because most backup equipment is used only after the primary
component has failed. Instead, the secondary oxygen display of a closed-circuit rebreather
should be monitored almost as regularly as the primary display, to verify that both displays
are giving the same value.

Ironically, the most reliable rebreathers can potentially be the most dangerous to an
undisciplined diver. If the primary oxygen control system virtually never fails, then a diver
may become complacent about checking the secondary display. Due to the oxymoronic nature
of the phrase "fail-safe electronics" (especially in underwater applications), complacency of
this sort can have disastrous consequences.
2. Open-circuit scuba experience is not as useful for rebreather diving as a good
grasp of diving physics and physiology.

Many experienced open-circuit divers who are new to rebreathers may fall into the "trap" of
overconfidence. While vast amounts of open-circuit diving experience can increase a person’s
over-all comfort level in the water and enhance one’s respect for the hazards of sub aquatic
forays, these qualities alone are insufficient for consistent rebreather survival. Diving with
closed-circuit rebreathers differs considerably from open-circuit diving in many respects,
ranging from methods of buoyancy control, to gas monitoring habits, to emergency
procedures. Development of the proper knowledge, skills, and experience takes time and
practice, regardless of how many open-circuit dives (mixed- gas or otherwise) one has
successfully completed.

What is probably the most dangerous period in any rebreather diver’s learning curve occurs
relatively early on; after enough time to be comfortable with the basic operation of the unit,
but before there has been enough practice and experience to adequately recognize problems
and correct them before they become serious (the period when one’s confidence exceeds
one’s abilities). In some ways, experienced scuba divers may be at greater risk than non-
divers when learning how to dive with a rebreather for the first time, because the initial
discrepancy between confidence and abilities will be larger.

On the other ha nd, a good working knowledge of gas physics and diving physiology is
probably more important for rebreather diving than for open-circuit mixed gas diving. Well-
designed closed-circuit rebreathers will provide users with many ways to control the gas
mixture in the breathing loop, and divers must have an intuitive understanding of the effects
their actions (gas additions, loop-purges, depth changes, etc.) will have on their breathing gas
and decompression status. With the additional control a diver has over the inspired breathing
mixture in a closed-circuit rebreather, comes the need for greater discipline and understanding
of the dynamics involved.

3. Training should emphasize failure detection, manual control and bailout

procedures.

Diving with closed-circuit rebreathers is relatively easy when the system is functioning
correctly. Recognizing component failures before they lead to serious problems and knowing
how best to respond to various failures is a bit more tricky. The solution to problem response
is fairly straight- forward: training regimes should include a great deal of time simulating
failure situations and practice of appropriate response actions.

Manual control of the rebreather is probably the most important skill to learn; in fact, I
recommend that new rebreather divers first learn to control the unit manually, and only be
allowed to activate the automatic control system after manual control has been mastered.
Unfortunately, even the most well-practiced skills, and all the best backup systems in the
world, are completely useless to an unconscious diver. Thus, perhaps even more important
than knowing how to respond to a problem is knowing how to recognize a problem before it is
too late.

The most critical failure conditions a rebreather diver may encounter are hypoxia, hyperoxia
(due to failure of the oxygen control system), and hypercapnia (due to failure of the absorbent
canister). Although the former two do not provide any reliable physiological warning, some
people in some circumstances may detect symptoms of hypoxia or hypercapnia prior to
blackout or convulsion.

Text descriptions of possible "pre-cursor" symptoms might help but, as any teacher knows,
first-hand experience is much more useful. The question is: should a rebreather diver be
exposed to hypoxia and hyperoxia under controlled conditions during training? (Obviously,
"controlled conditions" would not include a diver experiencing these things underwater, or
without trained supervision.) Hypoxic symptoms probably occur with more consistenc y than
hyperoxic symptoms. Furthermore, hypoxia can easily be experienced on dry land using a
rebreather with a disabled oxygen injection system, whereas hyperoxia (to the point of
convulsion) would require a hyperbaric chamber.

Therefore, it seems that experience with hypoxia would be both more useful and logistically
more feasible during a training regime than experience with hyperoxia would be.
Nevertheless, even for hypoxia the answer to the question is not obvious. While having first-
hand experience with symptoms might save a diver’s life in some situations, it might also
falsely boost a diver’s confidence in his or her ability to detect the onset of such conditions
(i.e., induce complacency). Another consideration is that any exposure to hypoxia likely
results in the death of brain (and other) cells. Thus, even with the discipline to avoid the
complacency problem, it is not clear whether the benefits of first-hand experience of possible
warning symptoms outweigh the cost of lost brain cells during a "hypoxia experience"
session. In my case, I believe the experience was well-worth the cost.

Less ambiguous is the issue of hypercapnia. Although testing by the U.S. Navy indicates that
symptoms of hypercapnia cannot be considered as reliable pre-cursors to blackout, the
experience of several civilian rebreather divers (myself included) indicate that they can be
considered reliable. One possible explanation for this discrepancy of experience may be
individual variation. Perhaps some individuals (e.g., so-called CO2-retainers") cannot reliably
detect the onset of hypercapnia, while others (perhaps including the aforementioned civilian
rebreather divers) can. If this is the case, it makes a great deal of sense to include deliberate
exposure to hypercapnia (again, under controlled conditions) as part of a rebreather training
regime. This can easily be accomplished on dry land by breathing off a rebreather without a
carbon dioxide absorbent canister installed.

4. Cover your ass.

This is probably the most important piece of advice that my rebreather instructor, Bill Stone,
gave to me. This point doesn’t need much elaboration, but is nevertheless vital to rebreather
survival. It is fundamentally the same principle that all cave divers and mixed- gas divers
should already understand: always have an safe alternate pathway back to the surface. For
open-circuit divers, this usually means a second regulator and following "rule of thirds" for
gas consumption.

On rebreather dives, especially those requiring extensive decompression, the logistics of

providing for an alternate means to safely return to the surface, even in the event of
catastrophic, unrecoverable breathing loop failure, can be difficult. See the section on bailout
procedures below for a description of some of the solutions I have developed for my
rebreather dives.

Procedures and Protocols for Closed-Circuit Rebreather

Diving
Procedures and protocols for closed-circuit rebreather diving will vary according to specific
rebreather models and specific diving conditions and objectives. In this section, I will outline
the procedures and protocols that I have developed for rebreather model I use, in the
environments that I use it.

I. System Configuration & Equipment

A. Diluent Supplies

1. Dives Without Required Decompression Stops

Most closed-circuit rebreather dives that do not involve ‘required’ decompression stops will
be conducted using a single diluent gas (usually nitrogen or helium). If only one non-oxygen
cylinder is carried by the diver on such a dive, that cylinder must be accessible via an open-
circuit regulator, and the mixture in that cylinder must contain a fraction of oxygen that will
sustain the diver at all depths during the dive (air is usually the easiest choice). Furthermore,
that cylinder must be of sufficient capacity that all buoyancy control gas, drysuit gas (if
applicable), and rebreather gas needs are met with enough remaining that a safe, controlled
ascent to the surface in open-circuit mode can be accomplished with sufficient margin for
error at any point during the dive.

2. Dives With ‘Required’ Decompression Stops

Rebreather dives that require substantial decompression times often (although not always)
involve more than one diluent gas type (usually nitrogen, helium, and/or a combination of
both). More often than not, it would be entirely impractical for a diver to carry a large enough
gas supply to complete full decompression in open-circuit mode. This leaves two options: 1)
the diver carries a completely independent rebreather system (includ ing independent
breathing loop, counterlung, and absorbent canister); or 2) the diver carries enough gas supply
to safely reach a staged life-support system (e.g. another rebreather, more open-circuit gas
supply, an underwater habitat, etc.) while breathing the carried gas in open-circuit mode.
The difficulty with option number 1 includes not only the problem of physical placement of
the secondary rebreather, but also the need to monitor and control the gas content within the
secondary breathing loop during depth changes. More frequently, one form of option number
2 will be used, in which case much thought must be given to the question of how much of
each type of gas will be carried by the diver, and how much will be staged. There are many
variables that affect this ratio, including whether or not buddies can be relied upon for
auxiliary open-circuit gas supplies, whether or not full face masks are used, whether there is a
guideline physically connecting the diver with the staged gas supply, maximum depth and
duration of the dive, strength of current, among many others.

The oxygen content of the diluent gas mixture(s) should be such that the diver has access to at
least one life-sustaining mixture in open-circuit mode at any point (depth) during the course
of the dive. Choosing a diluent configuration to optimally meet the needs of the dive is among
the most difficult aspects of decompression diving with rebreathers.

I have experimented with a wide variety of configurations, and have settled upon one basic
configuration that I use for almost all dives to depths in excess of about 220 ft (66 m), with
total ‘required’ decompression times exceeding about 15 minutes. This configuration includes
a total of 80 cubic feet (cf) of gas in three cylinders: one 20 cf "on-board" cylinder, and two
30cf "off-board" cylinders. One of the 30 cf cylinders will contain a trimix that is safe to
breathe at the maximum possible depth of the dive. The other two cylinders will include one
with air, and one with heliox-10 (10% oxygen, 90% helium); which of these two gases that is
in the 20 cf "on-board" cylinder and which is in the 30 cf "off-board" cylinder will depend on
the planned decompression profile of the dive. The placement of the staged gas cylinders will
depend on a variety of factors (discussed below under the "Bailout" section).

B. Oxygen Supplies

Most dives without ‘required’ decompression stops can be safely accomplished using only
one oxygen cylinder. If the single oxygen cylinder is accessible via open circuit mode, then
dives with limited ‘required’ decompression can also be conducted safely with a single
oxygen supply (limited by whether or not the oxygen supply can sustain the diver in open-
circuit mode for the duration of the shallowest decompression stops, with appropriate margin
for error).

Although dives requiring extensive decompression can be conducted with a single oxygen
supply (provided a large supply of open-circuit decompression gases can be reliably accessed
in an emergency bailout situation), it is usually better to carry a backup oxygen supply on
such dives. If any part of a single oxygen delivery system fails on a closed-circuit rebreather,
then the diver will essentially be forced to conduct an open-circuit bailout (or perhaps some
form of semi-closed circuit bailout), at least for as long as it takes to access a staged
rebreather oxygen supply. For dives requiring extensive decompression, I carry two
independent oxygen supplies, both contained in 13.5 cf cylinders. Either cylinder contains
enough oxygen to complete the entire dive in closed-circuit mode, and both can be accessed
in open-circuit mode should the need arise.
C. Full Face Mask Considerations

The question of whether or not a full face mask should be used on a rebreather dive depends
on several factors; primarily whether or not electronic through-water communications systems
are to be used, whether or not the dive is conducted solo or with other divers, and to what
extent a diver must "go blind" in order to access additional gas supplies (either closed-circuit
or open-circuit). In most cases, a full face mask is preferable, but there are some costs to using
them.

Obviously, if the dive requires electronic through-water communications, a full face mask is
probably needed. A full face masks can mean the difference between life and death if the
diver blacks out due to hypoxia or hyperoxia, but this advantage is diminished if the dive is to
be conducted solo (especially with regard to hypoxia) or with an inattentive buddy.
Conversely, a full face mask can increase the risk of drowning if the diver has to "go blind"
by removing the mask in order to access additional gas supplies (if the need to access an
open-circuit bailout gas supply arises, it is likely to be the least convenient moment to lose
one’s ability to see).

This hazard can be minimized to some extent by masks and mouthpieces that allow access to
additional gas supplies without the need to remove the mask (or the part of the mask that
allows the diver to see). In any case, divers should carry a spare conventional mask if a full
face mask is to be used.

Once the decision to use a full face mask has been made, an additional consideration is what
sort of mask to use. Some full face masks have a single airspace that includes the eyes, nose
and mouth. Others divide the airspace into two isolated compartments; one for the mouth, and
one for the eyes and nose. This latter type of mask (often referred to as a "half- mask") is
preferable for rebreather diving for three main reasons.

First, a single-compartment full face mask increases the amount of "dead space" in the
breathing loop (especially if an oral-nasal cup is not sealing properly), which increases the
risk of carbon-dioxide build-up in the mask. Second (as is detailed below), a convenient way
to vent excess gas from the breathing loop is by exhaling through the nose; if the
compartment that seals the diver’s nose is part of the breathing loop, then the excess loop gas
must be vented by some other means. Third, the entire mask can serve as a diaphragm,
contracting and expanding on inhalation and exhalation, increasing the overall work of
breathing (Rod Farb, personal communication). The relative costs and benefits of full face
masks must be taken into account for each different set of dive parameters.

D. Emergency Line and Float

Each diver carries a reel with line, and an emergency float of some sort. The length of line on
the reel depends primarily on the depth of the dive, and the depth of the first "required"
decompression stop, but is usually a minimum of 200 ft (60 m) in length. The ideal
emergency float for the sorts of dives I do is inflatable, cylindrical in shape, about 3-6 ft /1-2
m in length and 2-6 inches /5-15 cm in diameter, is bright orange in color, and has an
overpressure relief valve. It is often useful to have a small slate with its own pencil attached to
the emergency float. This float is used mainly to alert the surface-support personnel that a
diver has commenced a bailout from a dive (see discussion below).

E. Surface-Support

For all dives involving substantial decompression, additional equipment associated with the
surface-support vessel is usually needed.

1. Decompression Line

A basic decompression line includes a relatively large float, a relatively thick line, and a
weight. The length of the line depends on the decompression profile expected, but is usually
at least as long as the depth of the first anticipated "required" decompression stop. A float is
attached at one end of the line, and a weight, not exceeding 10 lb. (2 kg) is tied to other end.
The end with the weight also has a large clip of some sort (ideally a stainless steel, slip-
locking carabiner). Sometimes markers or loops are placed at 10- ft/3 m intervals along the
line. This line serves as the decompressio n "station" (to which additional equipment or gas
supplies may be connected), and may or may not be deployed prior to the start of the dive.

2. Open Circuit Gas Supplies

a. Self-Contained Gas Supplies

It is always a good idea to keep extra supplies of breathing gas aboard the surface-support
vessel in case of an open-circuit bailout situation. In most cases, supplies of both oxygen and
oxygen-nitrogen mixtures (air or EAN) should be on hand, and mixtures incorporating helium
may be needed for more extreme dive profiles. In some cases, some or all of this gas will be
staged underwater prior to the dive, but in other cases, it will remain in the surface support
vessel until (and if) it is needed. Of critical importance is that the diver can reliably reach
additional gas supplies, with at least a 30% margin for error, should the need arrive. If only
one diver is conducting a decompression rebreather dive (i.e., a solo dive), the volume of total
gas supply should be twice that required by the diver for a complete decompression on open
circuit. If two divers are conducting the dive simultaneously, then the total supply should be
three times the amount that any one diver would need to complete decompression in open-
circuit mode. Teams of three or more divers might require even larger gas supplies.

b. Surface-Supplied Oxygen

The emergency open-circuit oxygen supply could include a surface-supplied oxygen system.
Such a system reduces the bulk of equipment in the water, which can be beneficial for
extended shallow-water decompression stops (especially for in- water recompression treatment
of DCI). A full discussion of these systems is beyond the scope of this article, but it should be
noted here that if two or more divers are conducting decompression dives simultaneously,
there needs to be at least one self- contained oxygen supply per diver to guard against the
unlikely event that two or more separated divers simultaneously need additional supplies of
oxygen.

3. Other Equipment
Most other equipment for decompression dives using closed-circuit rebreathers will depend
on the particular objectives and environmental conditions of the dive. Two items that most
divers should carry are a sharp cutting tool, and one or more sets of decompression tables.
The knife should be small and easily accessible by either hand, and the decompression tables
should include a variety of depth and bottom- time contingencies, as well as schedules for both
closed-circuit (constant oxygen partial pressure) and open-circuit (constant oxygen fraction)
decompression with available gas mixtures.

II. Pre-Dive
In addition to general gas mixing, equipment testing, rig preparation, team briefing, and other
obvious pre-dive activities, rebreather divers should perform several additional pre-dive
routines.

A. Loop Leak Test

An essential pre-dive test for any rebreather is a loop leak (or "positive pressure") test. This
step involves adding gas to the rebreather loop until the over-pressure relief valve vents, and
observing for a subsequent drop in remaining loop volume or pressure that might indicate a
poorly sealed connection or leak somewhere in the breathing loop.

B. Oxygen Control System Test

Another test prior to commencing the dive is a verification of the oxygen control system
function. Minimally, this test involves flushing the loop with diluent, activating the oxygen
control system, and verifying that the solenoid fires correctly. If the unit allows the user to
easily adjust the PO2 set-point, the test could be conducted with a low set-point (such as 0.3
atm) to verify that the solenoid stops firing after set-point has been achieved. If this latter test
is conducted, it is imperative that the PO2 set-point be returned to the correct value prior to
the dive.

C. Final Checklist
Beyond the standard checklists frequently used by open-circuit mixed- gas decompression
divers, a separate checklist should be developed specifically for the particular rebreather unit
that is to be used. Minimally, this checklist should include verification of absorbent type and
remaining canister life, accurate oxygen sensor calibration, correct PO2 set-point, oxygen and
diluent cylinder pressures, diluent gas composition(s), and correct position (open or closed) of
all valves in the system. Additional model-specific verifications may also be required for
certain rebreathers.

III. Descent
If the descent is abrupt (i.e., a straight, fast descent to depth), the breathing loop should be
flushed with diluent prior to commencement of the dive. If the oxygen partial pressure is
allowed to increase at the surface prior to the dive (for example, by the action of the oxygen
injection solenoid), there is a risk that the oxygen partial pressure in the breathing loop will
exceed safe levels during a rapid descent. Correction for this would involve flushing the loop
with diluent at depth, which results in an unnecessary loss of potential open-circuit breathing
gas supply.
If the dive is to be conducted with only helium and oxygen in the loop during the deep portion
of the dive, the loop sho uld be flushed with heliox before beginning the descent. Some people
(myself included) have experienced impaired concentration when breathing heliox at depths
in excess of about 250 ft /75 m following rapid descents. This impairment seems to be
alleviated when the nitrogen partial pressure in the breathing loop is maintained at about 2.5-
3.0 atm (less than the level at which significant narcosis is usually experienced).
There are two basic methods of introducing trimix into the breathing loop. The most obvious
is to use a blend of trimix as the diluent supply. The advantage of this method is that the
helium-to- nitrogen ratio remains relatively constant; the disadvantage is that nitrogen partial
pressure in the breathing loop increases with increasing depth (hence, the trimix must be
blended for the maximum depth of the dive, and will be ideal only at that maximum depth). A
less obvious method is to blend trimix from separate air and heliox diluent supplies. With this
method, the descent begins with a loop full of air, and air as the diluent supply. Upon reaching
a depth of about 100 ft /30 m, and allowing the oxygen partial pressure to achieve set-point,
the diluent supply is changed to heliox and the descent continues. This results in a relatively
constant partial pressure of nitrogen in the breathing loop (calculated as [ambient pressure at
time of diluent change] minus [oxygen partial pressure at time of diluent change]).
The advantage of this method is that the nitrogen partial pressure does not increase with
increasing depth. The disadvantage is that there may be deviations from the predicted nitrogen
partial pressure in the event of loop volume fluctuations and loop gas venting (as from mask
clearings, etc.). Combinations of these two methods are also possible, but it is vitally
important that, whichever method is followed, the software used to generate the
decompression profiles (both for real-time decompression and backup decompression tables)
take into account the predicted fluctuations of the helium-to- nitrogen ratios.

IV. System Monitoring & Control

A. PO2
The most critical variable to monitor on a closed-circuit rebreather is the oxygen partial
pressure in the breathing loop. The PO2 set-point of the oxygen control system should be no
less than 0.5 atm, and no greater than 1.4 atm. The lower limit maintains a margin for error
above hypoxic levels, and the upper limit maintains a margin for error below dangerously
hyperoxic levels.
Although some standards allow for inspired oxygen partial pressures as great as 1.6 atm, such
partial pressures would be unsafe set-points on a closed-circuit rebreather for two reasons.
First, oxygen partial pressures in the breathing loop can "spike" above set-point during short,
rapid descents; and second, rebreather divers should incorporate a more conservative upper
oxygen partial pressure limit than open-circuit divers due to the fact that the diver is exposed
to that partial pressure throughout the entire dive (as opposed to open-circuit dives, where the
PO2 limit is experienced only at the deepest depth of each breathing mixture).
Each rebreather diver should become intimately familiar with the rates at which their
metabolism affects the oxygen partial pressure within the breathing loop at different levels of
exertio n, on the specific rebreather that diver intends to use. For example, with the oxygen
control system disabled on the rebreather model that I use, the oxygen partial pressure will
drop from 1.4 atm to 0.2 atm over the course of about 30-40 minutes at low to moderate
exertion levels. My diving partner consumes oxygen at about twice the rate I do at a given
workload, and thus causes the same PO2 drop to occur in about 15-20 minutes at the same
exertion level.
Once a diver knows the oxygen consumption rates, the PO2 levels in the loop should be
checked with a frequency no more than one-half the amount of time it would take for the PO2
to drop to dangerous levels. For the example above, if the PO2 setpoint was 1.4 atm, I would
check the PO2 in the breathing loop at least every 15 minutes, and my diving partner would
check his at least every 7 or 8 minutes. The PO2 should also be monitored during and after
every substantial depth change.
Divers should also be in the habit of frequently comparing the primary PO2 display with the
secondary PO2 display, should note whether or not all oxygen sensor readings are in
synchrony, and should note whether the readings are dynamic or static (static readings are
often indicative of some sort of oxygen sensor failure). Some rebreather designs allow divers
to verify that sensors are providing correct readings; such tests should be performed
periodically throughout the dive, and whenever some reason to doubt about the accuracy of
the readings presents itself.

B. Gas Supplies
Although cylinder pressures are of critical importance to open-circuit divers, they are
somewhat less critical to closed-circuit rebreather divers. Diluent supply pressure(s) should be
monitored to ensure a safe open-circuit bailout can be performed at any point during the dive.
Oxygen supply pressure(s) should be monitored to ensure there is a sufficient quantity of
oxygen remaining in each oxygen cylinder to complete the remainder of the dive in closed-
circuit mode (with a comfortable margin for error).

C. Remaining Absorbent Canister Time

The amount of time that a given canister of carbon dioxide absorbent will sustain a diver
should be clearly and confidently known prior to the commencement of any dive. For dives
requiring substantial decompression, there should be at least a 50% margin for error and
preferably a 100% margin for error (i.e., an absorbent canister should be able to last one and a
half to two times the predicted total dive time).
In the absence of reliable carbon dioxide sensors, the ability to reliably predict the remaining
life of an absorbent canister can be difficult. The most frequently- used method is a simple
"clock" of how much dive time is spent using a particular canister of absorbent.
Unfortunately, the rate of this clock can vary among different divers and different workloads
by as much as a factor of ten. In the same amount of time that one diver may have completely
exhausted the canister, another diver may have used up only 10% of the active life of the
absorbent (considering the maximum possible extreme cases).
An alternative method of monitoring canister life is to monitor the amount of oxygen
consumed. This includes the total volume of oxygen entering the loop, both from oxygen and
from diluent supplies. Calibration of this value should be done empirically under controlled
conditions (i.e., minimal venting of gas from the breathing loop), with each particular canister
design of each particular rebreather (values cannot necessarily be extrapolated based only on
volume of absorbent material). A sample size of empirically-derived values should be large
enough such that scale of variation can be inferred. Venting of loop gas during dives (e.g.,
ascents, mask clearings, etc.) will result in a more conservative estimation of remaining
canister life. If done correctly, this method of canister life prediction is probably among the
most accurate (assuming consistent and proper canister packing techniques and absorbent
quality).
Divers should be on the alert for potential symptoms of hypercapnia (e.g., shortness of breath,
headache, dizziness, nausea, a feeling of "warmth", etc.) during all phases of the dive. If such
symptoms are suspected, the dive should be immediately terminated and the ascent should
commence. Short-term relief of symptoms following an ascent should not be interpreted as
evidence that the canister is functioning properly, because ascents will inherently lead to a
short-term drop in the carbon dioxide partial pressure in the breathing loop, and often involve
a concurrent reduction of workload (i.e., CO2 production rate).
Hypercapnia symptoms might also be a result of improper breathing techniques (i.e., the
"skip-breathing" pattern that many scuba divers do, which, of course, confers absolutely no
advantage to a rebreather diver). Canister failure can be tested with short-duration periods of
high exertion (in shallow water). If a diver feels unusually "starved for breath" after such
short bursts of exertion, the canister is probably near the end of its effective life (note, these
periods of high exertion should be kept brief, so as not to unnecessarily waste remaining
absorbent life). As discussed earlier, it is probably beneficial for rebreather students to
undergo first- hand experience with hypercapnia symptoms as part of the ir basic training
course.

D. Loop Volume
The volume of gas contained in a rebreather loop (the hoses, canister, and counterlung(s) of
the rebreather plus the diver’s lungs) is seldom fixed. I define "minimum" loop volume as that
volume of gas occupying the rebreather loop when the counterlung(s) are completely
"bottomed-out", and the diver has completely exhaled the gas from his or her lungs.
Conversely, "maximum" loop volume is the volume of gas in the breathing loop when the
counterlung(s) are maximally inflated, and the diver has maximally inhaled gas into his or her
lungs. Although the magnitude of the difference between these two volumes, ([Vmax]
[Vmin]), will vary from one rebreather design to another, it will always be non-zero.
Rebreather divers must learn to maintain the loop volume close to its optimal level for their
particular model of rebreather. If the volume is maintained too close to Vmin, the
counterlungs will tend to "bottom-out" on a diver’s full inhalation. If the loop volume is
maintained too close to Vmax, the overpressure relief valve will tend to vent excess gas at the
peak of a diver’s full exhalation. Furthermore, total loop volume will influence work of
breathing due to hydrostatic effects.
On rebreather models with a relatively la rge value of ([Vmax] [Vmin]), the optimal volume
should ideally be closer to Vmin; for models with a relatively small value of ([Vmax]
[Vmin]), the optimal loop volume should be ideally close to the mid-point. In either case, the
diver should maintain the loop volume at whatever level results in the minimum total work of
breathing and gas loss.

E. Buoyancy
Scuba divers have two main components of "compressible buoyancy"; namely, the buoyancy
compensator, and the thermal protection suit. Rebreather divers add to this a third component
of "compressible buoyancy"; the breathing loop. Many rebreather divers utilize fluctuations in
breathing loop volume as fine-tune control of buoyancy. To maintain a constant PO2 in the
breathing loop and a constant loop volume while changing depths, a diver must be skilled in
minor gas addition and venting techniques.
On descents, most rebreathers will automatically compensate for a dropping loop volume by
the addition of diluent. Depending on the fraction of oxygen in the diluent, this may also lead
to a concurrent drop in loop PO2 (it should never lead to a rise in loop PO2, because the PO2
of the active diluent at ambient pressure should not exceed the PO2 set-point of the breathing
loop). This then leads to subsequent injection of oxygen into the loop by the solenoid, which
increases the loop volume.
Practiced rebreather divers should be able to indirectly detect changes in loop volume based
on changes in buoyancy and work of breathing. Increases to loop volume can be made by the
addition of diluent or oxygen (depending on whether the current PO2 is greater than, or less
than [respectively] the PO2 set-point). Decreases to loop volume can be accomplished by
manually venting gas from the loop, either by exhaling through the nose (except for certain
kinds of full face masks), allowing gas to escape from the seal of the lips to the mouthpiece,
or dumping gas from a valve somewhere on the rebreather loop. Ideally, a fully-dressed
rebreather diver should be neutrally buoyant (or very slightly negative) at the surface, with
optimal loop volume, and empty buoyancy compensator. Under such conditions, gas needs to
be added to the buoyancy compensator only to compensate for compression of the thermal
protection suit, if any. In any case, a diver should be weighted such that he or she is close to
neutral when the breathing loop volume is at or near optimal.

V. Ascent
During an ascent from a rebreather dive, especially a deep dive, the oxygen partial pressure in
the loop will begin to drop (due to the dropping ambient pressure). The oxygen control system
will likely begin to compensate for this by injecting oxygen; however, except for the slowest
of ascents, the solenoid valve will not likely be able to keep up the with drop in loop PO2 due
to drop in ambient pressure. Although it may be tempting for a diver to "help" the solenoid
achieve PO2 set-point by manually adding oxygen to the loop, this is probably not a good idea
in most cases.
During the ascent, loop gas will be vented from the breathing loop due to expansion. The
diluent component of this lost gas is unrecoverable (it cannot be put back in the cylinders, and
it is not used by the body), and assuming a continuous ascent, no more diluent will need to be
added to the loop for the remainder of the dive.
The oxygen component of the vented gas, however, is wasted especially if the system
continuously injects more into the loop to bring the PO2 back up to set-point. This waste of
oxygen can be minimized by allowing the PO2 to drop relatively low during the ascent.
Obviously, the PO2 level in the loop should be continuously monitored to ensure that it does
not drop dangerously low (i.e., below about 0.5 atm). There is seldom any real advantage to
adding additional oxygen into the loop manual in a futile attempt to maintain PO2 set-point.
My procedure is to allow the PO2 in the loop to drop during the ascent. I manually add
oxygen to the loop only if the PO2 drops below 0.5 atm, or when I reach the first
decompression stop. At the first decompression stop, I will usually manually add oxygen to
the loop to bring the PO2 back up to set-point. Proper manual oxygen addition requires a great
deal of practice and training; it’s easy to accidentally over-compensate by adding too much
oxygen, escalating the loop PO2 to dangerously high levels. If oxygen is manually injected in
large bursts (rather than several short bursts), a "pocket" of high-PO2 gas will move around
the breathing loop for several breaths.
On most decompression dives involving helium during the deep phase of the dive, the diver
will want to flush the helium out of the loop and replace it with nitrogen. I usually do this
during an ascent at a depth of about 130-150 ft/40-45 m, and start the flush by venting gas
from the loop until the loop volume is at Vmin. I then inflate the loop to Vmax with air, and
repeat this cycle at least three times. The partial pressure of any remaining helium in the loop
is negligible, and will continue to drop as more gas is vented from the loop during the
remainder of the ascent. When I reach the 20-ft /6- m decompression stop, I shut the diluent
input supply, and flush the loop with oxygen until the loop PO2 reaches set-point. I will
generally remain at this depth until the decompression ceiling has been cleared. If I ascend
shallower, I reduce the PO2 set-point to 1.0 atm.

VI. System Recovery and Bailout

The most valuable skills a rebreather diver must learn are the skills which enable recovery
and/or bailout from various failure modes. These skills should be practiced routinely, because
a diver should only rarely have to use them in a real emergency situation.

A. Oxygen Control System Failure

1. Solenoid Failure
One potential failure mode of most closed-circuit rebreathers is that the solenoid valve can
potentially get stuck in the open position. In such a case, oxygen would be continuously
injected into the breathing loop, and the PO2 of the breathing loop would reach dangerously-
high levels relatively quickly. The first response to this situation (which is usually
immediately evident to the diver via audible cues and an increase in loop volume) is to
temporarily switch to open-circuit mode. After the oxygen supply to the solenoid has been
manually shut, the diver can flush the loop with diluent until the gas is safe to breathe, return
to closed circuit mode, and abort the dive while manually maintaining the PO2 in the
breathing loop.
The obvious response to a solenoid valve that is stuck shut is to abort the dive and maintain
PO2 set-point manually.

2. Partial Electronics Failure

If either the primary or the secondary PO2 display systems fail at any time during the dive,
the dive should be aborted. If the automatic oxygen control system has concurrently failed,
the diver should manually maintain the PO2 in the breathing loop following the functional
PO2 display.

3. Total Electronics Failure

A total electronics failure generally means both the primary and secondary PO2 display
systems have failed simultaneously. Although an open-circuit bailout will often be the most
appropriate response to this situation (especially if there is no "required" decompression stop
and the dive is relatively shallow), there are at least two alternative solutions.

a. Semi-Closed Operation

Any closed-circuit rebreather can be manually operated as a semi-closed rebreather by the

diver. To accomplish this, the diver simply vents every third, fourth, or fifth exhaled breath
out of the loop, replenishing it with more diluent. The optimal rate at which exhaled breaths
should be vented from the loop depends on the depth, the fraction of the oxygen in the diluent,
and the metabolic rate (workload) of the diver. This system is not perfect, but a well-trained
rebreather diver should be able to maintain a life-sustaining breathing mixture in the loop
until reaching staged bailout cylinders, or a depth where it is safe to use the "Oxygen
Rebreather" method (see below), while consuming substantially less gas than a bailout in full
open-circuit mode would. This method requires a great deal of practice while the PO2
displays are fully functional to master. Obviously, appropriately conservative decompression
schedules should be followed following this bailout method.

b. Manual Gas Mixing

A more difficult, but more gas-frugal method of maintaining a life-sustaining gas mixture in
the breathing loop is to manually mix oxygen and diluent within the breathing loop. During
the initial bailout ascent, the diver occasionally adds just enough oxygen to the loop manually
to prevent hypoxia from occurring (the proper rate of gas injection can only be learned after
much practice and experience). Upon reaching the first decompression stop, the diver blends
the first pre-calculated gas mixture.
Available to the diver are at least two known gas mixtures (oxyge n and at least one diluent
with some known fraction of oxygen in it), and two known breathing loop volumes (Vmin
and Vmax). Presumably, the difference between the two, ([Vmax] [Vmin]), will not be
identical to the absolute value of Vmin. With these known variables, the diver can create
(within reasonable limits of accuracy) at least four different gas mixtures. The first gas
mixture is achieved by flushing the loop completely with diluent. Once doing this, the diver
can manually add oxygen to compensate for the drop in volume of the breathing loop (as
oxygen is metabolized and carbon dioxide is absorbed by the absorbent, the loop volume will
drop).
If a diver is sufficiently sensitive to changes in loop volume, the PO2 in the loop can be
maintained relatively constant. The diver continues using this method until reaching a depth
shallow enough where the next mixture can be blended. To create the second mixture, the
diver flushes the loop with diluent and then achieve Vmin, then manually adds oxygen until
Vmax is reached. After allowing the gases to mix for a few breaths, the loop is vented back to
optimal volume (if the gas mixture is sufficiently mixed, the FO2 should remain constant).
The diver then maintains optimal loop volume with the addition of oxygen.
The third mixture involves flushing the loop first with pure oxygen followed by venting until
Vmin is reached. The loop is then "topped-off" with diluent until Vmax is achieved, and the
loop is vented back to optimal volume after mixing has occurred. This is the most difficult
mixture to create, because the diver must breathe in open-circuit mode to avoid hyperoxia
during the gas mixing process.
The fourth gas mixture is pure oxygen, which can be maintained by using the "Oxygen
Rebreather" method outlined below.
With two diluent supplies with different oxygen fractions, the number of gas mixtures that can
be created increases to 9. With three diluent supplies, there are 16 possible gas mixtures that
can be blended. This method is most difficult in deep water, because with a given PO2, the
FO2 is relatively small. This means that relatively small changes in loop volumes equate to
relatively large changes in PO2. This makes the task of trying to replenish metabolized
oxygen considerably more difficult. It canno t be over-emphasized that these methods require
a great deal of practice to master. Practice sessions should be conducted while the rebreather
electronics are fully functional, so the diver can monitor the various gas flushes and how they
affect actual PO2.

c. Oxygen Rebreather

The simplest and most reliable method of manual oxygen control is to maintain only oxygen
in the breathing loop. Unfortunately, this method can only be used at depths of about 15-20 ft
/3.5-6 m or less (depending on the maximum PO2 the diver wants to be exposed to). The
diver simply flushes the loop with pure oxygen, and replaces and drop in loop volume with
more oxygen. Regardless of how precise the diver is at maintaining a constant loop volume,
the PO2 in the loop stays constant at any constant depth, and life-sustaining at any depth
shallower than about 20 ft /6 m.

B. Partial Absorbent Canister Failure

A partial failure of the absorbent canister usually means that the absorbent in the canister can
no longer remove carbon dioxide from the loop as fast as the diver is producing it, leading to a
rise in loop PCO2. If this occurs during a high-workload portion of the dive, the diver may be
able to reduce workload during a dive abort and continue in closed-circuit mode for a
potentially substantial period of time. If the partial canister failure occurs at a low workload,
the diver will likely need to either periodically flush the breathing loop with diluent and/or
oxygen in a manual semi-closed mode (as outlined above), or resort to an open-circuit bailout.
Once again, only first-hand experience will help guide the diver towards the appropriate
course of action. However, if ample breathing gas supplies are available (a they should be in
all cases), it is certainly more prudent to complete the dive in open-circuit mode.

C. Catastrophic Unrecoverable Loop Failure

The "worst-case scenario" for any rebreather dive is a catastrophic unrecoverable loop failure.
This can be caused by a severed breathing hose, badly torn counterlung, or completely failed
(e.g., flooded) absorbent canister. In such cases, if a diver does not have access to a secondary
rebreather system, a bailout in open-circuit mode is inevitable.

1. Dives Without Required Decompression Stops

If there is no "required" decompression time, an open-circuit bailout is the simplest solution.
If the diluent gas supply was monitored properly, there should be plenty of breathable gas to
conduct a slow, controlled ascent to the surface. If the rebreather system allows open-circuit
access to the oxygen supply, a "safety" stop can be conducted at a depth of 10-20 ft/3-6 m to
reduce the probability of DCI.

2. Dives With Required Decompression Stops

As stated earlier, the most logistically difficult aspect of any rebreather dive requiring
substantial decompression is accommodating the possible need for completing the full
required decompression in open-circuit mode. Two general scenarios that I have developed
are outlined below. In both cases, divers carry a total of 80 cf of diluent and as much as 27 cf
of oxygen (as described above in the "System Configuration and Equipment" section).

a. Drift Dives

Our most frequent diving method involves a "live" boat following free-drifting divers. There
are many advantages to this method, a discussion of which is beyond the scope of this article.
Herein I will describe our standard protocol for open-circuit bailout from this type of dive.
Figure 3a illustrates the normal dive plan: divers pull a "tow line" (made from thin but strong,
brightly-colored line) that is attached to small but highly visible "surface float". The boat
captain follows this float throughout the course of the dive, keeping a watchful eye for any
"emergency floats" that come to the surface. A normal ascent from such a dive (assuming no
rebreather failures) involves divers commencing their ascent along the tow- line. At a pre-
determined time, the surface-support crew clips a "decompression line" (as described above in
the "System Configuration and Equipment" section) to the tow line via the carabiner (or other
similar clip) at the weighted end of the decompression line (Fig. 3b). The weight of the
decompression line slides down the tow line until the divers rendezvous with it. The divers
then detach the decompression line from the tow line (the tow line is either pulled in by the
surface support crew, or left to drift until all divers have surfaced), and complete the
decompression on the decompression line.
Depending on wind and swell conditions, the boat may or may not be physically attached to
the decompression line via a "tether" (Fig. 3c). If one or both divers are forced to conduct a
bailout in open-circuit mode while the pair is still together, both divers commence the ascent
together. The diver conducting the bailout inflates the "emergency float" that he or she has
carried throughout the dive, clips it to the tow line, and allows it to slide along the tow line
back to the surface. Depending on the particular parameters of the bailout situation, the diver
may attach a note of expla nation written on a slate that is attached to the emergency float (Fig.
3d).
As soon as the float reaches the surface, the surface-support crew responds by deploying the
decompression line as described above. In this situation, however, the surface-support crew
also attaches a pre-determined configuration of open-circuit breathing gas supply (usually air
or EAN) to the weight of the decompression line (Fig. 3e).
If both divers are simultaneously conducting an open-circuit bailout, both emergency floats
are sent to the surface, and the surface-support crew attaches an appropriate volume of open-
circuit gas supply. In either case, the float or floats are usually deflated and returned to the
divers along with the open-circuit gas supply by attaching them to the weight of the
decompression line and allowing them to slide down the tow line to the divers (Fig. 3f). When
the divers rendezvous with the bottom of the decompression line, they detach the tow line as
described above, and continue decompression. A additional supply of oxygen is then sent
down the decompression line by the surface-support crew to a depth of 20 ft /6 m.
If weather conditions allow the boat to be tethered to the decompression line, a surface-
supplied oxygen rig (as described above in the "Sys tem Configuration and Equipment"
section) may be deployed instead of a self-contained oxygen supply (Fig. 3g).
The ultimate worst-case scenario involves a separated pair of divers who both independently
and simultaneously require open-circuit bailout. If the first emergency float to the surface is
attached to the tow line, then the procedures as outlined above are followed, just as if the
divers were ascending together (the only difference is that in this case, the diver might not
detach the tow line from the decompression line). If a diver becomes separated from the tow
line, he or she will commence an ascent to the surface and will deploy an emergency float to
the surface, attached to the line of the reel that the diver has carried (as described above in the
"System Configuration and Equipment" section). If the diver does not require open-circuit
bailout gas supply, he or she writes a note to that effect on a slate, and attaches the slate to the
emergency float.
When the second emergency float is spotted by the surface-support crew, they deploy a self-
contained open-circuit oxygen supply down the first decompression line, and deploy a second
decompression line to the isolated diver. If there is no note on a slate to the contrary, the
surface support assumes the second diver is also engaged in an open-circuit bailout, and
supplies gas accordingly (Fig. 3h). In general, the surface-supplied oxygen system is not
deployed whenever a diver pair is decompressing separately – it is better to allow the boat
freedom to move back and forth between the decompressing divers. If possible, the surface-
support crew communicates to each diver the direction of the other diver, so that the divers
may swim towards each other and complete decompression together. If the separated diver
sends his or her emergency float to the surface first, or if the two divers are both separated
(independently) from the tow line, the response procedure is similar, but in the reverse order
(i.e., first come, first served).

b. Fixed Station Dives

In cases where the reef extends nearly vertically from the surface to the depth of operation
(i.e., a "drop-off" or "wall"), the primary surface-support vessel may anchor on-site. In this
case, divers run a continuous guide- line from the anchor to the point at which the dive is to be
conducted, and set staged emergency gas supplies at various appropriate intervals along the
guide line.
In these conditions, general cave diving protocols are followed in terms of returning to the
surface along the same path tha t the descent was made. Ideally, both divers will carry
emergency floats and extra reels with line, and a secondary "chase" boat will be onsite to
accommodate a bailout situation as described above (in case a diver becomes separated from
the guide line).

VII. System Maintenance

Specific rebreather maintenance procedures will be defined by individual manufacturers for
their particular units. Described below are some general considerations for basic rebreather
maintenance.

A. Absorbent Canister
Methods fo r calculating remaining absorbent canister life were described above. Whether or
not the absorbent should be replaced between dives depends on a variety of factors, including
how much use the canister has previously been subjected to, how much time has elapsed since
the previous dive, what sort of profile is anticipated for the subsequent dive, and various other
factors. A general rule of thumb is: "absorbent is cheap, lives are not." Nevertheless, it is not
always necessary to replace the canister between every single dive. In all cases, however, a
canister should be removed from the breathing loop if the surface interval exceeds a few
minutes. If the surface interval exceeds a few hours, the canister should be sealed and
protected from ambient air if the absorbent is not going to be changed prior to the next dive.
In any case, if a canister has not been used for more than a few days, the absorbent should be
changed. When packing the canister with absorbent, it is important to ensure that all the
absorbent material has completely settled. This usually involves filling the canister, sealing it,
vigorously tapping it, topping-off the absorbent level, and repeating the process several times.
If the absorbent is not properly packed, a bumpy car or boat ride could lead to subsequent
absorbent settling, which may allow channeling of gas through the canister, and a greatly
diminished canister life-span.

B. Breathing Loop
The breathing loop should be opened and ventilated and dried as much as possible at the end
of each diving day. The entire loop (including mouthpiece, hoses, counterlung(s), canister,
etc.) should be disinfected with an appropriate disinfectant periodically (as often as every dive
day, but no less-frequently than once per dive week).

C. Oxygen Sensors
Oxygen sensors should always be kept as dry as possible. The life-span of the sensors can be
extended if they are sealed in an anoxic environment (i.e., nitrogen or helium) during long
inter-dive periods. Sensor calibration should be verified frequent ly (before every dive) and re-
calibrated as needed. Sensors should be replaced according to manufacturer specifications,
and spares should be kept on hand (it is strongly inadvisable to conduct a closed-circuit
rebreather dive with two or fewer oxygen sensors). As with all aspects of rebreather diving,
common sense mixed with a healthy dose of discipline is the best protection against
dangerous mistakes.

Lessons Learned
Below I describe several incidents from which I have learned valuable lessons. Although
these by no means represent all of my experiences, they do underscore a few of the points
made previously in this article.

Over my Head.
Here’s What Happened: After about 35 hours of practice dives in shallow water, I felt ready
for the "big leagues", so I decided to make a dive to 85 ft /26 m. The rebreather had proven so
reliable that I decided I didn’t need to use the heads-up display, so I pushed it out of my field
of vision. The current was strong, so I made a rapid descent to the bottom, manually adding
gas to the breathing loop to compensate for the increasing pressure of depth. Once on the
bottom I found myself down-current of the dive site, so I immediately started swimming
against the current without checking any of my gauges.
I fought hard for at least 5 minutes, and I wasn’t quite experienced enough to notice that the
oxygen injection solenoid had not fired since my initial descent. Only after I finally arrived at
the dive site, huffing and puffing, did it occur to me to check the gauges. The PO2 was 3.5
atm! I later realized that I must have been manually adding oxygen, rather than diluent, during
the initial descent. If, after 5 minutes of heavy workload, the PO2 in the breathing loop was
3.5 atm, I can only imagine what it was when I started swimming against the current. That I
did not convulse from CNS oxygen toxicity under those circumstances can only be described
as miraculous. I was not wearing a full- face mask.
Take-Home Messages: 1) Distinguishing manual diluent addition from manual oxygen
addition valves should be as reflexive and intuitive as breathing; such mistakes should simply
not happen. 2) One must know the PO2 in the breathing loop at all times; besides disabling
the heads-up display, I made the mistake of not checking the PO2 displays after a substantial
depth change. 3) Had I convulsed, a full- face mask would have saved my life; chalk one up in
favor of the use of full- face masks with rebreathers. Lesson learned: rebreather divers should
not let their confidence exceed their abilities. [Nor should any other divers –ed.]

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Here’s What Happened: My rebreather partner John and I descended on our first deep dive of
our expedition to Papua New Guinea. We followed the slope down to a depth of about 330 ft
/100 m, and found a rock with some interesting fishes.
About 10 minutes into the dive, John caught my attention and showed me that his PO2 had
fallen to about 0.7 atm. His solenoid had been firing correctly, but the PO2 was not being
maintained at set-point. He tried to manually add oxygen, but when he pressed the valve,
nothing injected into the loop.
Although his primary oxygen cylinder gauge indicated that it was full, he switched over to his
backup oxygen cylinder (also full) – but he was still unable to inject oxygen into the breathing
loop. At about this time, I began to notice that the PO2 in my breathing loop had also fallen
below set-point. When I tried to inject oxygen into my breathing loop, I had the exact same
set of failures as John. Four different oxygen supply systems had independently and
simultaneously failed! By that time, the PO2 in John’s breathing loop had fallen to 0.5 atm, so
we aborted the dive. As we started to ascend, the PO2 in John’s breathing loop fell sharply as
the ambient pressure dropped, until we reach 275 ft /83 m when it was 0.2 atm – dangerously
close to hypoxic. John’s only option at this point would have been to abort in open-circuit
mode. He tried one last time to manually add oxygen to his breathing loop, and finally it
began to trickle in. I also noticed that the PO2 in my breathing loop had returned to set-point.
Perplexed, but nevertheless relieved, we completed our decompression with perfectly
functional rebreathers.
Only after the dive were we able to figure out the cause of the problem. All four oxygen first-
stage regulators (primary and backup on both rebreathers) had environmental protection
systems that included a rubber diaphragm sealing the ambient pressure balance chamber of
the first-stage regulator. Unbeknownst to me, this chamber was supposed to be filled with a
fluid (such as alcohol), but the fluid had long-since evaporated out. Because this chamber in
all four oxygen regulators was gas- filled, the rubber diaphragms stretched inward in response
to increasing ambient pressure until they had "bottomed-out" on the adjustment nut for the
inter-stage pressure spring. Once the diaphragms had "bottomed-out", the inter-stage pressure
was no- longer compensating for increasing ambient pressure. At 330 ft /100 m, the inter-stage
pressure was equal to the ambient pressure, so there was no movement of gas from the
regulator to the breathing loop. Back in shallower water, the regulators had returned to normal
function.
Take-Home Messages: 1) Know the functional design of every component of rebreather,
inside and out; I should have been familiar with the oxygen regulator first stages and should
have known how to maintain them properly. 2) It is important to intimately understand gas
physics and physiology; it should have been obvious to us right away what the problem was,
and how best to solve it. 3) Different people work at different rates; John’s body burns oxygen
about twice as fast as mine does at low to moderate workloads, which is why this particular
problem was much more acute for him than it was for me. 4) Understand the bailout options;
the diluent regulators were functioning correctly; we could have injected diluent into the loop
to maintain a safe PO2. Lessons learned: Rebreather divers should have an intuitive
understanding of the mechanical aspects of the rebreather, gas physics, rates of oxygen
metabolism, and bailout options.

Know Thy Mix

Here’s What Happened: John and I descended on our way to 220 ft /67 m. At about 115 ft /35
m, we switched our diluent supplies from air to heliox, and continued our descent. Shortly
before reaching the bottom, John noticed that the PO2 in his breathing loop had climbed to
1.6 atm. He correctly responded by flushing the loop with heliox, but the PO2 escalated to
nearly 1.8 atm. Additional diluent flushing had no effect on the PO2. Both primary and
secondary PO2 displays were giving identical readings, and there was no indication of sensor
malfunction. He switched back to air as a diluent and flushed the loop, and the PO2 dropped
down below 1.5 atm (but the narcosis level increased). We immediately aborted the dive. I
had filled both of our heliox cylinders more than a month earlier, and at the time, I confirmed
that both contained 10% oxygen. I had not re-analyzed the heliox cylinders prior to this dive,
but after the dive we discovered the FO2 of the heliox on John’s rig had increased to 25%.
Take-Home Messages: 1) Always analyze, label and log your gas mixture, and know what
you’re breathing prior to the dive; had we done this, we never would have encountered a
problem. 2) Don’t bypass the brain when solving problems; although John had believed the
oxygen content of the heliox was 10%, and although his training was to automatically respond
to high PO2 by flushing the loop with diluent, he was still savvy enough to realize what had
happened, and cleverly switched back to air to bring the PO2 back down (under the
circumstances, he regarded narcosis as the lesser of two evils compared to the high PO2).
Lessons learned: It is imperative that diluent gas supplies be mixed properly and analyzed
immediately prior to the dive; the brain should not be bypassed when responding to a
problem; an intuitive grasp of the causes and effects of rebreather operations is critical; laws
of physics don’t lie.

Starved for Breath

Here’s What Happened: While in Papua New Guinea, I rushed to assemble the rebreather for
a dive on which Bob Halstead was to take photographs of John and me. I quickly calculated
(in my head) how much dive time I had used on that particular canister of absorbent, and
decided it was about 8 hours. Because I was typically getting 11 hours out of a canister, and
because this was to be a short dive, I decided not to spend the time to re-pack the canister with
fresh absorbent.
We fought a strong current down to a depth of 130 ft /40 m, where we were to take the
photographs. I found it extremely difficult to catch my breath once we were down. Although I
had worked hard against the current, I was unusually short of breath. When I was still starved
for breath after about 5 minutes of posing for the camera (low exertion), it was obvious that I
should abort the dive. During the ascent, the symptoms subsided slightly, but then quickly re-
appeared with a vengeance during my safety decompression stops. I flushed the loop with air,
and was soon able to breathe normally again. Within a few minutes, however, the shortness of
breath returned.
After I surfaced (with a splitting headache), I looked over my dive logs and discovered that I
had actually used that particular canister of absorbent for thirteen previous hours of dive time.
Take-Home Messages: 1) Managing rebreather expendables must be done carefully; I should
not have calculated a variable as critical as remaining absorbent life so flippantly. 2) Carbon
dioxide absorbent is cheap, lives are not; regardless of my miscalculation, I should have
changed the absorbent long before. Lessons learned: Knowing the remaining life of a canister
of carbon dioxide absorbent is critical.

Slow Down There, Young Feller

Here’s What Happened: This involves two incidents which occurred on the same day. One
morning in Papua New Guinea, I was rushed to get the rig ready for a deep dive. I had
prepared the rebreather the night before, so I just climbed into it, did a quick pre-dive check of
the system, and decided to forgo the "positive pressure" loop test. Tightening the straps on my
full face mask, I deflated my BC and made a "giant stride:" entrance off the dive platform. My
first inhalation filled my throat with water, and I began to cough and choke. Because I was
negatively buoyant, I had to struggle to ascend the two or three feet to the surface, and then
hastily rip the full face mask off.
Gasping and coughing at the surface, it occurred to me that I had very nearly drowned. I
assumed the water had leaked into the mask’s oral cup when I jumped into the water, so I
carefully replaced the mask, started descending, took a breath, and inhaled water down my
throat again! Once more, I struggled back to the surface, ripped off the mask, and gasped for
air.
After I climbed back aboard the boat and removed the rebreather, I saw the source of the
problem: I had neglected to connect the inhalation breathing hose to the rebreather -- it was
just dangling free! Not only had I almost killed myself (twice!), but I had completely flooded
the rebreather loop.
Later that same day, I neglected to replace the plug over the data download jack on the main
electronics housing. Within seconds of the rebreather entering the water, the main electronics
completely flooded with salt water and were destroyed.
Take-Home Messages: 1) Pre-dive check routines are very important and should not be
bypassed; conducting a positive-pressure loop test would have alerted me to the fact that the
breathing hose was disconnected. 2) Pre-dive checks should be thorough; my routine
previously did not include checking to see that the plug is replaced on the data download jack
-now it does. Lesson learned: Haste makes waste, and can potentially lead to costly, and even
deadly consequences.

A Long Way on Two Breaths of Air

Here’s What Happened: It was the last day of our Papua New Guinea expedition, and we had
time for only one more dive. My advisor, Jack Randall, had seen what he believed represent ed
a new genus and species of fish at a depth of 80 ft /24m. Because he had been diving all day
using conventional air scuba, he had no remaining bottom time left at that depth. I had been
using the rebreather all day (optimized gas mixtures), so I had plenty of remaining bottom
time.
We decided that Jack would bounce down with me to show me the spot where he had seen the
fish, then I would look for it and try to collect it. We rushed to gather our equipment together
in the chase boat, had our guide motor us out to the correct spot, and Jack rolled over the side.
Just as I was about to follow, I noticed that my diluent cylinder was completely empty. Jack
was already gone, and if I had returned to the Telita for more air, I never would have found
him again, and he would never be able to show me where the fish was. I manually flushed the
loop with air using my mouth and rolled over the side to follow Jack.
During my descent, I had to add oxygen to the breathing loop to compensate for the drop in
loop volume. By the time I caught up with Jack at 60 ft /18 m, the PO2 in my breathing loop
was 1.6 atm (too high already, and it would have been way too high at 80 ft /24m). The only
way I could get more air into the breathing loop was to get it from Jack’s cylinder. I motioned
to him that I needed to buddy breathe, and he assumed I needed to abort the dive. I did my
best to explain to him that all I wanted to do was to take a few breaths of his air and exhale
them into my rebreather (to add more nitrogen to the breathing loop), but I wasn’t getting the
message across. After two breaths of his air, I gave up trying to explain, and simply motioned
that everything was O.K. He pointed to where he had seen the fish, and headed back to the
surface. When I got to 80 ft/ 24m, the PO2 in the loop was just over 1.4 atm. However, if I
exhaled any gas from the loop, I would have lost nitrogen, which would have been replaced
by oxygen, and the PO2 would have been too high. Thus, I had to be very careful managing
my loop gas.
Jack had said the fish was light brown with a black spot near the tail. All of a sudden, a small
light-brown fish with a black spot near the tail swam by. I spent nearly an hour chasing the
fish, all the while being very careful not to loose any gas from the loop. Remarkably, I was
able to stay the whole hour without any increase in the PO2. Even more remarkably, I
managed to catch the fish! I completed the dive, proud of my accomplishment (both for
catching the fish, and for stretching so much dive time out of only two breaths of air).
Then the error of my ways suddenly dawned on me: what if I needed to make an open-circuit
bailout from the dive? I would have been screwed. To add to my failure, when I showed the
fish to Jack, it was the wrong one! Apparently there is another light-brown fish with a black
spot near the tail at 80 ft/ 24 m off Papua New Guinea.
Take-Home Messages: 1) Always ensure that at any time during the dive, at least one gas
supply is safe to breathe in open-circuit mode; had I needed to abort from the dive on open-
circuit, I would have had to breathe pure oxygen at a depth of 80 ft /24 m. 2) Rebreathers
really can go a long way on only a small quantity of diluent! Lessons learned: Always make
sure there is enough gas to make a safe abort to the surface; and make sure you have a more
specific description of a new genus and species of fish than "light brown with a black spot
near the tail", especially if it’s the last dive of an expedition.

Conclusions
In this article I have described my reasons for using closed-circuit rebreathers, some of the
lessons I’ve learned from my experience with this equipment, and an outline of the procedures
and protocols I have developed for diving with rebreathers in the sorts of environments and
conditions that I do (deep coral reefs). While this article may contain some useful tidbits and
"words of wisdom" of general applicability, in no way is it intended as a template for
generalized rebreather standards.
Military divers have used closed-circuit rebreathers for many decades, and represent the
single largest experience-base for closed-circuit rebreather operations. Certain commercial
divers and other individuals also have independent experience that spans many years to
decades. Specific rebreather designs are many and varied and will likely continue to change in
the years to come. No single user or user-group has all the answers for all possible conditions.
Present and future rebreather divers will continue to experiment with new combinations of
equipment, environments, and diving objectives; and new procedures will need to be invented
and refined. Perhaps the single most important step to take in minimizing the number of
accidents involving rebreathers is to create and maintain an open exchange of information
between past, current, and potential future rebreather divers. Expanding the collective body of
knowledge, experience, and wisdom to its maximum scope can only enhance the progression
of our individual levels of safety and productivity with this evolving techno logy.

Contacting the author...

Richard Pyle
Ichthyology, Bishop Museum
1525 Bernice St.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817-0916
Fax: (808) 841-8968
email: [email protected]

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This article is copyright © Richard L. Pyle

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Revised: .