Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc.

(713) 523-3483 (dive)
5808 Newcastle Drive
Houston, TX 77401

Delta P

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Ulterior Motives…

Eric Rebreather HEad on BenchMy visit to Delta P was for more than a tour.  Al had arranged for me to spend some time with Jason, so I could complete a Sentinel Technician Course.  My purpose was to be more familiar with the unit and its components so I could handle the common and not so common field repairs.

 

We started b completely disassembling my unit all the way down to its basic components.  Jason then went through a step-by-step procedure for assembling the unit from the ground up.  Along the way, he explained some of their ideas in designing this rebreather and comparing it to their other, more expensive unit, the Oroborus.

 

Jason was an excellent teacher.  He was patient with me and took the time to show me a more professional way to do things.  At one point he told me, a professional uses the bench rather than manipulating things at chest level.  There is a greater chance of damaging things when you are trying to hold them and work with them rather than keeping them on the bench and using the tools and leverage to your advantage.

 

The Sentinel is a rather simple device with some surprising mechanical twists designed to make it safer for the end user.  They have given divers using their products a great deal of thought and have tried to build a straight forward machine that allows for flexibility and customization in the diver interface but not in the basic operation.  The unit features a custom designed back plate and wing that can be substituted for a more conventional backplate and wing if desired,

 

As I reassembled my unit, I was continually amazed with the design features incorporated into the unit.  It is apparent that the design team build on the success of their other unit and the experience of a number of divers inside and outside of the Company.

 

Of course, I was responsible for re-building my unit, so I hope I was a good student.  I guess I’ll find out in a few weeks.

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Who knew?

Delta P TechnologiesHave you ever been surprised when you finally meet someone you have had an email relationship with?  Well if you have, you would understand my surprise at visiting the Delta P/CCR Technologies offices in England.

 

We have sold the VR3’s in our store since its introduction a long time ago.  I have had a long distance relationship with them for all of those years – mostly by email, telephone and an occasional meeting somewhere in the US.  So when I visited their offices recently, I was surprised at what I found.

 

First of all, they are out in the country.  Well sort of, their office is in an small business park outside of Poole, that is out away from the city, port and hustle of Poole.  When I went upstairs to meet Al and Kevin I found a staff of 7 in the office including Kevin Gurr, the president of the Company, Jason the lead engineer and designer, Freda from customer service, Mandy in charge of production and procurement, Chris in customer service and  billing, Linda, in charge of accounting and of course Al who is the primary client services person and one of the go to people at Delta P.

 

Manufacturing ProcessAfter tea, Jason took me on a tour of the facility.  Our first stop was actually to the building next door where Jason introduced me to Steve, the Production Manager  He is an amazing person; he has 28 years of aircraft parts fabrication experience and heads up the thing that surprised me the most about my visit, the production facility.  Unlike many small scuba manufacturers, Delta P actually builds the cases for their computers as well as the majority of the components for both the Sentinel and Oroborus Rebreathers.  They have two C&C Mills and two C&C lathes along with one off manufacturing machinery and tools.

 

My assumption was that they had the components built to their specifications and then assembled the products.  In talking to Jason and Kevin., having your own production facility is the only way to control the quality of your product.  The production facility was impressive.  The operators were all hired away from the aircraft industry and had 10 to 15 years of experience in that industry prior to joining Delta P.

 

It was interesting to see all of the parts, both aluminium and plastic.  The plastic parts on the rebreathers are not injection molded plastics but rather milled from Delrin stock.  Some of the operations take 48 to 72 hours to complete – isn’t automation wonderful?

 

Steve is passionate about his work and he is proud of the products they build.  The milling is precise, the finished parts are clean and free of manufacturing debris.  All of the employees in the production unit, are very proud of their work and volunteered to show me what they were doing, how it was being done and what the finished product would look like.

 

Our next stop on the tour was the shipping department and then on to the assembly room.  Here I met Richard who was assembling Sentinel sub-assembly parts preparing for the next build cycle for the Sentinel rebreathers and the upcoming ISO 9001 compliance audit.  Here were Poseidon regulators being fitted with adapters for the hoses, manifold blocks with hoses being attached and heads assembled in the electrical shop (our next shop).  They currently have three assembly stations but have plans on adding more to help meet the demand for the new Sentinel rebreather.  According to Kevin, they have over 100 on order at this time.

 

After tea, they drink a lot of tea here, my tour continued on to the electrical department, currently housed in a temporary building next to the main building.  There are 4 people working here assembling both the Sentinel rebreather heads and the dive computers.  Additionally, they handle repairs and health checksfor customer computers and rebreather heads.  Besides the things you would normally expect in an electrical assembly department (wire, solder, soldering irons, parts, etc) there were two different pressure pots.  One unit is for testing the rebreather components and the other is for the VR3 and VR2 computers.  Before they leave the electrical department, every component is pressure tested.

 

My tour was a complete surprise and impressed me at the same time.  Here is a Company that has invested heavily in manufacturing and technology in order to build a product that they are proud selling and diving.  Since most of the staff are divers, they carry the passion they have for their sport into their jobs.

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The New Rebreather

Doesn’t look like that much stuff for that much money“I have just had the most interesting conversation with the Chef at the Renaisance Hotel and he has your package.”  Imagine the surprise we all had when my new Seninel Rebreather was delivered to the Kitchen at the Renaissance Hotel.  It was being delivered to the hotel so I could pick it up as I passed through London on my way to Sharm el Sheik.  Kevin chose the red Sea for the first crossover training program.

 

The Red Sea is a popular destination for divers from the UK and Europe for a diver from the US, Egypt is not an easy destination. Continental’s price for a round-trip fare to Cairo was over $4,100 and in the economy cabin to boot!  So, flying to London seemed like a better choice.  However, looking into it further, the only carriers that fly into Sharm are British Airways, Egypt Air and lots of budget charter airlines.  In looking at the charter airlines, the pricing seems reasonable until you start looking at the cost of adding checked luggage which they all charge a premium for.  In talking to Al Wright at CCR Technologies, the maker of the rebreathers, he said “welcome to European travel, just book as much luggage as you can on-line and then talk to them at the counter.  You should be able to get everything on.  I have always had good luck.” 

 

My thought process through it all was, “what if I am not lucky, what would I do with the excess?”  So, Ann is sending me off to the Red Sea via British Airways and the more standard luggage limits.  I am still sure I’ll be paying but I have a better idea of what it is.  Of course, the flight is operated by a BA subsidiary that has been sold to another charter company and I am on the last flights under the BA logo.  Tomorrow should prove to be interesting..