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This apparatus, offered in two distinct versions, is the current industry standard for testing the water-tight integrity, accuracy, and overall function of depth gauges, watches, dive computers, and certain underwater photographic gear. It's also useful for classroom demonstrations related to diving physics and physiology.
Each unit is fitted with an internal plastic bucket so that equipment is actually tested underwater. In fact, many modern instruments may be harmed if tested dry because pressurized air can be forced behind seals and diaphragms! As modernTEK diving becomes widespread, it's essential that related life-support instrumentation be tested on a regular basis.
Both versions of our chamber use body style 300B: It has a 10" inside diameter with 11" of usable inner height; outside dimensions are 10.8" in diameter by 15" high. Weight is about 100 pounds. The body is constructed from alloy steel pipe with 0.45" wall thickness and is plated inside and out with an industrial, electroless nickel finish. A steel ring, which locks into the body by means of a cog and pin system, contains a 1" thick plexiglas, O-ring sealed view port. The massive design of this chamber is necessary because today's dive equipment demands more extensive testing at greater depths than did older gear.
Modern chambers undergo far more cycling stress / metal fatigue than did their predecessors. Body type 300B was designed for increased longevity even under severe use. The pressure vessel has a high safety factor and, although hydrotesting is not required, each unit is repetitively tested to 250 psi (575 ft.)! In actual use, our Depth Test model has a safety factor of about 10:1 (ratio of working pressure to burst pressure), and our Instrument Test model is 7:1. Most pressure fittings and components have safety factors of about 4:1.
The chamber can be pressurized from a dive tank using the first stage of any scuba regulator equipped with a standard BC hose (not supplied). The hose mates to an inlet fitting mounted on the stainless steel instrument / control panel which also holds an air input control valve, a pushbutton bleeder, and a master gauge. Each vessel also has a manual drain valve in the body and a safety relief valve commensurate with the depth range of operation.
A unique feature of all chambers is the Bulkhead Air Shunt, a fitting which penetrates the vessel wall and connects to a swivel inside the cavity. The threaded port of this swivel will accept the hose of any fully integrated dive computer which then can be submerged in the bucket and tested as follows: The outer end of the Bulkhead Air Shunt is connected by means of a special hose (optional) to any scuba tank; thus air can pass directly to the computer while this delivered pressure is monitored on an external gauge. After the computer is activated at full tank pressure, any lesser pressure can be obtained by turning off the tank and using a bleeder to vent down to the desired level. The chamber itself must be pressurized with a separate air tank as previously described. In this manner, integrated computers can be tested at virtually any combination of simulated depth and diver air supply! Another special adapter (optional) allows the testing of hoseless computers.
The DC-300B pressure vessel is available with four distinct instrumentation packages with different depth ranges and accuracies:
48300... Depth Test Chamber - Our simplest model. The
Depth Test Chamber is primarily intended for evaluating equipment
for water-tightness and pressure resistance. It can also
be used for testing conventional analog instrumentation, but its
master gauge is NOT accurate enough to match that of the
newest generation of electronic dive gauges and decomputers.
The 4.5" Master Gauge goes to 230 ft. of water depth with an
accuracy of 1% (2.3 ft) The Bulkhead Air Shunt is present in
the body, but its inner port is plugged. The internal swivel can
be added if desired.
48305… Extended depth for the 48300: To 347'
48310... Instrument Test Chamber - It is specifically designed
to test today's highly sophisticated dive instruments. It features
a 4.5" Test Gauge with ¼ of 1% accuracy to 300 feet of
salt water (that's 0.75 ft!) The gauge is calibrated in both feet
(300) and meters (90) of depth and has an anti-parallax mirror
for obtaining highly accurate readings. Each unit is equipped
with Bulkhead Air Shunt and Swivel as already described.
48320… Extended depth for the 48310: To 450'
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