A russian donor unit
Brian sent me pictures of an IDA 57, a Russian rebreather with the potential to be a donor rebreather for home builders. The unit consists of all the elements needed to build a full MCCR rebreather. There is a CMR valve with manual bypass, a contralong and scrubber and high quality breathingloop. Check on Ebay for attractive offers. Brian bought this unit for $600 to give you an idea.
The unit has a build in metering valve and manual bypass (black rubber button). The metering valve offers the diver the possibility to adjust the oxygen flow. Also
Here you see the functional principle of the IDA57. The unit was designed in 1955 and redesigned in 1957. The device was a great success and was used for submarine escape, technical-civil work and undercover actions. A special feature of the unit is the pressure regulator which injects 40-60 ltr/min of oxygen in case of oxygen deficiency. This makes the IDA 57 one of the first lung-controlled oxygen rebreathers and can be called revolutionary for that time.
Therebreathersite was founded by Jan Willem Bech in 1999. After a diving career of many years, he decided to start technical diving in 1999. He immediately noticed that at that time there was almost no website that contained the history of closed breathing systems. The start for the website led to a huge collection that offered about 1,300 pages of information until 2019. In 2019, a fresh start was made with the website now freely available online for everyone. Therebreathersite is a source of information for divers, researchers, technicians and students. I hope you enjoy browsing the content!