Ranger wing modification

[marchand]

Hey Scott, I was wondering if you could stick another bladder into my ranger wing. If so, how much would it cost?

[fisheater]

If by "ranger wing" you mean the Ranger BC, then the answer is yes.

You can interchange the various Zeagle bladders and prices for the bladders are on the ScubaToys website. Just click on the "Zeagle Acc." tab at the bottom left of the main page.

[marchand]

what I'm talking about is putting another inner bag inside of the bladder, and attaching another inflater and bottom dumps.

[in_cavediver]

Originally Posted by marchand

what I'm talking about is putting another inner bag inside of the bladder, and attaching another inflater and bottom dumps.

If they can't, there is someone out there who can. My question is why? The ranger wing (44lb optimistic) is a bit small IMHO for heavy negative doubles and a single shouldn't get you in the place to need redundant lift.

[marchand]

Would you agree that 44#'s would be enough for double HP120's? I think that 44#'s is plenty for anything I am going to do in the near future, and, as long as the price isn't in the $400 range, I would rather make my current wing redundant than buy a a new wing.

[in_cavediver]

Originally Posted by marchand

Would you agree that 44#'s would be enough for double HP120's? I think that 44#'s is plenty for anything I am going to do in the near future, and, as long as the price isn't in the $400 range, I would rather make my current wing redundant than buy a a new wing.

On the wing, from my ranger wing, its about 35-38lbs of lift. For some reason, all BC makers use optimistic numbers (my 55lb wing is more like 50lb). Also, by adding another bladder, you are going to reduce its internal capacity of the original thus lowering its rated lift.

Starting from scratch, to calculate what wing you need, look at your gear first. This is basically the BC, tanks, regs, bands and manifold. You do this full so its the worst case to deal with.

Tanks (2) = 10.7lbs neg each or about 21.5lbs
<deleted air reference>
Bands/regs = 3lbs or so neg weight 3lbs

<deleted stuff about not enough lift>

EDIT: Bad math. Doubled counted the air weight.

[ScottZeagle]

I'm not 100% sure that I understand what you are trying to do, but if you want to stick a larger inner bladder inside your current bladder cover, it won't give you any more lift. The outer bladder cover on the Ranger BC is what limits the inner bag expansion to 44 lbs of lift. If that cover wasn't on there, the inner bladder would keep expanding until it popped like a balloon.

[BSea]

Originally Posted by in_cavediver

by adding another bladder, you are going to reduce its internal capacity of the original thus lowering its rated lift.

It wouldn't reduce it much. If 1 failed, then it wouldn't be inflated at all, so the other wing would be able to inflate fully. Granted, it wouild take up some room, and maybe prevent the other wing from totally inflating, but not a great deal. I doubt you would lose more than a pound of lift.

On the other hand, I agree with you that this setup really isn't ideal. A better choice would be to get the right wing for the BC. Doesn't Zeagle make a double bladder wing that goes on the Ranger? I know they make 1, but I don't know if the ranger will acept it.

[marchand]

They do make one but it is like $425

Scott, what I was thinking about was putting two of the same size bladder into the same outer bladder. Kind of like little Bertha but with 44#'s of lift.

[in_cavediver]

You know, I should sometimes double check my calcs.

I double counted the air. (seemed kinda heavy)

You have:

22lbs of tank
3lbs of regs/manifold
=============
25lbs of stuff

Then, you add the BC and any wieght from accessories such as a can light/reels etc you might have. Hopefully this is still less than 30-35lbs or so. If it floats, its good.

Finally, you factor in your exposure protection. It should be positive here. Its variable determines if you need to add lead. If it's BC integrated, be sure to recalculate the gear only buoyancy. You want the gear to float without you!

44lbs wing ought to be OK so long as you don't hang a lot of negative stuff on you or need to carry lead wieght. Doubling it should be OK as well so long as you can get 35+lbs of lift out of each wing.