Does the O2ptima take a long time to maintain?
Yes and No. Many rebreather sport divers, including O2ptima divers, find they spend noticeably more time on equipment compared to open-circuit because the rebreather diver must always be careful and disciplined about maintenance. However, compared to most other rebreathers the O2ptima takes less time to setup, in part because of the cartridge. If you have been habitually careful with your open-circuit dive equipment and treat your equipment with respect, as an experienced O2ptima sport diver you will spend only slightly more time with your O2ptima maintenance than you did with open-circuit. In multi-dive days and multi-day diving, because the O2ptima rebreather needs very little attention between each dive in a series, considerably less total time may be spent on setup and maintenance than with open-circuit.
