User manual

10
HOW TO OPERATE YOUR C11 TITANIUM EXTREME 1000
THE HELIUM RELEASE VALVE
A Helium release valve, or Helium escape valve,
as it is also called, provides functionality for
professional divers operating at great depths for
prolonged periods of time or under saturation.
When commercial divers operate at great
depths, they often spend prolonged hours in
diving bells under pressure breathing a gas
mix like trimix or similar, that contains the gas
Helium. Since Helium molecules are the second
smallest found in nature, the gas is able to
work its way inside the watch, around any
O-rings or other seals the watch may feature.
This is not a problem as long as the divers stay
under pressure, but when the decompression
stops during resurfacing aren’t long enough,
a pressure difference builds up between the
trapped Helium inside the watch and the
environment. A small, one-way valve integrated
in the watch case is activated when the
differential between the inner and the outside
pressure reaches a critical level. Result:
The valve releases the Helium trapped inside
the case.
The C11 Titanium Extreme 1000 Helium release
valve is operated semi-automatically. During an
ascent any Helium that may have been trapped
inside the watch can be allowed out through
the one-way valve but water will not be allowed
to ingress (see ‘Using the Helium Release’).