Using Interspiro...Should I be afraid?

[CALFFBOU]

Seriously, my FD has been using Intersprio SCBA's for years and stands by them because "They have the best air flow."

I have been using them for years and say thats BS, they are low bid and simply j-u-n-k.

So, like the rest of you, I keep reading these FH articles on San Antonio's failures.

WTF- I am kinda worried. I simply do not care to use this low bid junk. I dont even think I will let Mini-Me wear one.

Anyone else?

[RES81CUE]

We use Scott only... But we do have 2 Interspiro's for sale if anyone is interested. We took over operation of a neighboring department and they had 2 Interspiros on the there Engine along with 2 Scott air packs. Well needless to say the first thing I did was take the Interspiros off the Engine and replace them with Scott. Now I have 2 useless Interspiro Air Packs... I woud let them go very cheap!!

[pfd4life]

Now I have 2 useless Interspiro Air Packs... I woud let them go very cheap!!

15 bucks, shipping included? Bou, I would worry..no different than the Securitex turnout gear. It just takes one incident to make you second guess everything, and question the product. This could have very easily have been another LODD this year....I don't trust it as far as I can throw it......which isn't very far. I stand behind my gear. My leather lid, my MP bunkers, and my Scott BA..they all have yet to fail like this low bid garbage.

[capfire]

Didn"t Philadelphia Fire have a problem with Interspero a couple years back also? Seems to me it even made NFPA change a function on supplied air. Something to do with the low air alarm freezing up and not working. For us it is Scott all the way.

[Dalmatian190]

Interspiro did change from a whistle to a vibra-alarm for low air...but that was at least 5 years ago if not longer.

We had them (circa 1990), never had a problem with the quality. We're now back to all Scott, just prefer that pack overall. Competitors like Interspiro where a good goose to Scott back in the late 80s/early 90s when they had gotten a bit of a chip on their shoulder until they started losing sales.

SA got all these packs last summer...sure sounds like an engineering change or manufacturing problem that's recently developed.

[Nozzleman216]

I used them when I was in the Air Force, I thought they were junk then, as I still think now. Never had any problems per say other then they were big POS's. I am not sure the military is still using them, I read they were looking for bids from Scott and MSA. Not sure if they made the switch yet or not. Nothing but Scott's here though

[CpaceEng1]

Cal Bou

We've been using Interspiro at least 10 years. Never had a problem with them except blowing a o'ring occassional. Never while someone was in a fire though. It usually happens when you turn the bottle on. We have around 180 of them, our air pack maintenace guy states there is more to the story than meets the eye. But I'm not going to get into that. It's ironic though this is only happening with one dept.

[HM604OH]

Back in the late 1980's, we started the process of switching from MSA to Interspiro. The decision was made based on head to head tests, but not in actual fireground situations (by the way, I had no part in this decision). Once we started using Interspiro under real world conditions, it became apparent that the units would not hold up. They required constant repairs we were told we would have to send our technicians to Sweden for certification before they could fix the units. When the next round of SCBA's came due for replacement, the decision was made to purchase additional MSA masks and pull the Interspiro units out of service. I haven't used an Interspiro mask for 15 years so I can't speak to the quality of their mask today.

[BFDLT32]

Seriously, my FD has been using Intersprio SCBA's for years and stands by them because "They have the best air flow."

I have been using them for years and say thats BS, they are low bid and simply j-u-n-k.

So, like the rest of you, I keep reading these FH articles on San Antonio's failures.

WTF- I am kinda worried. I simply do not care to use this low bid junk. I dont even think I will let Mini-Me wear one.

Anyone else?

Sorry to the hear this Bou. I hope that you can show the powers that be at work the problems with the BA's. It may be a good idea to get with one of the S.A. guys one on one and get the real story so you can have some more ammo for your cause. Maybe they will be willing to make a change.

[BLSboy]

Is it just me, or is anybody else seeing a lot of BA Failures? Scott NxGen2, Interspiro....maby it is time to take all the damn extra bells and whistles off, and gimme the air. No CBRNE, HAZMAT, MICKEY MOUSE *****, just the air and a PASS. JMHO......

[BFDENG51CAPT]

I'll take my Scott AP50 with intergrated pass only any day over all the new fancy stuff they are trying to do......I agree with your comment.........sometimes basic things are the best IMO

[CALFFBOU]

I do remember when the then new Scott 4.5 SCBAs came out in the mid/late 80s. Tough, simple and worked well.

[gunnyv]

The Air Force recently awarded a bid to MSA to develop a new pack for them, but it will be awhile before the Interspiros go away.

[CALFFBOU]

Way to bad for the AF. They should have gone Scott.

[FFFRED]

My only experience with Interspiro was at FDIC a number of years ago and it was generally agreed by most who used them that week that they actually cost themselves business as everyones experience was so poor with them that no one there would ever recomend purchasing them.

Best of luck.

FTM-PTB

[Bones42]

Bou, simple question. In all those years of using them, has your department had lots of problems?

A department near me got a batch of Scott AP50's a couple years ago. They had lots of problems and ended up switching to MSA's. Does that mean Scott's are junk (they were the low bid)? Every manufacturer has problems every now and then. SA got a bad batch. They are dealing with it by switching. Doesn't mean all Interspiro's are junk.

[ehs7554]

We are still using the old MSA Ultralite II's, some of which have the built in pass. Some are pretty old too. They work just great. We are switching over to the firehawk within the next couple of months. I have used Scott at my old job and although they are nice, I really like the frame/back pack for the MSA's.

[Dalmatian190]

I do remember when the then new Scott 4.5 SCBAs came out in the mid/late 80s.

1985 I believe...since Boston FD was an early (if not first) adopter and they where in use at the January, 1986 Prudential Center fire.

One bit of lore I heard from one of the Scott guys years ago was they where getting a bit nervous because Boston was running very low on high pressure air supply -- they were so new not only to Boston but the entire market there wasn't much infrastructure in place yet to support extended high-rise operations. Scott had also sent every bottle they could get their hands on from New England dealers to help out.

I believe the Scott 2.2s had been out for longer? I know when I joined in '87 we had a couple 2.2s and the rest where Scott Pak IIs.

Wow, memory lane trip -- it was 1990 when we got a major slug of Town Capital money that upgraded us to all high-pressure packs (Interspiros although a few years later we started buying Scotts again); complete bunker gear replacement to all Nomex and pants (before then some guys where still in cotton duck, and everyone had boots unless you bought your own pants); and enough pagers to eliminate the standard 3 year wait from the time you joined to the time you were issued a pager.

[Tillerman17]

Absolute low bid crap. Used them in the AF and hated them.

[CALFFBOU]

Bou, simple question. In all those years of using them, has your department had lots of problems?

We have had some minor problems with the InterSpiros over the years. No failures to report. (That I know of)