Mon May 7 '18 Announcement
almost 6 years ago
– Mon, May 07, 2018 at 11:42:59 PM
Update time. Thanks everyone as always for your patience.
Certifications application delay
In the last update I mentioned that I hoped to complete the “official” testing of the breathing performance of the regulator in March, then submit the formal application for certification approval by the end of April. These dates were unfortunately too optimistic I’m afraid. We weren’t able to get back into the laboratory until mid-April and now have had to make slight changes to the regulator diaphragm before performing the “official” tests.
The diaphragm is a flexible rubber disk which allows high pressure air to be released into the body of the regulator when a user inhales. This video doesn’t deal with the SCORKL regulator specifically but is helpful in explaining what a diaphragm does in case you are interested.
The good news is that the change is very easy to make (essentially all we have to do is slightly increase the diameter of the diaphragm) but the bad news is that to re-tool the equipment and re-book in a time to test it at the laboratory will take at least a month. This means that applying for certification will unfortunately be delayed by about the same time.
Shipping delay
Shipping in June unfortunately doesn’t seem realistic anymore I’m afraid. That’s disappointing for you and for me since it would have been great to have everyone receiving their orders in the first month of summer. Until we’ve re-tested with the new diaphragm I won’t post an updated shipping date but fingers crossed I can do that in the next update in late June.
Please appreciate that these things move slowly not for lack of effort on my part but because the SCORKL is a new product. If we were a large, established scuba manufacturer with our own million-dollar testing equipment and tooling machines this latest testing phase could have been quicker. Since this is not the case however we have to wait for the testing laboratory to become available and for product development tweaking to occur incrementally.
Cylinder and cylinder valve certified
Back in the January update I mentioned that the cylinder and cylinder valves had passed testing. Official certification for both was received at the end of March thankfully which was a big step forward.
Air filters
As with the hand pumps, the hand pump air filters have been ordered and are waiting patiently to be filled and shipped. These air filters have been specially designed to fit the SCORKL hand pump and will remove gas contaminants and water vapor. You can see them (unfilled) here:
Packaging samples received
Packaging samples for the SCORKL and Hand Pump have been received and are looking good. You can see them here:
Logistics getting organised
In preparation for shipping the orders I’m starting to get all the logistics organised. It looks as though I’ll have Los Angeles, USA as a central distribution centre for American (North and South) orders, Rotterdam, The Netherlands for European orders and Hong Kong for Rest of the World orders. If anyone is a logistics guru please feel free to send me any tips or connections that you might have to [email protected]. Any advice will be much appreciated.
Next update
As mentioned above, I’ll aim to post another update in late June and hopefully set an updated shipping date then. Thank you as always for your patience and support.
Sincerely,
David
Thu Mar 22 '18 Announcement
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Mar 22, 2018 at 04:36:09 PM
Hi everyone. Thanks for your patience as always. We've made good progress since the last update. Details below:
“Pre-test” testing of the demand regulator successful
Testing of the demand regulator (the component of the SCORKL that a user holds in their mouth and breathes from) is a key component of product certification. The demand regulator tests make sure that the regulator performs safely under different conditions (depth, water temperature, rate of breathing, etc.). There are only a limited number of machines available in the world that are certified to officially test equipment under those conditions which is why it took a while to organise. The testing machines themselves are worth approximately USD $1 million and chiefly used by navies and international scuba equipment manufacturers.
I’m pleased to report that the “pre-test” testing of the SCORKL demand regulator went really well, with the regulator performing to all the required standards. Here are some photos and videos of the testing:
The “official” testing of the demand regulator for certification purposes should hopefully be complete before the end of March.
Certification Process Update
Once the “official” testing of the demand regulator is complete, I will need to submit a formal application to the international certification agency to have the product approved for use. This application will include the testing results of the SCORKL itself (the high pressure cylinder, cylinder valve, high pressure parts, demand regulator, practical use tests etc.) as well as the results of manufacturing quality control audits of the SCORKL factories. My hope is that approval can be achieved by the end of April but as you are already aware this can be a slow process so fingers crossed everything continues to go smoothly from here.
Pumps waiting patiently
It’s not just you and me that are that keen to have the SCORKL certified as soon as possible, the pumps are waiting patiently to be shipped too!
Next update
I’ll aim to post another update in mid May. Hopefully by then I’ll have some good news regarding international certification to report.
Thanks as always for your patience and support!
Sincerely,
David
Thu Feb 8 '18 Announcement
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Feb 08, 2018 at 03:47:43 PM
Hi everyone and happy New Year! Update time.
Package Design Poll Results
I had a great response to the packaging design poll thank you. More than 450 people responded! (If you didn’t vote originally, you can see the options HERE.)
Option #3 (below) was the clear favourite with the highest average ranking of 4.0 and 196 people saying they loved it.
Option #1 (below) was the second most well-liked, with an average ranking of 3.4 and 66 people saying they loved it:
Option #4 (below) was the third most well-liked, with an average ranking of 3.2 and 114 people saying they loved it:
I received some great extra feedback in the comments section too thank you. If you are interested in viewing the full poll results yourself, I have compiled a spreadsheet HERE which shows the entire list of responses, charts the results and compiles the comments.
Thank you very much everyone for getting involved. It is great to be able to receive your input while we are waiting for the certification approvals. I’ll be drawing on the poll results and your comments when choosing the final designs.
Certification Process Update
Last update I explained the certification approval process in full and why it’s taking a while to get through. If you missed that update you can still read it HERE.
I’m pleased to report that the cylinder valve (which releases the compressed air into the regulator), cylinder and high pressure parts (pressure gauge, scuba tank refill adapter) have now successfully passed testing and the official reports been received. This was a big step forward. Passing the cylinder valve test was particularly significant because of its high importance to the overall function, and safety, of the SCORKL.
We are currently undergoing a factory audit, which will assess quality control processes and the testing and certification of the regulator is now in the preparatory stages. It will take a couple of months for those tests to be complete and to receive the official reports/certificates but we are slowly but surely moving forward.
Next update (due late March) I’ll hopefully have some cool videos to be able to post here showing the specialised testing equipment that will be used to test the performance of the regulator.
As always, thank you for understanding that this process takes time and for your patience. The wait will be worth it in the end, I promise!
David
Tue Dec 19 '17 Announcement
over 6 years ago
– Tue, Dec 19, 2017 at 12:27:05 AM
Hi everyone. Time for another update.
Package Design Poll – vote for your favourite
I’ve shortlisted the first drafts of the packaging design and would love to hear your thoughts if you’re interested? Go HERE to vote for your favourite and send me any other packaging design suggestions or ideas there if you have any.
Certification process explained
As an underwater breathing apparatus, the SCORKL is required to meet very high safety and manufacturing quality standards. The highest standards in various categories in fact. There are two main sections: certification that the product itself operates at certain standards, and certification that the manufacturing process (the factory) manufactures the product to a consistently high quality. Both certifications are relatively straightforward to achieve but unfortunately quite time consuming.
For the product certification component we need to separately test and certify the high pressure cylinder, the cylinder valve (the part that releases the compressed air), other high pressure parts (e.g. pressure gauge, scuba tank refill adapter) and also the practical performance of the product when in use under various conditions (different depths, temperatures etc.). Each component requires different testing equipment, some in different locations, that can’t be done at the same time.
For the manufacturing process certification, all stages of the quality control process need to be inspected and verified including: design (engineering drawings etc.), purchasing (process for selection of suppliers of parts), inspection (incoming parts, in-process and final inspections) and packaging and shipment.
As you can imagine there is plenty to cover so even though most items are relatively straightforward the whole process takes a while to organise and complete.
Expected timings
As mentioned in my last update, I had hoped to start the testing in November but that has taken until December to start. The testing has taken longer than expected even just to organise I’m afraid. The testing and certification process itself will take two to three months concluding by the end of February hopefully. That leaves March and April for manufacturing and May and June for shipping.
As always, I’ll be doing by best to make things move along as fast as I can but a revised June shipping date is looking most likely now.
Many moving parts
The SCORKL is having components manufactured in California, Florida, Turkey and China and elements designed in Australia, the UK and Denmark. Since July I’ve travelled to China three times, Turkey once and will be overseas (probably China, the US and Denmark) again soon. Needless to say there is a lot going on and I’m pretty busy! I’m 100% committed to getting these orders shipped as soon as I can so thanks as always for your patience and understanding.
Communications
I receive a lot of correspondence via Kickstarter, Indiegogo, email and Facebook but am slow to reply sometimes sorry. My focus is directed towards getting the orders shipped ASAP so please excuse any delays in my responses. I always get back to inquiries eventually though so feel free to keep sending them through. I’ll also post an update here on Indiegogo approximately once every month or so to keep everyone up to date with progress. The next one will be posted around early February.
Seasons Greetings
My apologies again that I haven’t been able to ship orders before Christmas, particularly to those about to enter summer holidays in the Southern Hemisphere. In retrospect it was unrealistically ambitious of me to have expected that I could have achieved that. However, with every day we get closer to a shipped product.
Thank you very much for putting your faith in me and the SCORKL this year.
My best wishes to you all for Christmas and the coming festive season. I look forward to updating everyone with more progress in the New Year.
Sincerely,
David
Sun Oct 29 '17 Announcement
over 6 years ago
– Sun, Oct 29, 2017 at 06:44:10 AM
Hi everyone.
Thanks as always for your patience. It’s been a busy month! Time for another update.
Shipping delayed
I’d hoped to be able to ship Indiegogo orders in November but that won’t be possible I’m afraid. I’ve now started the international certification process but it will take at least two months from now to finalise. As mentioned in my last update this has unfortunately been out of my control but we’re finally making progress thank goodness. After waiting for the appropriate testing agencies and laboratories to become available the plan now is to perform the tests during November, to have the product certified in December and to ship as soon as I can after then in the new year. Shipping around February 2018 is probably the most likely date at this stage, all things going well from here.
My apologies to those of you that had hoped to receive your orders prior to a planned holiday in December. No one is keener than I am to get these orders out. By going through this certification process however you will be able to be one hundred percent confident that the Scorkl is of the highest quality and manufactured to the highest standards, when you do eventually receive it.
Manufacturing Continues Apace
Despite the above, manufacturing of the orders continues apace. Here are a few more photos and videos of the hand pump getting made from a recent factory inspection:
Future Updates
I’ll continue to post an update here once month which means that the next one is due around late-November. Sorry again if I’m slow responding to your inquiries sometimes. I do get around to answering them all eventually so feel free to keep sending them through.
Thank you
I keep thanking everyone for their patience and support each update but I really do mean it so thanks again. Sorry that the orders won’t ship in November as I’d originally hoped. Things are moving steadily forward though so we’ll get there eventually!
Dave
