Are Atomic Regulators More Difficult to Rinse?

[Guitarcrazy]

I decided to buy the Deep6 Scribble and Signature 2nd, hopefully have it by end of the week. We enjoy the valet dive experience and don't want to have to rely on having a tank to rinse at all times. The Deep6 stuff was very highly regarded and looks to be the same as the Aeris/Oceanic gear I have now in terms of rinsing and storage. Thanks for the input.

 

[Kaveman]

Well good to know. They are way overpriced, expensive in service and also that extra hassle... I sold all my atomic regs. I'll never buy it again.
Go Zeagle!

 

[halocline]

Glad you got the reg choice sorted out. I like to soak, not rinse, my regulators after every salt water dive, and I rarely do this pressurized. I just use the dust cap. So for me, I would not buy a reg with one of the seat savers that separates the seat from the orifice when not pressurized. What makes you guitar crazy if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Kaveman]

Same here. Like to soak my regs. Not willing to do extra tricks when rinsing my gear. Guitar crazy? What do you mean

 

[scrane]

Guitarcrazy is the OP.

Same here. Like to soak my regs. Not willing to do extra tricks when rinsing my gear. Guitar crazy? What do you mean

 

[mi000ke]

I dive with the same few dive ops (most are "valet") and they all know to leave my atomic reg alone. I did have one or two crew dunk my whole reg when I first started diving with these ops. At my first service - after only a year due to some creep - there was corrosion in the first stage, so I assume it was the dunking. I'm pretty insistent now. I dunk my reg (and bcd) in the rinse tank with the gas tank attached so it's under pressure (and now some of the crew will do it that way for me). If I soak the reg at home, which I do every few dives or if I won't be diving for a week or two, I attach a pony and soak under pressure. I hang it up to dry before storing it. It's a small PITA but if it keeps the water out I'm ok with it. And I need to hook the reg up to air to test the IP before each dive anyway.

An update: In the five years I have been diving with my atomic Z2 I have had to have it serviced due to significant creep three times - an average about every 12-15 months, and every 60-70 dives. As I posted before, I am obsessively careful with the rinsing process but still have had little luck. Not sure why. (I suspect it could be the one service shop on the island, but they seem to know what they are doing.) To Atomic's credit, they agreed to cover an entire rebuild the second time - but even after that I had to have a service one year/60 dives later. It's been 6 months and 40 dives since the last service and the IP is still holding solid, so maybe things are looking better. I keep thinking about replacing it, but it performs so well underwater that I'm still using it. Would think twice about getting another one though.

 

[rsingler]

An update: In the five years I have been diving with my atomic Z2 I have had to have it serviced due to significant creep three times - an average about every 12-15 months, and every 60-70 dives. As I posted before, I am obsessively careful with the rinsing process but still have had little luck.

It may not be your rinsing that is the culprit. If you're diving steel tanks, you may have some sandblasting of the rim of the knife edge where HP air makes a sharp turn from tank inlet to piston shaft. It may be a function of iron oxide that gets past the sintered metal filter at the tank connection.
Here's a Monel Atomic T2x piston that has some pretty significant impact pockmarks (as well as some scratches from mishandling on the previous technician's bench.

After a little hand work with Micromesh, it sealed just fine

But most shops won't do this sort of stuff. They just buy a new piston. Trouble is, factory new still isn't as smooth as that last picture. Hence, a little drift until the seat conforms to the manufacturing irregularities.

Atomic isn't alone. My new Scubapro Mk25EVO drifted 6 psi out of the box until it sat pressurized for a week. Now it's down to 3psi drift before lockup.

 

[mi000ke]

It may not be your rinsing that is the culprit. If you're diving steel tanks, you may have some sandblasting of the rim of the knife edge where HP air makes a sharp turn from tank inlet to piston shaft. It may be a function of iron oxide that gets past the sintered metal filter at the tank connection.

Interesting point. In my case diving AL tanks only.

Here's a Monel Atomic T2x piston that has some pretty significant impact pockmarks (as well as some scratches from mishandling on the previous technician's bench.

Piston was replaced when rebuilt at the second service. Could have been mishandling during the first service as it had only about 60 dives on it.

 

[buddhasummer]

I own several Atomic regulators and I have used them all over the world without any issues due to the problem you describe in your post and I have NEVER attached them to a tank while rising or soaking them in water. I have recently had my ST1 serviced 7 years after I bought it and there was NO trace of water at all inside of the first stage at all.

Be careful that might get you banned. Oh no, wait you didn't mention the unmentionable lol

(I can delete if you'd like)

 

[poseident]

This is interesting.... I recall conversations about the impact of the seat-saver when these regs came out, and the recommendation to soak them pressurized (obviously we must not have read the manual), which I would do for LONG soaks, but for daily I would always just make sure she was going into the soak tank gently and I'd try to pressurize and "blow out" before storage. I haven't had any issues that I'm aware of.

This is what I love about SCUBA, there is always something new to learn.