Air Flow Adjustment

[utdivermatt]

Hey everyone
I just got a Genesis GS2000 reg, and got to test it out in the pool the other night, and absolutley love it. It is my first reg, and from what I could tell, it blew away all of the rental regs I have used in the past. Anyways, I noticed the air flow adjustment valve on it has a huge margin of settings available. It seems like it can go all the way from using everything I have to suck a little air, to free flow. What is the real purpose of this adjustment? I understand the idea of a little bit of change for each person, but the amount of adjustment seems almost crazy. I found an area I like, and intend to keep it there, but was just wondering why it can vary so much. Is there any advantage to the settings? Will I have a better consumption rate if I reduce the air it lets through? Or will I just strain myself and take away from the fun of diving? I assume they knew what they were doing when they put the adjustment in. Thanks!


Matt

 

[oxyhacker]

I think the most valuable use of a external adjustment is that it lets you retune the reg in the field when the tech in the shop screws up and the stage starts leaking or freeflowing, a common experience with techs who like to tune a 2nd too aggressively.
Apart from that, it also allows you to make the reg less sensitive when you are scootering, fighting waves or current, or increase flow if you are stressed or working hard. Most people do just what you do, find where they like it and leave it there, though many turn it all the way out when the reg is not in use, to lessen the pressure on the LP seat, and prolong seat life.

 

[miketsp]

You also need to check if you can leave it in a fixed position while washing/rinsing. According to the manual my Micra ADJ has to be screwed in for this operation and screwed out a little for storage.

 

[rockjock3]

You won't have a lower consumption rate if you squeeze it down all the way and in fact you might increase your consumption rate because you are having to work so hard to breath.

These adjustments are for adjusting to each person for their ease of breathing as well as adjustments to help with freeflow as you go deeper, say if you were using one for a necklace octo. That one might not freeflow at 20fsw, but won't stop at 50fsw. You can manually detune it with that knob so that it won't freeflow. Then when you have to breath off of it and it is too hard you can retune it till it breathes easy. Just one example.