Angled DIN Valves...Good,Bad or Ugly???

[Hipshot]

In another thread a few days ago I was asking about DIN valves and manifolds made by Genesis. I was very impressed with the quality and construction of their yoke valves as they seem to be superior to the others I have owned and seen. I was asking about their DIN valves and manifolds because I am switching everything over to DIN and had not seen any of their DIN valves or ISO manifolds, nor have I read anything here on the boards about them. In the other thread someone metioned that they weren't desireable because their DIN valves were angled. What I am wondering is, why would that be a bad thing and have any of you had any experience with angled DIN valves?

 

[eandiver]

I have 2 S/G 80's with the angled valves and I don't have any problems.

 

[grazie42]

I´ve seen those...the only reason I can se for them being bad would be in an overhead enviroment...if you don´t do those kinds of dives they should be fine...

having said that, why not go with regulars...the question I think you should be asking is why would they be a GOOD thing?

 

[The Chairman]

Why would they be bad in an overhead environment? I have had no problems with them.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

My issue with the Genesis manifold isn't with the angle of the valves ... it's with their reliability. In the year that I used mine, I had to rebuild the manifold three times ... once because the isolation valve wouldn't close, and twice because the left post valve was "sticky". I don't rebuild my own valves ... so I had to remove the manifold and send it to a repair tech ... it's a bit of a pain to be breaking down a doubles kit that often (I've only got maybe 50 dives on the thing altogether).

For that reason, I opted to get a different manifold (Sea Elite) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Chad Carney]

I have a Genesis DIN doubles set with isolator and two H-valve sets that are over 7 years old. I had one H-valve that leaked a few years ago and I rebuilt it. The rest have never been serviced.

The valve angle is the same as all my old Sherwood DIN valves. No problems, and they make 1st stage alignment easy yet trim. I also have straight up DIN valves which work fine too.

Chad

 

[The Chairman]

I have two Genesis H-Valves, and have no issues from them.

 

[Don Burke]

In another thread a few days ago I was asking about DIN valves and manifolds made by Genesis. I was very impressed with the quality and construction of their yoke valves as they seem to be superior to the others I have owned and seen. I was asking about their DIN valves and manifolds because I am switching everything over to DIN and had not seen any of their DIN valves or ISO manifolds, nor have I read anything here on the boards about them. In the other thread someone metioned that they weren't desireable because their DIN valves were angled. What I am wondering is, why would that be a bad thing and have any of you had any experience with angled DIN valves?

One philosophy is that the angle weakens the valve. I figure that if I am hitting something that hard, the valves are not the major issue.

They do raise the first stages a bit, which I suppose would make entanglement a bit more likely for someone wriggling into a wreck.

I do not see an upside to them, so I bought straight manifolds.

I doubt I would junk an angled manifold if I owned one since my diving is not too extreme.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I am normally pretty out of the box oriented, but I agree with the sentiment that you should be determning what if any advantage they would offer over a conventional manifold. You want something that is optimized for very demanding conditions and accepting less than that makes no sense.

If the angled valves improve hose routing or result in the manifold being able to be made with a lower profile compared to a regular manifold by reducing hose or first stage interference wth the shoulders of the tanks, it might make sense. Otherwise I don't see any advantage.

 

[drbill]

One issue with the angled DIN valves that may be a factor is that they may hold more water than a straight valve. In other words more water could be trapped in them and possibly transferred to the inside of the tank. I had an old Genesis (PST) tank with the angled DIN valve that failed hydro in its 10th year. My other DIN valves are all straight and no failure over even greater periods of time.