apeks atx 200 1st stage

[jacek]

my buddy bought the apeks atx 200 from leisure pro yesterday (an a clamp). his first stage in not tinted black though. is this normal ?
btw how hard is it to convert an a clamp to a din.. this is what it says on the apeks web site

Q. Can my yoke clamp regulator be converted to 300 Bar Din?
A. Yes, all it requires is a Din handwheel assembly (AP0211) to be fitted in place of the yoke clamp.

has anyone actually done that ? thanks

 

[jacek]

the serial numbers on the 2nd & the 1st stage match..

 

[tech3324]

I don't remember where I read it, but I believe Apeks has temporarily suspended shipping the black 1st stages due to quality problems with the finish. I still see some black ones at the LDS, so they apparently weren't recalled. The LP page shows the silver one and the LP guy selling on eBay states that he is only shipping silver 1st stages.

Don

 

[drizzt117]

That was true. They have another manufacturer who did the black satin finishing on the 1st stages, and they weren't getting the results they wanted. So they suspended the finishes. I just got mine and it was chrome. IMHO, who cares, as long as it works.

I believe it can be converted to DIN, although I'm not sure about 300 bar. Just make sure you get the adapter made by Apeks.

Thomas

 

[Scubaroo]

Satin versus black first stage - I have several satin first stages. The finish holds up MUCH nicer than the black finish - I've seen a couple that look absolutely beat up that were less than a year old.

Changing to DIN - Apeks only supplies 300 BAR DIN converters. This is a do-it-yourself job. The tricky part though is getting the yoke fitting off the first stage - a really large adjustable wrench will do it, (lefty loosey), but the yoke nut is only soft brass, and easily damaged if you slip. If you don't intend ever putting the yoke fitting back on, fine, just throw it away. But if you want to be able to swap back and forth for travel, etc, it's worth tracking down a 3/4" ring spanner (or box wrench) that fits over the nut inside of the yoke. Haven't found one yet that does, but have seen a picture of one in an Apeks service manual, so you might be able to buy a cheap spanner (wrench?), grind it down to fit, and keep it in your save a dive kit. To fit the DIN fitting, you will need a 6mm allen wrench. It should be tightened to 12 +/- 2 foot pounds of torque. Not having a torque wrench, I do it hand tight, and nip it a little. Remember that the first stage is only made from brass, a soft metal, and it is easy to strip threads.

 

[BlueDolphin]

And.... get the DIN to YOKE converter as well. It is quicker swithing back to yoke with it. It just screws onto the new DIN fitting. That way you don't have to remove the DIN fitting and install your original yoke, to revert back to yoke.

Also I heard that Apeks is no longer making the BLACK finish on the first stages (for the reason mentioned above, not happy with the finish any longer).

 

[jacek]

right, the DIN to yoke converter was what he was going to do afterwards.. one question though on my part since my buddy is away this week so I can't ask him. how badly do you actually need to have the DIN setup? it's for deep diving, right ? doubles ? can you dive deep with the "regular" yoke? down to 130"? thanks
:doctor:

 

[nickjb]

DIN is more secure and less likely to fail. This is a benefit on deep dives but its also a nice feature to have on any dive.

Plenty of people have done deep dives without DIN and lived. The other side to the arguement is can you find any advantage in yoke clamps (other than you already have one)?

 

[jacek]

btw since we're on the subject. how hard is it to get gas fills for a DIN tank in the US? I realize that you can get one of those DIN to yoke gas filler converters but then your tank will never be filled with more than 3k psi ? just being curious. thanks again.

 

[deepocean]

Hi

does anyone has the ATX200 service manual for me?

Please drop me a private message.

Xerxes