Apeks Regs

[twofor2]

Are their any major differences in performance between the Apex XTX 50/200 compared to the Apex XL4?
I know the XL4 is more travel oriented with its size but I cant seem to find anything of much difference than one less HP port.

 

[Sevenrider860]

I would not expect there to be much difference. I have found that all Apeks breath similar. My issue with the XL4 is that it is basically a “cold water Flight” and requires special tools like the Flight. I am sure the performance is classical Apeks, but I have never liked servicing the Flight and XL4 is similar.

 

[twofor2]

Does the XTX200 have any special requirements for servicing that you know of? I was eyeing the XTX50 for that reason as well.

 

[Sevenrider860]

Does the XTX200 have any special requirements for servicing that you know of? I was eyeing the XTX50 for that reason as well.

XTX50, XTX100, XTX200, XTX Tungsten require no special tools except for the Cover/Lever Height Tool which works with them all.

 

[JackD342]

There is a performance difference, but maybe not enough for you to notice or care. The XTX 200/100/50 have average Work Of Breathing of .70 joules/liter at the (fairly extreme) test conditions, while the XL4 and Flight are .90 joules/liter. Any WOB of 1.0 or under is pretty good. New XL4 version, XL4+ with a second HP port is now available too.

Nothing special about servicing XTX series. 2nd stages are identical except for cosmetic difference, the real difference lies in which 1st stage you prefer. The one "technical" difference that is not communicated, is that the XTX200 1st stage has a removeable HP crown (conical valve seat) while on all other current Apeks 1st stages the crown is part of the body. It is very unlikely that you would nick the sealing edge and require replacement, but if it happened the replacement body costs a lot more than a replacement crown. Again, you would really have to abuse your regulator, flooding the interior with water and grit, for that to happen. Or have it service by someone careless enough to damage it.

 

[Pao]

Does the XTX200 have any special requirements for servicing that you know of? I was eyeing the XTX50 for that reason as well.

You need a "thinnish" (8-9 mm thickness) 34 mm wrench to remove the diaphragm clamp from the body of the XTX200. You also need a hook spanner with a round pin (same goes for all the Apeks 1st stages). The rest are standard hand tools.

 

[admikar]

No. All first stages from US4 up to FSR are the same, with exception of FSR having replaceable HP seat (and tool for pushing it out, but you can use BBQ stick or such).
All second stages ,apart from Flight are the same.

 

[buddhasummer]

For crown removal, I use a round wooden chopstick, the non lacquered kind.

 

[Centrals]

Don't throw away the disposal chopstick that came with the take away. They are all made from soft wood so highly unlikely it will damage the aperture of the crown seat.
I found two C spanners are necessary.

 

[buddhasummer]

I note the XL4 service manual I have states a cracking effort of between 1.4-1.6" on the XL4 as opposed to the ATX/XTX models which state 1-1.2". FWIW I set my XTXs to .8/9" just because it's the lowest I can get whilst maintaing stabilty.