Apeks Tek 3 Regulator

[andrei_c]

Hi, everybody!

I just hope I'm not out of the picture posting this thread here. If, so, please accept my apologies.

A couple of months ago I bought an Apeks Tek 3 set. Actually, what I wanted was a Scubapro MK17 first stage +2 A700 as second stages, but the dealer convinced me to move to Apeks because of my (just started) cave course. Making the long story short, I was impressed by Apeks Tek 3 (or it was the dealer the one who impressed me?! ) and I bought it. Since then, I dived the Tek 3 for a couple of time, but every single time my mouth and my throat became so dry that I took the regulator out of my mouth and sipped some water. Never happened before with any of the regulators I used!

Now, my question is: does anyone of you used Apeks Tek 3 and if so, do you have the same problem?

Thank you.

 

[tbone1004]

this isn't anything specific to the Tek 3 as the second stages are identical between all of the XTX lines. The A700 may have been a little better due to the metal casing, but the cold reality is that you are breathing air with 0% humidity, and is well below freezing, generally around 0*F depending on ambient pressure. The only reason the A700 might have been a touch better is because the metal tends to stay a bit warmer and collects a bit of moisture, but the effect is purely anecdotal. What may also be happening is depending on how well maintained the other regulators you have used before, there may have been some small leaking going on in the diaphragms, so a bit of water was getting into the housing during exhalation, not much, but enough that when the second stage is cracked, the air blowing around was enough to cause it to vaporize making the air slightly more humid. You now have a brand new regulator that is very well designed to not allow any moisture to come in.

FWIW all of my regulators are pretty dry, and if it's particularly bad I'll get a mouthful of water, swish it around and spit it back out and continue on with the dive. Nothing terrible to deal with, but it's common with most of the regulators I use. My Poseidons are less bad than most though, but that alone wouldn't be enough to cause me to switch regulators, especially off of something like the Tek3's. I don't like the first stages personally, but it has nothing to do with performance.

 

[Rooster59]

I have Zeagle / Apeks regs. If I have the venturi lever on "full assist", I feel more dried out after 30 min than if the lever is backed off some. Don't take that as gospel as I'm a crank. I think being dried out goes along with the reg being really easy to breathe.

 

[andrei_c]

Thanks a lot for your reply!

 

[PfcAJ]

Drink mo' water before the dive.

 

[Hickdive]

Yeah, get a leakier 2nd stage like a S'pro and you won't have the problem any more!

The A700 is, internally, mainly plastic. Having a partially metal casing makes not a whit of difference in terms of heat transfer when the cross-case body is only metal in so far as it extends outside the casing and into the intermediate hose.

 

[kwinter]

Put up with it until you man up and get a rebreather. Nice warm moist breathing gas.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.

 

[andrei_c]

Rebreather? So be it!

 

[lucca brassi]

I agree with andrei _c ; i have for my first regulator mares M32TT with both metal second stages ( metal proton ) and then went with doubles on TEK3/XTX50 . I think that with XTX50 air is much more dry - sometimes i feel that at throat and forces me to cough.

 

[v101]

I use a small plastic drinking pouch, that goes on the inside of a camel bak, it has a tube/hose & a valve that I can run from the pouch which is on the inside of my BCD in a cut out area I made behind my back. This way it doesn't get snagged or caught on anything and out of the way also.
I run the tube into my BCD velcro area, and then clip it off using a clip and zip tie. I use it more for drinking fluids and a mix of gatorade / water for longer cave dives, but it does help w/ the dry throat.