Apeks XL4 vs XL4+ vs XTX50?

[MaxTorque]

Plus point for the XL4 is really it's small size and low mass. With non-rubber hoses it's really a pretty light set.

the "Plus" version gains an extra HP port (which it should have had all along), the hose routing is ok, not nearly as good as a 1st with a turret obvs, but not too bad for most setups,although i find the angle of the HP ports a bit odd for a backmount single cyl setup.

The second is very compact, but is fixed handed (RH), ie cannot be built reversed to put the hose on the other (LH) side. It doesn't have a cracking adjustment knob (unlike the XTX50) but really i've never found the need to have one as long as the reg has been properly set up in the first place (the yellow second/octo's are i think factory set up with a little bit more cracking pressure to help prevent freeflows)

Our club uses them for training, both in the pool at 28 degC and in the local quarry at down to 4 degC, and they have been completely reliable and students seem to get on fine with them. Out the box they seem to breath pretty well, and consistently in the most part. The small diaphram and low internal volume does seem to make them very resistant to that annoying "honk" that some other Apeks regs can get (esp out of the water). I use an XL4 octo with my MTX-R primary simply because it is so compact and easy to stow out of the way.

They are obviously an all plastic second, but these days that's fairly normal, and they do seem pretty tough, i don't think i've seen one get broken yet during the usual van or boat mele of gear piled on top of gear. A good rinse after a dive and they seem to be good to go again, and need little adjustment or attention between services.


The bright colour of the 2nd stage body obviously looks more Rec than Tec, which is either a good or a bad thing depending on your leaning..... lol!

 

[Joris Vd]

There was a german scuba magazine that did freeze and freeflow tests half a year ago at 30 meters with 39-42F temp (4-6 degree celsius) on alot of major scuba regulators.

The xl4 performed perfectly without any freeflows. It doesn't come tuned very hot out of the factory though, so I can't say how it would perform if tuned hotter.

Some of the other major brands they tested performed alot worse when it came to freeze resistance (The Atomics and Hollis they tested performed so badly that they ended up forcing the magazine to withdraw their regulators from the report...).

In my opinion the XL4 is the best price / quality reg on the market right now. It's + - 330 euros in Europe. Not sure how US prices are, but here in Europe you can't beat that price/quality.

+1 for The DST/FSR first stage though.
It is the most versatile reg on the market. Single tank / doubles / sidemount / Stage reg, it does it all.

 

[MWright254]

There was a german scuba magazine that did freeze and freeflow tests half a year ago at 30 meters with 39-42F temp (4-6 degree celsius) on alot of major scuba regulators.

The xl4 performed perfectly without any freeflows. It doesn't come tuned very hot out of the factory though, so I can't say how it would perform if tuned hotter.

Some of the other major brands they tested performed alot worse when it came to freeze resistance (The Atomics and Hollis they tested performed so badly that they ended up forcing the magazine to withdraw their regulators from the report...).

In my opinion the XL4 is the best price / quality reg on the market right now. It's + - 330 euros in Europe. Not sure how US prices are, but here in Europe you can't beat that price/quality.

+1 for The DST/FSR first stage though.
It is the most versatile reg on the market. Single tank / doubles / sidemount / Stage reg, it does it all.

Do you happen to have the name of the magazine or potentially a link to the report? Sounds like a great read!

 

[Joris Vd]

Do you happen to have the name of the magazine or potentially a link to the report? Sounds like a great read!

It's called Tauchen magazin.
This was the edition. ( October 2020).
They greyed out the brands of the regulators that failed where the brands threatened with legal action.
The only ones I could clearly read through the greying and recognized in the videos were an oceanic zeo something, a hollis 150lx and the atomic m1.

Most regs seemed to have failed scenario 3, which was a highly unrealistic scenario, but does say something about free flow Resistance. The scenario was this: you breathe in and at the end of you breath you take out the reg forcing a freeflow. Then you tilt down the reg untill it stops by itself. Rinse and repeat three times.

For example as scubapro pointed out in their comments: they said the d420 was tuned so lightly that it wouldn't stop by itself, but just putting a finger in the mouthpiece would have probably stopped the freeflow. Scubapro also contested that the venturi was closed. (For the tests all venturi's were closed to reduce free flow)
.But atleast they allowed the magazine to publish it...

Not saying the tests they did were perfect, but the fact half of the regs passed with flying colors and the others didn't pass at all, says something about cold water and freeflow Resistance imp

 

[rsingler]

Doable by hand, 1/8th turn CCW. The purge cover comes off with it. I use a small adjustable pin spanner to remove the inner locking ring.

I've just done their online service course for that second stage, but haven't held one in my hand yet. How much pressure do you have to exert at that 12 o'clock position to release the catches? I had a buddy I was trying to coach by text, but they couldn't get it open. Does the pressure make the faceplate deform a little on either side of the pressure point? From the manual, I can't figure out what's unlocking...