Atomic Regulator hissing. Is this normal?

[Sonic04GT]

Awesome. Maybe I will check that later. I want to say I remember doing that in the past. Thank you again!

 

[BoltSnap]

It shouldn't be leaking any air when it is all the way out. The internal adjustment should be made where you turn it out until it starts to leak air and turn it very slightly in where the air leak just stops with the external adjustment turned all the way out. If it starts to leak again after a while, this mean that there is an issue in the first stage (usually delayed leak) and you can verify it by checking the IP pressure and you will see it creeping up to the point where the second stage starts to leak air. There can also be an issue with the seat in the second stage, worn out, and it will be necessary to replace it. When the second stage seat is very new, after an overhaul, it will take it a while to "take set," meaning that it will become easier to breathe with and the technician should have compensated for this issue by slightly turning the internal adjust in. At the end no air leak should be there when the external adjustment knob turned all the way out, none.

ANY internal adjustments should and must be made by a factory (Atomic) trained technician!!!! If you don't know what you are doing and don't have the specific Atomic training, you may very well get yourself hurt or worse very easily without warning (regulator stops delivering air to you underwater due to incorrect adjustments).

 

[jgttrey]

I know you've already adjusted the cracking pressure, but in the future I'd want to check what it does underwater.

My Zeagle F8's have the Atomic seat savers and it's not unusual for them to be a little over sensitive at first after service, especially when dry, if the cracking pressure is set on the light end. Sticking them underwater, no problem and once it settles in, that issue goes away.

Nothing terribly wrong with tightening it up a little, but you may find that even without doing so it doesn't exhibit that behavior underwater and/or settles down very quickly once it takes a set and then it performs like a champ.

FWIW, you probably already know this since you have it for a while, but sometimes after a long break, the second stage will free flow a bit when you first open the tank valve. Popping the second stage with the palm of your hand usually stops it and once it has cycled once or twice, it locks up just fine.

 

[Sonic04GT]

Thanks guys. I got bored and decided to make one more tiny adjustment so that there's zero freeflow at the full out position. Still breathes very nicely. We'll see how it performs in water.

I left everything connected for an hour or so. IP rock solid at 135. Didn't budge.

 

[rsingler]

I hate to rain on this parade, but let me add a bit of caution here. Folks that were helpfully teaching this diver how to eliminate his freeflow only addressed half the problem. And in doing so, they potentially made things less safe for this diver.
I note that instructions were given to adjust 1/16 to 1/8 of a turn, which is correct, if it's just a poppet contact issue.
Yet the diver felt it necessary to screw in a full 1/4 turn - two to four times what was recommended.
Nobody spoke to the drop in lever height that is caused by overtightening the orifice. With a low lever, gas flow at depth can be severely compromised. Changes in these toys occur with very little adjustment.

I'm not saying that reg service is rocket science. And as a frequent DIY poster on this Board, I obviously don't think everything needs to go to a shop. Frankly, I'm afraid of a lot of young shop techs. But it's taken me a long time to learn all the tricks, and I don't think y'all did this diver a favor by suggesting that it's as simple as 1/4 turn on the orifice.

And there was also the comment about pressure on the knob causing freeflow.

Atomics are the very best second stages on the market today, IMO. The problem described, especially requiring a full 1/4 turn to fix, is odd coming right out of service. Odds are it was just a sloppy tuning job. But this is a big enough discrepancy that I'd say, "take it back to the shop and take it apart". Odds are, it'll go right back together with a proper tune.

But maybe the seat wasn't pushed in flat. Maybe the tiny spring that creates the seat saver was omitted. It's possible that this isn't just a tuning problem, and if this were my reg right after I'd serviced it, I'd take it apart and do it again.

@Sonic04GT , come join us in the DIY Forum! There's lots to learn, and it's fun doing it yourself. But be careful at the beginning.

Sermon over...

 

[lexvil]

I hate to rain on this parade, but let me add a bit of caution here. Folks that were helpfully teaching this diver how to eliminate his freeflow only addressed half the problem. And in doing so, they potentially made things less safe for this diver.
I note that instructions were given to adjust 1/16 to 1/8 of a turn, which is correct, if it's just a poppet contact issue.
Yet the diver felt it necessary to screw in a full 1/4 turn - two to four times what was recommended.
Nobody spoke to the drop in lever height that is caused by overtightening the orifice. With a low lever, gas flow at depth can be severely compromised. Changes in these toys occur with very little adjustment.

I'm not saying that reg service is rocket science. And as a frequent DIY poster on this Board, I obviously don't think everything needs to go to a shop. Frankly, I'm afraid of a lot of young shop techs. But it's taken me a long time to learn all the tricks, and I don't think y'all did this diver a favor by suggesting that it's as simple as 1/4 turn on the orifice.

And there was also the comment about pressure on the knob causing freeflow.

Atomics are the very best second stages on the market today, IMO. The problem described, especially requiring a full 1/4 turn to fix, is odd coming right out of service. Odds are it was just a sloppy tuning job. But this is a big enough discrepancy that I'd say, "take it back to the shop and take it apart". Odds are, it'll go right back together with a proper tune.

But maybe the seat wasn't pushed in flat. Maybe the tiny spring that creates the seat saver was omitted. It's possible that this isn't just a tuning problem, and if this were my reg right after I'd serviced it, I'd take it apart and do it again.

@Sonic04GT , come join us in the DIY Forum! There's lots to learn, and it's fun doing it yourself. But be careful at the beginning.

Sermon over...

Just to add to this sage advice, I once had an odd acting Atomic and when I opened it up I found the nylon part, they call it the orifice sleeve, cracked so the action of the wave washer was inhibited. Judging by the time it took to get that part I don’t think this happened very often but it is something to look for when and Atomic behaves oddly.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I wouldn't be adjusting the freeflow at the orifice as RSingler mentioned. There is an adjustment that is made by removing the knob and using a small hex wrench, cant remember the size off the top of my head, to adjust the cracking pressure independent of the lever height. It's just like the modern Scubapro seconds, only easier.

That said, I would recommend you take it back to the shop and have them do it right or arrange to send it to the factory. As R said, too little lever height is a bad thing for gas flow.

 

[buddhasummer]

Wanna say 1/8, well just did I guess.

I checked, it is.