Auto Closure Device

[kelemvor]

With dust cap in place, inhale, if you can draw breath it's not sealing. Every reg I've ever owned seals. Of course YMMV.

It certainly does seal well enough most of the time. My point about "dust" vs "water" cap is that they aren't sold for the purpose of keeping water out. If you get water in your first stage, you can't blame a manufacturer. It happened to me, it could happen to you. Obviously it seals well enough for most people because if you've ever been on a dive boat, you see most divers put the cap on and wash their regs in a bucket when they get to shore.

 

[buddhasummer]

HOG D3/Zenith.

Cheers, learn a new thing everyday. A friend of mine who I'm diving with tomorrow has a Zenith I'll try it.

 

[djtimmy77]

I have one on my AL Legend however none of our other multiple DIN regs have them.

It may help between dives when switching gear over and the boat is motoring spraying the salty stuff in the air.

Not important enough that I would buy a reg with ACD again.

 

[buddhasummer]

It certainly does seal well enough most of the time. My point about "dust" vs "water" cap is that they aren't sold for the purpose of keeping water out. If you get water in your first stage, you can't blame a manufacturer. It happened to me, it could happen to you. Obviously it seals well enough for most people because if you've ever been on a dive boat, you see most divers put the cap on and wash their regs in a bucket when they get to shore.

I guess so as in over 15 years of diving I've never encountered this issue personally. Perhaps I'm extra careful or the "dust" caps on the regs I've owned seal very well. Cheers.

---------- Post added October 3rd, 2014 at 12:03 PM ----------

Worth noting the ACD will prevent water entering the first stage when soaking or rinsing etc but you can still get water into the first stage if you depress the purge while unpressurized as it can travel up the hose. For me personally ACD isn't a deal breaker either way. Good luck with your purchase,

 

[Hatul]

With dust cap in place, inhale, if you can draw breath it's not sealing. Every reg I've ever owned seals. Of course YMMV.

It's a good test for most regs, but also does not work on Atomics because of the seat saver on the second stage.

 

[Akimbo]

My biggest reservation is ACDs makes it difficult to inspect the filter for particulate debris.

 

[Nemrod]

I am pretty sure I have over 50 regulators, not counting double hose units and junk bits and pieces, and not on a single one of them would they leak with the protective cap (note that I do not call it a dust cap) in place. I do not know where this "dust" cap thing got started, maybe forever, I do not know, seems to be a scuba board thing. I always called them what they are, a regulator cap or protective cap.

If the regulator cap leaks under suction when you inhale, you need to investigate why that is. It should seal against water and if I suppose some of you live in the Sahara, dust as well. Dust cap my arse.

N

 

[KeithG]

i am not aware of any reason to avoid auto closure. it provides a safety net for stupid people.

would i pay extra for it? nope. my reg is approaching 30 years old. dust cap still werks fine.

 

[halocline]

It certainly does seal well enough most of the time. My point about "dust" vs "water" cap is that they aren't sold for the purpose of keeping water out.

Oh of course they are. Do you think that regulators would be sold with caps that would not allow the 1st stage to be dunked in a rinse tank? How dumb do you think these manufacturers are? Just do the vacuum test, try to pull some air in a 2nd stage with the cap securely in place. Unless there is a leak in the regulator or the octo has a seat-saver, you won't be able to pull any air. This means it's water tight.

Regarding the HOG owner who says he can't pull any air with the dust cap off, if your reg does not have one of these auto-close devices, and you really can't get any air, maybe something's wrong. My guess is that you're just not sucking hard enough...


I'm not a fan of the oceanic style auto close device. It's basically a little ball on a spring that opens and closes with each breath. IOW, it's essentially another valve that is totally un-necessary, and if it fails or sticks, it could conceivably block air flow from the tank. That's not something you want. I'm not very familiar with the aqualung style, but my understanding is that the tank valve physically prevents the thing from closing off the regulator while it is attached to a tank. That would certainly be an improvement over the oceanic style. Still, how difficult is it to simply remember to put the cap in place?

 

[keyshunter]

I'm not a fan of the oceanic style auto close device. It's basically a little ball on a spring that opens and closes with each breath. IOW, it's essentially another valve that is totally un-necessary, and if it fails or sticks, it could conceivably block air flow from the tank. That's not something you want. I'm not very familiar with the aqualung style, but my understanding is that the tank valve physically prevents the thing from closing off the regulator while it is attached to a tank. That would certainly be an improvement over the oceanic style. Still, how difficult is it to simply remember to put the cap in place?

I, too, am definitely not a fan of the Oceanic DVT, for the reason stated, and because some are very noisy as well.

Currently we have 4 Titan LX's. 3 old style and 1 with the new style ACD first stage. I am used to checking the inlet filter quite often for dirt, saltwater discoloration, etc. and this is impossible with the ACD. But, that said, the ACD has been trouble free for more than 80 dives. I have not had the ACD first stage apart yet, but, from looking at the schematic it is a bit more complicated than the standard Titan first, but not terribly so.