balanced diaphragm vs. balanced piston

[pt40fathoms]

The Europeans are ahead of us here in the west. They have developed a performance standard which regulators must meet in order to be certified for use in cold water. The standard is EN250. The following is a list of regulators which to date have meet that standard. This list may not be complete, and others may have been certified, but I don't have that information as of now. So please consider this a partial list only.

Apeks TX50
Apeks TX40
Apeks T20
CressiSub AirMax
CressiSub FX Pro
Dacor 360XP-(AER)
Mares MR12 Voltrex
Mares MR22 Abyss
Oceanic Delta SubZero
Poseidon Jetstream
Poseidon Cyklon 5000
Poseidon Triton 2000
Scubapro M50/Mk20
Sherwood Brut
Sherwood Magnum
Sherwood Blizzard
Sherwood Maximus
Spiro Supra Arctic XP
Spiro Nordic
US Divers SE Supreme

Hope this answers any questions regarding regulators that are prefered for use in cold water.

 

[scubaaz]

I have a sherwood maximus and I love it!!

It breaths the same at 20 ft as well as 110 ft.

It only has 2 "O" rings so there is alot less problems that can go wrong.

I have a buddy that dives with a piston type reg (Mares) and he has noticed that at deeper depths it breaths alittle more mechanically than mine.

So I'll stick to the Diaphram type sherwood anyday

 

[DivingDoc]

Originally posted by pt40fathoms

Apeks TX50
Apeks TX40
Apeks T20
CressiSub AirMax
CressiSub FX Pro
Dacor 360XP-(AER)
Mares MR12 Voltrex
Mares MR22 Abyss
Oceanic Delta SubZero
Poseidon Jetstream
Poseidon Cyklon 5000
Poseidon Triton 2000
Scubapro M50/Mk20
Sherwood Brut
Sherwood Magnum
Sherwood Blizzard
Sherwood Maximus
Spiro Supra Arctic XP
Spiro Nordic
US Divers SE Supreme

What is a Scubapro M50/Mk20 -- sounds like 2 first stages.

 

[DivingDoc]

Originally posted by scubaaz
I have a buddy that dives with a piston type reg (Mares) and he has noticed that at deeper depths it breaths alittle more mechanically than mine.

The Mares Abyss is a diaphragm reg.

 

[pt40fathoms]

Noticed that myself, the listing comes directly from the European web site. My thinking is they are trying to say the S600 mk25, but thats just a guess. Without further confirmation, I would have to drop the ScubaPro from the line up. I know this will get a few people into a hissy fit, but it's better to omit and wonder, than to find out the hard way if it fails when in use.

Oh well, just can't please everyone. ;-0

 

[oxyhacker]

But he never said Abyss. The only Mares piston regs are the cheap "entry level" non-balanced pistons, so it's not surprising that even a Sherwood would noticably outperform it.

Re The EC tests someone else mentioned, you can take them to be proof of how ahead of us they are over their, or how intrusive and meddling their society has become - that a vast thicket of standards and tests have been drawn up for SCUBA gear, largely by non-diving engineers and bureaucrats, that manufacturers must spend huge amounts of money complying with, and that don't necessarily improve the product, and often hinder creativity, makes it very hard to get a new product out, and even reduces performance. In short, their labs are trying to do the job the marketplace does here, of winnowing out the good from the bad. I like system better.

The M5 BTW was a shortlived Scubapro cold water reg that won a reputation as being very difficult to service.

Originally posted by DivingDoc


The Mares Abyss is a diaphragm reg.

 

[oxyhacker]

Oh and the Sherwood isn't a diaprhagm anyhow. WAIT A MINUTE! Have I been trolled????

Also I notice the EC (CE?) list said M50 not M5. Pretty much the same thing.

So I'll stick to the Diaphram type sherwood anyday [/B]

 

[anni]

Diving Doc

Can you post the URL of that standard - I can't seem to find it.

Thanks

 

[DivingDoc]

Sorry --

I don't remember which post or standard you're referring to?

ET

 

[anni]

Sorry! it wasn't you, it was pt40fathoms who posted a list of regulators conforming to the EN250 European Standards. pt40fathoms, you mention you got the list from the website; I'd like the URL please, I can't seem to find the site myself.