Black face gauges mixed with White face gauges- Problems?

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beanojones

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Asking this in the general tech section as well:

Black face gauges mixed with White face gauges- Problems?

In the middle of overhauling rental loaner sets, and I am interested in trying out black face gauges for the fleet, but I am concerned that mixing black face gauges, and white face gauges will somehow interfere with the subconscious gauge monitoring. (I have a crappy old ScubaPro gauge that has a black face, and it is a problem when I use it with other gauges, but then again it is a crappy old gauge, with a weird overall display, and bubble shaped face.).

Anyone diving black face gauges have any thoughts? Issues? Especially when mixing a bunch of gauges together?

Anyone have any thoughts about mixing guages of different size and shapes together, regardless of color?

Does black work better at night? (Again mine does not, but crappy old gauges are crappy old gauges.)
 
I've often thought about having one black faced and one white faced to prevent confusion of how much gas is in which cylinder... But not an essential so I've yet to try. Would be interested in hearing if this is any good.
 
Well I never thought of it that way, and so now I am thinkingh I am going to go ahead and get a black face gauge because that makes sense.

(This is why asking questions is a good thing for me, huh?)
 
I use black gauges on primary cylinders when diving sidemount and on bailout bottles when diving CCR. I have white gauges on deco bottles. not a big deal, just a habit which is probably more convenient keeping the regs separate when putting kit away.
 
I use black gauges on primary cylinders when diving sidemount and on bailout bottles when diving CCR. I have white gauges on deco bottles. not a big deal, just a habit which is probably more convenient keeping the regs separate when putting kit away.

Does that end up programmed in where you are not even having to be conscious of it?

And if it has ended up that way, was it a conscious decision or a happy accident?
 
Does that end up programmed in where you are not even having to be conscious of it?

And if it has ended up that way, was it a conscious decision or a happy accident?



Not sure what your first sentence means.

The decision to use both black and white faced SPGs for different applications was a conscious decision... but, for the record, has absolutely no bearing on gas switching protocols at depth.
 
I dive with a bunch of bottom mix 80's in sidemount sometimes, and working through the gas switches among 4-5 tanks is something that I only have to think about when the black face gauge is in the mix.

The first sentence was intended to use the driving analogy, in that gauges that work without conscious thought are more 'something' than gauges that force one to think about what they are displaying. My current problem with my black face gauge is just that: it stops me and makes me think about it. I guess part of what I am wondering about is whether that is a function of black face, just a function of be an oddball gauge since the rest are white, or just bad design on the part of that one gauge.

You made the decision to go with color coordination, which you note probably helps more when putting the gear away on land. Does it simplify or complicate anything when you are diving with them? Or for you, is the idea of simplifying gas checks not something you want to do anyway?


Unrelated question: Is black face any better at night?
 
image.jpgNo problems with the black and white mixed. If you want to tryimage.jpg it go for it. I'm not sure I would pay a premium for a black face especially for a rental fleet
 
As my white face gauges give up the ghost I am switching to black. For me the black face gauges are easier to read at night or in low vis as what stands out are the lines and numbers. At night my white face gauges when hit with the HID are bright enough to not only obscure the lines due to the glow but also mess up my night vision for a few minutes. The blacks don't do that.

For rental gear if someone is confused by the color of the SPG's face they probably should not be using scuba gear in the first place.
 

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