Cold Water vs. Warm Water Regulator Purchasing Dilemma

[rhwestfall]

there are all types of regulators that handle the cold... and I mean REAL COLD!

 

[lexvil]

The Kraken can handle water much colder than I can, so can my MK 5s, 25s etc.

 

[ams511]

I don't understand why people on Scubaboard recommend a double-hose for cold water. I watched on YouTube Cousteau's trip to Antarctica, and they were diving Cyclons. Certainly Cousteau, the father of the double-hose, would want to show a DAAM of RAM on film rather than a Poseidon product. I am not trying to be a troll but what was Cousteau missing?

 

[rhwestfall]

Why a DH?

I'll start with two that quickly come to mind:

1. It is a dry second stage, significantly reducing a freeze flow potential.

2. It is a huge chunk of metal, acting as a heat sink, combating the adiabatic cooling effect of the flow of gasses in the regulator.

As I understand it, it was the scarceness of parts that led to the Military retiring them from the Arctic division, not their being out performed...

 

[lexvil]

While I'm not into water colder than 48° so it's all acedemic, I've never had a problem with unsealed pistons, the theory as best as I can estimate is that the inner workings of a DH is sealed and further insulated from the cold than a single hose is, I'm sure there will be more info forthcoming.

As far as what J.C. Used at any given time once he gained notoriety has more, generally, to do with sponsorship and showmanship than anything else. I don't know if that's the case here with Poseidon but in general I would not be surprised if there weren't a financial arangment of some sort.

 

[tbone1004]

I don't understand why people on Scubaboard recommend a double-hose for cold water. I watched on YouTube Cousteau's trip to Antarctica, and they were diving Cyclons. Certainly Cousteau, the father of the double-hose, would want to show a DAAM of RAM on film rather than a Poseidon product. I am not trying to be a troll but what was Cousteau missing?

you'd have to verify with @herman or someone a bit more down with reg history than I am, but I don't think there were LP ports on the double hoses in '74 when that was filmed. Bit important for drysuits

 

[Bob DBF]

I read an article on ice diving from a NOAA symposium. They mentioned the Sherwood regulators and said basically that each version needs to be tested individually. Your old versions may work fine but the newer versions may not. Changes in the shape and design change cold water performance. If I remember correctly, they were using a modified Maximus running a lower IP and using some parts swapped from the Blizzard.

My point being, the OP was asking about the low 50's which is not anywhere near ice, or real cold water, diving and any reg should perform adequately. Since I dive wet, and would have to travel to find ice, I doubt that I'll be ice diving soon, or at all.

As far as environmentally sealing the reg, the Sherwood uses air and avoids the mess and added expense when sealing other regs. My old 1980 Magnum was rebuilt once, after 1000 or more dives, and it was clean inside, no corrosion, just used. Because they changed the design and some parts are no longer available I bought a 2010 magnum and now use the old Sherwood as my pony reg since it never failed in the 30 years I used it as my only reg. I'll see how long the new magnum goes, but it may outlast me.



Bob

 

[ams511]

you'd have to verify with @herman or someone a bit more down with reg history than I am, but I don't think there were LP ports on the double hoses in '74 when that was filmed. Bit important for drysuits

You could be right. I took a look one of the diving scenes again and did notice an extra hose off the first stage and the drysuit looked to have an inflator fitting. Originally I thought they were using surface dry suits because they were not diving that deep. (The video quality is not that great on YouTube)

Looking at the wiki, it was filmed in 1972. I have a mid-60s DAAM that has a hookah port which can be used as a low pressure port. I don't know if the adapter was around in the 1960s. VDH sells them today. I am sure if Cousteau wanted he could have one made up, after all the guy had a diving saucer, balloon, and helicopter. Of course this assumes they were diving a DAAM or a RAM. Mistrials being single stage do not have hookah ports.

 

[ams511]

My point being, the OP was asking about the low 50's which is not anywhere near ice, or real cold water, diving and any reg should perform adequately. Since I dive wet, and would have to travel to find ice, I doubt that I'll be ice diving soon, or at all.

As far as environmentally sealing the reg, the Sherwood uses air and avoids the mess and added expense when sealing other regs. My old 1980 Magnum was rebuilt once, after 1000 or more dives, and it was clean inside, no corrosion, just used. Because they changed the design and some parts are no longer available I bought a 2010 magnum and now use the old Sherwood as my pony reg since it never failed in the 30 years I used it as my only reg. I'll see how long the new magnum goes, but it may outlast me.
Bob

Bob, my point was cold water performance varies depending on the model. It could be that the older Sherwood regulators have better cold water performance than the newer ones. At the low 50s, I think any reg should work fine. To me the threshold was the mid 40s and even there freezing is not much of an issue.

One of my first regs was a mid-80s vintage Sherwood Magnum, so I am familiar with how they operate. Sherwood stopped making the parts for the older version of the regulator. If your first stage dies just buy a more recent model where the filter is in the body not on the piston.

 

[Bob DBF]

I wonder if the poor cold water performance has more to do with the second stage than the first. I'm not a fan of the new(er) second that came on my 2010 magnum. Now I use the old ScubaPro, Aqualung, or Dacor metal seconds or old Sherwood seconds on the Magnum first depending on what is being used on my vintage regs.



Bob