Deco Regs and O2 Cleaning

[gstroupe]

Figured I'd float this one out there for folks... I'm building my deco rigs and purchased 2 new DS4's for use as deco regulators. What is the general concensus on getting these regulators O2 cleaned and ready to breath deco gas > 40% o2? The regs come "nitrox ready" stating that they are serviced to handle < 40% o2, do I need to take these brand new regs out and spend another (insert LDS fee here) to have them ready to support richer mixes?

thanks in advance.

 

[espenskogen]

Figured I'd float this one out there for folks... I'm building my deco rigs and purchased 2 new DS4's for use as deco regulators. What is the general concensus on getting these regulators O2 cleaned and ready to breath deco gas > 40% o2? The regs come "nitrox ready" stating that they are serviced to handle < 40% o2, do I need to take these brand new regs out and spend another (insert LDS fee here) to have them ready to support richer mixes?

thanks in advance.

Yes you do. Although they're nitrox ready (Which basically all regulators are..), to use rich mixes, you will need to have all o rings in a O2 compatible material, and all grease needs to be water based.
Oh, and the reg needs to be free of hydrocarbons - So a good clean could be necessary.

E

PS: As it happens, the DS4 is also sold in a nitrox version, which will have a green bit under the environmental seal, and have all the O Rings in the O2 compatible version already. Costs a bit more though.

 

[Web Monkey]

Their site says it's good up to 40% and needs service to use above that.

Personally, I'd take their word on it, since if it was good to 80% or more, they would use it as a sales feature.

Terry

Figured I'd float this one out there for folks... I'm building my deco rigs and purchased 2 new DS4's for use as deco regulators. What is the general concensus on getting these regulators O2 cleaned and ready to breath deco gas > 40% o2? The regs come "nitrox ready" stating that they are serviced to handle < 40% o2, do I need to take these brand new regs out and spend another (insert LDS fee here) to have them ready to support richer mixes?

thanks in advance.

 

[MonkSeal]

Figured I'd float this one out there for folks... I'm building my deco rigs and purchased 2 new DS4's for use as deco regulators. What is the general concensus on getting these regulators O2 cleaned and ready to breath deco gas > 40% o2? The regs come "nitrox ready" stating that they are serviced to handle < 40% o2, do I need to take these brand new regs out and spend another (insert LDS fee here) to have them ready to support richer mixes?

thanks in advance.

Apeks use O2 compatible o-rings and O2 compatible grease when asembling regs and yours are probably OK for higher O2 mixtures. However, nobody can tell you for sure that fact (maybe somebody has already tested your "brand new" reg with not O2 compatible air), so the best practice is to O2 clean them. If you're doing the type of dives that require deco with high O2 mixtures, maybe you should consider DIY servicing.

 

[rgbmatt]

Personally, I'd take their word on it, since if it was good to 80% or more, they would use it as a sales feature.

Actually, it's usually the other way around - they avoid saying so to avoid liability.

 

[Hoosier]

Depending on how much rich gas you intend to use...
For the 50 bottle, I have seen many divers who are just using it out of the new box without any problem. But, for the more than 50%, it is your call.

 

[espenskogen]

Apeks use O2 compatible o-rings and O2 compatible grease when asembling regs and yours are probably OK for higher O2 mixtures. However, nobody can tell you for sure that fact (maybe somebody has already tested your "brand new" reg with not O2 compatible air), so the best practice is to O2 clean them. If you're doing the type of dives that require deco with high O2 mixtures, maybe you should consider DIY servicing.

As far as I understand, this is not the case. The Apex regs come compatible to 40% out of the box. You can buy a nitrox version of the reg for rich mixes, or you need the nitrox kit for the reg to upgrade it to rich mix compatibility.

 

[MonkSeal]

As far as I understand, this is not the case. The Apex regs come compatible to 40% out of the box. You can buy a nitrox version of the reg for rich mixes, or you need the nitrox kit for the reg to upgrade it to rich mix compatibility.

Check the material that O-rings in "out-of-box-40%-compatible" regulator are made of. I can recommend you Vance Harlow's OXYGEN HACKER'S COMPANION and SCUBA REGULATOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR at http://www.airspeedpress.com as a source of good and valuable information on this subject.

 

[espenskogen]

Check the material that O-rings in "out-of-box-40%-compatible" regulator are made of. I can recommend you Vance Harlow's OXYGEN HACKER'S COMPANION and SCUBA REGULATOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR at http://www.airspeedpress.com as a source of good and valuable information on this subject.

Possibly. Check this one though: http://www.apeks.co.uk/products/product_cats.asp?Category=Nitrox Equipment

As you can see, there are oxygen compatibility kits to be installed in the regular regs. This could of course be a clever marketing ploy to sell more o-rings, but I would assume there was something that I was not aware of that needed upgrading in the standard regs for O2 service.

Each to their own though - But I wouldn't take the chance.

 

[MonkSeal]

Possibly. Check this one though: http://www.apeks.co.uk/products/product_cats.asp?Category=Nitrox Equipment

As you can see, there are oxygen compatibility kits to be installed in the regular regs. This could of course be a clever marketing ploy to sell more o-rings, but I would assume there was something that I was not aware of that needed upgrading in the standard regs for O2 service.

Each to their own though - But I wouldn't take the chance.

Well, I can see what's written (and I've been aware of what had been written there). What's written doesn't necessary have to be true and doesn't necessary have to reveal all facts. If you had experience in regulator servicing you would be able to evaluate this issue better.