Deco regulators

[rjack321]

Do you think that a high end regulator is NOT a good choice? Something like mk17 or mk25 (I wanna stay to scubapro). Just not consider the price for the moment. I am more concerned about other problems (what to do if I flood it, behaviour in mud, any other abuse)

The mk20/mk25s with g250 or s600 2nd stages are lovely breathing regs. Probably not my first choice for <5C water or the actual Arctic, but for "normal" temperatures they are great. They just cost quite a bit more. I don't have a mk17 and have never used one so hard to offer any firsthand experience with them.

Finding any of these SP regs used is usually pretty easy and they are not like Apeks regs where HP seat wear can ruin the reg internally without you being able to tell before buying.

 

[ginti]

The mk20/mk25s with g250 or s600 2nd stages are lovely breathing regs. Probably not my first choice for <5C water or the actual Arctic, but for "normal" temperatures they are great. They just cost quite a bit more. I don't have a mk17 and have never used one so hard to offer any firsthand experience with them.

Finding any of these SP regs used is usually pretty easy and they are not like Apeks regs where HP seat wear can ruin the reg internally without you being able to tell before buying.

ok, got it.

FYI, a GUE instructor told me he used mk25evo+g260 in very silty water at 4°C, 75m deep - according to him they worked perfectly. This obviously doesn't mean they are the best for cold water - I guess Apeks is at the top, but I am not confident enough to do mantainance alone and it can be a stress to find a technician...

Anyway, thanks a lot for your input, something clearer now

 

[rjack321]

ok, got it.

FYI, a GUE instructor told me he used mk25evo+g260 in very silty water at 4°C, 75m deep - according to him they worked perfectly. This obviously doesn't mean they are the best for cold water - I guess Apeks is at the top, but I am not confident enough to do mantainance alone and it can be a stress to find a technician...

Anyway, thanks a lot for your input, something clearer now

The mk25 is "ok" in really cold water. But the piston is slightly more liable to freeze up due to the adiabatic cooling and ice formation. Especially if you are a heavy breather.

The Apeks is less likely to freeze up in frigid water because the HP seat and connecting rod are isolated from the water. It is more likely to have an issue in every other condition because diaphragm regulator failures (HP seats, HP crowns, or the actual internal diaphragm) are far more likely to fail catastrophically than on the MK25.

Do you regularly dive <4C water? Like in Sweden and Norway or Austrian lakes in winter? Lots of people "say" they dive cold water but its really like 8C which is practically (but not mathematically) an order of magnitude warmer than 3.5C

 

[ginti]

The mk25 is "ok" in really cold water. But the piston is slightly more liable to freeze up due to the adiabatic cooling and ice formation. Especially if you are a heavy breather.

The Apeks is less likely to freeze up in frigid water because the HP seat and connecting rod are isolated from the water. It is more likely to have an issue in every other condition because diaphragm regulator failures (HP seats, HP crowns, or the actual internal diaphragm) are far more likely to fail catastrophically than on the MK25.

Do you regularly dive <4C water? Like in Sweden and Norway or Austrian lakes in winter? Lots of people "say" they dive cold water but its really like 8C which is practically (but not mathematically) an order of magnitude warmer than 3.5C

I actually breath a lot, which I didn't consider when I bought my regs.

That said, I agree with your thoughts, which is why I said "I guess Apeks is at the top". I just reported a feedback which I consider reliable, and maybe was interesting for you. To be clear, the instructor said "he used them", but he didn't specify if that was the norm for him, and I didn't ask to be more specific. I have always thought that I could use my regs in very cold water without issues, at least not regularly (for instance, one week in a row in case of a trip)

About my dives, as I said at the beginning of the thread, I regularly dive dive between 6 and 8°C, never colder. I know there have been acident here for freezing regulators, but it isn't the north pole. I'll try soon lake Leman/Geneva of which I don't know the temperature.

 

[ls23]

The Scubapro/Halcyon piston regulators are very popular with the local GUE/Tech community who dive 4°C lake water all year. Unless you plan on diving literal ice water regularely I wouldn't worry.

 

[ginti]

The Scubapro/Halcyon piston regulators are very popular with the local GUE/Tech community who dive 4°C lake water all year. Unless you plan on diving literal ice water regularely I wouldn't worry.

Hi Is23! We are a bit off topic, but I'd like to understand better, you are from germany, which is a big country.. what do you mean exactly when you say local?... where exactly? which lakes do they dive so often?

 

[ls23]

Hi Is23! We are a bit off topic, but I'd like to understand better, you are from germany, which is a big country.. what do you mean exactly when you say local?... where exactly? which lakes do they dive so often?

I'm in the south, so apart from some lesser known quarries mainly Lake Starnberg, Walchensee, and Attersee (in Austria).

 

[v-v]

Unless they have a fetish for pointlessly expensive green stuff, I don't know any fellow Europeans who bother with M26

Even in France (Lot cave region) renting oxygen cylinders with G5/8 threads and getting them filled was not a problem.

I work (and thus live most of the year) in France (although I'm not French so I'm not certified under their weird agency) and I like the idea of having a green regulator on a green hose for O2, and all DIN equipment

I'm new to deco but did some cave diving in the Lot with the my local caving club and my train of thoughts was the following when purchasing my deco stage kit: sure enough, I have at least two independent first stages but if for any reason both have an issue (which is highly unlikely) why wouldn't I be able to, in such case, screw the regulator from the deco tank?

Sure, it's highly unlikely and probably never happened to anyone. Sure, it will need servicing after being removed and screwed on underwater. However my OCD somehow fails to see anything positive to having a different thread; it feels like removing a level of additional redundancy. As for identification and mistake avoidance - well, as I said, I like it green and it's easy to trace it to the tank when it's strapped to it all the time anyway.

So far I haven't had any problems with filling it in France (either in Rennes or in the Lot region) but I had other problems with one dive operator not recognizing my SSI AOWD and saying that they have seen many foreigners who were AOWD and not good thus requiring me to dive with an instructor even at <18m... (After two weeks of asking what level they want, I was told that if I do a rescue specialty it will be ok.) Went to another dive center and everything was fine there, so I guess there are quite a few oddities here and they vary a lot from place to place.

 

[Mathieu Vincent]

I like halcyon H-75P/Halo

 

[NAM001]

Hi everyone!


My personal guess is that I need a performant set, since cold and particles might give me problems.

Lastly, I believe that having the same regulators I already have would be useful in case I need to repair something at the last minute. For instance, I may bring with me just one set of spare parts, or switch parts between regulators. In this case I should make my regulators oxygen-compatible (I believe they are compatible only with oxygen up to 40%).

I asked a shop here in France, and they suggested to buy a MK2+R195, which sounds a bit weird to me, since it is not exactly a very performant set.

Furthermore, here in France one shouldn't use the DIN connection for oxygen-compatible devices, but a special connection. So, for instance, I cannot buy a set MK25EVO+G260 oxygen-compatible here... But I can buy it from a third country



Thanks in advance!

deco is not a performance activity

any reg will work with O2 as a general comment. It is only special once it is cleaned FOR O2 service.

you can get any reg serviced for O2 use. the difference regarding a DIN is only a yoke din choice.

cant comment on the -----one shouldn't use the DIN connection for oxygen-compatible devices, but a special connection.... what is the special connection you refer to?

I dont know whether you buy a O2 regulator per se' but rather it is the kit you put in it. I further do not know of a kit for O2 that is different than the one used for 40%..... at leasts no in the USA.