DGX XTRA 1st and 2nd

[BrianorBrain]

Does anyone have any updates on how the DGX XTRA regs are working now that they have been out for 2 years? The last thread seems like it has gone dead and I haven't seen any updates since.

 

[Hojo in SC]

I hope they are doing fine because I just took my sidemount class with them, they worked well for me.

 

[halocline]

I just had a quick look at the website. I have never seen one of these things in person, and I have not looked at a schematic, so take my comments with a grain of salt. They look like a basic MK25/G250 style design, if I had to guess I would say they might be oceanic-made.

In general I have been pretty impressed with DGX products; someone over there seems to really know what they're doing. The wings are good, the lights are good. So I would suspect the regulators are decent as well. The only red flag IMO is the auto-closure feature on the 1st stage. If that is the oceanic design with the little ball-on-a-spring that closes the 1st stage when not pressurized, for me personally that would be a deal breaker. Lots of other divers would be fine with it, but not me because I'm old and grumpy about stupid design crap that doesn't serve a real purpose other than to increase sales. The aqualung style spring-loaded flange auto closure seems to be a better design, but I wouldn't bother with either of them.

The other issue is parts and service availability. Maybe divegearexpress will sell service kits directly to a customer (I don't know) and if that's the case, that's a huge plus IMO. Whatever the situation is, I would not buy any regulator without knowing how it's going to be serviced. Maybe that means sending them back to DGX every few years, maybe it means finding someone locally (someone competent, and that's easier said than done) or maybe it means learning to do it yourself depending on your mechanical aptitude and interest.

 

[drk5036]

The aqualung style spring-loaded flange auto closure seems to be a better design, but I wouldn't bother with either of them.

This is an aside from the topic of the thread, but I agreed with you until I watched my girlfriend finish her dive, take the regulator off the tank, and then just toss the whole thing into the fresh water soaking bath. It happened so fast...

Thank goodness for the ACD on the first stage!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I just had a quick look at the website. I have never seen one of these things in person, and I have not looked at a schematic, so take my comments with a grain of salt. They look like a basic MK25/G250 style design, if I had to guess I would say they might be oceanic-made.

In general I have been pretty impressed with DGX products; someone over there seems to really know what they're doing. The wings are good, the lights are good. So I would suspect the regulators are decent as well. The only red flag IMO is the auto-closure feature on the 1st stage. If that is the oceanic design with the little ball-on-a-spring that closes the 1st stage when not pressurized, for me personally that would be a deal breaker. Lots of other divers would be fine with it, but not me because I'm old and grumpy about stupid design crap that doesn't serve a real purpose other than to increase sales. The aqualung style spring-loaded flange auto closure seems to be a better design, but I wouldn't bother with either of them.

The other issue is parts and service availability. Maybe divegearexpress will sell service kits directly to a customer (I don't know) and if that's the case, that's a huge plus IMO. Whatever the situation is, I would not buy any regulator without knowing how it's going to be serviced. Maybe that means sending them back to DGX every few years, maybe it means finding someone locally (someone competent, and that's easier said than done) or maybe it means learning to do it yourself depending on your mechanical aptitude and interest.

The closure device on the DGX reg IS NOT the same as the Oceanic and the reg is not made by the same mfg who produces Oceanic regs.
DGX does sell the service kits direct to the consumer and the service manual is available on the website. Click on the service kits for the reg and go to the products attachment tab. The schematics and the manuals are there. If one does decide to service it themselves, they should have some training and understanding of reg service. And pay attention to the torque specs.
It's not a difficult reg to service being a balanced piston using shims to set the IP.
I have two firsts and seconds that I use as my extra sidemount regs.
The seconds also require close attention to the manual when servicing it if you're not familiar with the basic design and orienting things the right way to get it right.
I know. I wrote the manual and all the photos were taken by me. Those are my fingers in the photos.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

The diagram of the first looks very MK-20/25ish to me.

 

[happy-diver]

another nice couple of manuals Jim, who's your manicurist

I know. I wrote the manual and all the photos were taken by me. Those are my fingers in the photos.