Din vs Yoke

[redacted]

Wouldn't having 2 regs double my annual servicing expense?

Not if you take good care of them and avoid servicing them unnecessarily.

 

[kelemvor]

Funny. Using my adapter does not bother me at all.

Same. I use an adapter weekly. It's not a big deal.

 

[halocline]

Right. That's why I said I would convert from one to the other. Not use an adapter. For all those reasons that you mentioned.

From what you and Colliam said, it sounds like my Plan A is the right one (for me). Is changing 4 hoses over from 1 reg to another really easier than changing a reg from DIN to yoke or vice versa? Wouldn't having 2 regs double my annual servicing expense?

Okay, good. I misunderstood. I think it's easier to change out 4 hoses than change a scubapro first stage from DIN to yoke or vice-versa. You really should torque the retainers, at least on SP regs, so you need a torque wrench and a vise, sometimes that means removing some or all of the hoses anyway to get the first stage in the vise, and you need the special SP yoke socket, so to me it's more work than simply changing hoses.

If you're mechanically inclined (I think you mentioned you work on bikes) I would strongly encourage you to learn to work on your own regulators. I think you'll find they are very simple devices compared to high end bikes, and you can save a lot of money simply servicing your regs yourself when they need it, which with proper care is far less often than annually.

The annual service requirement for warranty on regulators is overkill at best, a scam at worst, depending on your level of cynicism about the dive gear industry (mine is high) and how much diving you do. Good regulators, well serviced and cared for can go a couple hundred dives before needing service. Most people do fewer than 50 dives/year. Doesn't take a genius to figure this one out.

 

[MrChen]

My steel tanks and pony have the convertible valves, so I can use DIN or Yoke on them. I've got them setup for DIN. My AL80's have yoke valves and I use the DIN adapter on them. It doesn't hit my head and screws on just like the yoke reg, but presents a DIN hole for the DIN regulator. Yes, it moves the regulator an inch towards your head, but I still don't hit my head.

With that said, I don't use my AL80's as much as my steel 120's. If I found someone selling used pro valves for cheap, I'd buy them for my al80's so I could just use DIN all the time.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

Funny. Using my adapter does not bother me at all.

Depends on your reg and how it's configured. If I use an adapter, the reg banks me in the back of the head.

I use to covert my recreational reg back and forth, DIN when using my tanks, Yoke when traveling. After the last trip, I just left it yoke. All my regs are DIN, except for the one dedicated to recreational diving.

Yoke is the better option for the OP's intended usage.

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IMO, the best advantage of the DIN is that there's no knob sticking up to snag on something.

 

[stuartv]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone!

Okay, good. I misunderstood. I think it's easier to change out 4 hoses than change a scubapro first stage from DIN to yoke or vice-versa. You really should torque the retainers, at least on SP regs, so you need a torque wrench and a vise, sometimes that means removing some or all of the hoses anyway to get the first stage in the vise, and you need the special SP yoke socket, so to me it's more work than simply changing hoses.

If you're mechanically inclined (I think you mentioned you work on bikes) I would strongly encourage you to learn to work on your own regulators. I think you'll find they are very simple devices compared to high end bikes, and you can save a lot of money simply servicing your regs yourself when they need it, which with proper care is far less often than annually.

The annual service requirement for warranty on regulators is overkill at best, a scam at worst, depending on your level of cynicism about the dive gear industry (mine is high) and how much diving you do. Good regulators, well serviced and cared for can go a couple hundred dives before needing service. Most people do fewer than 50 dives/year. Doesn't take a genius to figure this one out.

Okay, I had an earlier impression that changing between DIN and yoke was a 30 to 60 second proposition, which I could possibly even accomplish while on a dive boat, if necessary. It sounds like that's not the case - at least for Scuba Pro regs, so I assume possibly others.

As for servicing my own regs, I'm totally down for doing that. But, I thought some regs (maybe just second stages?) really required special training and possibly some kind of certification. Not that a piece of paper would stop me. But, knowing that it's complicated enough to have a training class and certification would probably prompt me to walk the safe path and have someone else do it.

As for annual service requirements, it's fine and dandy to say not to bother having a reg serviced until it needs it - but how do you know whether it needs it until it exhibits a problem? At which point, have I possibly lost a day (or more) of diving? I like preventive maintenance because I like having no problems. I don't like being the guy who shows up and then has to say "oh, dang. Hang on. I need to strip this XYZ down and replace the blinker fluid real quick."

 

[Lorenzoid]

I haven't read this thread in a while, and I'm not sure what was added recently to it, but I just had an experience I thought I'd share, as it probably isn't uncommon. I showed up for a boat dive I had booked with a S. FL dive op that had confirmed to me on the phone they have DIN tanks, but upon arriving at the shop on the day of the dive they said they were out of DIN tanks--all taken. So I had to use the yoke adapter. Sometimes the choice of whether it's going to be DIN or yoke needs to be made on the fly, while under the clock to get one's gear aboard a boat in 20 mins. before departure. Really, for the places I most often dive--FL, Caribbean, even Southeast Asia--yoke regs would have been a more convenient choice. But I have succumbed to the DIR thing, and DIN regs are de rigeur. The yoke adapter does seem to limit the range of motion for my head, especially with a DSS wing that has the corrugated hose positioned in the middle of the wing.

Eh, anyone know what the relative difficulty is of changing DIN to yoke on a HOG D1? No torque wrench needed, I hope? My next trip is Bonaire for a week, and Bonaire is very much yoke-land. I saw recently that one operator advertised now having DIN tanks, but I've sure never seen one there.

 

[halocline]

But, I thought some regs (maybe just second stages?) really required special training and possibly some kind of certification. Not that a piece of paper would stop me. But, knowing that it's complicated enough to have a training class and certification would probably prompt me to walk the safe path and have someone else do it.

As for annual service requirements, it's fine and dandy to say not to bother having a reg serviced until it needs it - but how do you know whether it needs it until it exhibits a problem?

The manufacturers' certification classes are typically one-day seminars that nobody ever fails and the only pre-requisite is employment at a dive shop. Hardly 'advanced training'....

Some regulators are a bit more complex than others and do require some specialized knowledge, but most are very simple. Some of the best performing regulators available have classic designs that have barely changed in decades.

When you learn to service regs, you also learn to evaluate performance and inspect them. Typically there are signs that indicate service is due, like a slight IP creep. Sudden failure is pretty rare, usually results in a leak or freeflow, and is not necessarily correlated with time since last service. The only way to make sure you will not miss any dives due to a regulator problem is to carry a spare on the boat. This goes for 20 year old cheapies and $1000 bling-regs.

 

[stuartv]

The manufacturers' certification classes are typically one-day seminars that nobody ever fails and the only pre-requisite is employment at a dive shop. Hardly 'advanced training'....

Cool. Good to know for future reference!

 

[oli4]

If you are a new diver and only into recreational diving, I would suggest the Yoke (Int). The added safety of the DIN is of no use in that type of diving. If now you end up with Din tanks you vcan still use your reg. with a small adaptor inserted into the tank valve. If you have a DIN reg and a Int tank you end up with a big Adaptor, sometimes uncomfortable.