chasep255
Registered
I am in the process of putting tougher a doubles setup. I had an XTX200 for singles so rather than buy two new regulators I just got another XTX200 with the FSR first stage. I got the 5th port kit installed on each of them. I have been sick all weekend so I have had a lot of time to try different configs, and probably over-think everything. Here are the different setups I have tried. I would like to get some feedback as to what you guys prefer.
My original plan was to mount the regulators with the HP ports facing directly down at the tanks.
I ran into a two issues with this.
The first being the position of the inflator elbow on the wing. When it inflates it really pushes against the two hoses close to where they come out of the metal part. Seems like it would really stress them when the wing is full of air and pushing up when in the water.
Secondly I don't think pointing the hp ports directly down is the best. Right now I have a thermo manifold which seems kind of tall with steel 100 tanks which seem like they have long necks. With this my transmitter just clears the tank. This may be an issue when I travel and do not know what tanks/manifold I will be renting. I suppose I don't need the transmitter but I like having it. Also I would perfer the HP hose with my gauge to be facing outwards since it has to go around the wing and clip off to my d-ring. Also might kind of stress the hp hose if the regulators were much closer to the tanks.
To address these too issues I rotated the regs even more.
This seemed to work better, but I don't really like how far my long hose and drysuit hose are sticking out. I can still turn my valves but my hand keeps bumping into them while I do so. Also I don't really like the environmental seal facing that far upwards since I will probably bang it into stuff while swimming though wrecks and do not want to puncture it.
For my next try I decided to ditch the 5th port and put both regs facing sideways in the same direction.
This worked pretty well. I put the drysuit hose and wing inflator hose on the furthest LP port from the valve to give them the most clearance from the tank since they have to bend back in the opposite direction. My hp hose for the gauge seems to be at the perfect angle. The only thing I didn't like about this setup was that the transmitter seems to get in the way of the hose for the backup regulator and inflator.
To fix this I rotated the regulator on the right post around and changed the long hose back to a flex hose.
This seems like the cleanest routing to me. The HP hose is at a great angle. There is nothing obstructing my access to the valves. The elbow in the wing does not push against anything. The transmitter is not in the way of anything. The only thing I don't like is that the long hose (and to a lesser extent the drysuit hose) are pointed inwards and have to bend back out. I kind of like having them pointed outwards so they can clear the wing and route downwards.
I also considered getting a 90 degree swivel for the 5th ports (OmniSwivel Pivot-Swivel, LP 1st Stage: 3/8-Inch M = 3/8-Inch F | Dive Gear Express®) and moving the long hose and drysuit hoses onto this. That would be nice since I could then route these hoses directly over the wing. Would also be good for air sharing with the long hose since it could swivel to face upwards. Just not sure if adding that to the setup is a bad idea since I will be deco diving. I also know I will get a lot of crap from people for using that. Then again I don't see how it would be any less reliable than people who use DST first stages.
My original plan was to mount the regulators with the HP ports facing directly down at the tanks.
I ran into a two issues with this.
The first being the position of the inflator elbow on the wing. When it inflates it really pushes against the two hoses close to where they come out of the metal part. Seems like it would really stress them when the wing is full of air and pushing up when in the water.
Secondly I don't think pointing the hp ports directly down is the best. Right now I have a thermo manifold which seems kind of tall with steel 100 tanks which seem like they have long necks. With this my transmitter just clears the tank. This may be an issue when I travel and do not know what tanks/manifold I will be renting. I suppose I don't need the transmitter but I like having it. Also I would perfer the HP hose with my gauge to be facing outwards since it has to go around the wing and clip off to my d-ring. Also might kind of stress the hp hose if the regulators were much closer to the tanks.
To address these too issues I rotated the regs even more.
This seemed to work better, but I don't really like how far my long hose and drysuit hose are sticking out. I can still turn my valves but my hand keeps bumping into them while I do so. Also I don't really like the environmental seal facing that far upwards since I will probably bang it into stuff while swimming though wrecks and do not want to puncture it.
For my next try I decided to ditch the 5th port and put both regs facing sideways in the same direction.
This worked pretty well. I put the drysuit hose and wing inflator hose on the furthest LP port from the valve to give them the most clearance from the tank since they have to bend back in the opposite direction. My hp hose for the gauge seems to be at the perfect angle. The only thing I didn't like about this setup was that the transmitter seems to get in the way of the hose for the backup regulator and inflator.
To fix this I rotated the regulator on the right post around and changed the long hose back to a flex hose.
This seems like the cleanest routing to me. The HP hose is at a great angle. There is nothing obstructing my access to the valves. The elbow in the wing does not push against anything. The transmitter is not in the way of anything. The only thing I don't like is that the long hose (and to a lesser extent the drysuit hose) are pointed inwards and have to bend back out. I kind of like having them pointed outwards so they can clear the wing and route downwards.
I also considered getting a 90 degree swivel for the 5th ports (OmniSwivel Pivot-Swivel, LP 1st Stage: 3/8-Inch M = 3/8-Inch F | Dive Gear Express®) and moving the long hose and drysuit hoses onto this. That would be nice since I could then route these hoses directly over the wing. Would also be good for air sharing with the long hose since it could swivel to face upwards. Just not sure if adding that to the setup is a bad idea since I will be deco diving. I also know I will get a lot of crap from people for using that. Then again I don't see how it would be any less reliable than people who use DST first stages.
