First experience diving, R190

[robpiat]

We were in Curacao on our honeymoon. We did an intro dive in a 10' lagoon with stingrays etc. I have never even breathed through a regulator so it was all a new experience. They had fairly new SP equipment w/ r190 2nd stages. It seemed like work to breathe on it for 45 minutes. Is this true of most regs. I had imagined it would be very smooth?

 

[SCUBAMedicBill]

It should be effortless to breath through, especially at 10 feet. Not that familier with the 190, but the Mk2/R380, Mk25/R550-R600-R650 are nice breathing regulators. It's a personnel preference which should be made depending on the type of diving your doing, your personal price range, and research of the regulators. Most are pretty good, but don't necessarily just pick the cheapest. Some LDC will allow you to use it in a pool to try it out.

Good luck

Bill

 

[robpiat]

Another unexpected feeling was that the 2nd stage felt "floaty"...As if It was pulling up. I always imagined they would be neutrally buoyant?

It should be effortless to breath through, especially at 10 feet. Not that familier with the 190, but the Mk2/R380, Mk25/R550-R600-R650 are nice breathing regulators. It's a personnel preference which should be made depending on the type of diving your doing, your personal price range, and research of the regulators. Most are pretty good, but don't necessarily just pick the cheapest. Some LDC will allow you to use it in a pool to try it out.

Good luck

Bill

 

[PerroneFord]

MY reg (Oceanic Delta) would literally PUSH air into my mouth as depths slightly beyond OW limits. Your situation was not good. Something was wrong.

As for the reg floating, good regs are generally very neutral. And you'll find that most of the popular ones are. Mine is very slightly negative which I think I prefer.

 

[spectrum]

Another unexpected feeling was that the 2nd stage felt "floaty"...As if It was pulling up. I always imagined they would be neutrally buoyant?

Might it have been hose length, routing or relative tank / 1st stage position? Those sort of things can force the regulator though mostly in a latteral way.

Did you sense the resistance on inhale, exhale or both? I know in my limited experience I get a sensation of slight resistance on exhale but I think it's more the sound of the bubbles popping as I slowly exhale.

Pete

 

[halocline]

My MK2/R190 breathes very easily and smoothly; I suspect your experience mght have been due to the unfamiliarity of the whole situation, and I guess it's possible that the reg was heavily de-tuned to make sure there were no free-flows, which could be pretty intimidating to someone with no diving experience. (I assume these particular regs are used specifically for this purpose)

The R190, like all 2nd stages I think, is slightly negative. I have no idea why it seemed positive in your mouth, unless there was a hose issue. Usually if the hose routing is wrong, though, it'll pull the reg to the right or push it to the left as previously posted. I guess if there's a push to the left it could feel like it's floating out of your mouth.

Before I bought my MK2, I had a chance to sit on a training platform and breathe through several regs, including some much more expensive ones. I really could not notice any difference in the breathability, and that was with taking a few breaths from one reg, switching with a buddy, trying the instructor's, etc, for the specific purpose of deciding which first reg to buy.

 

[PerroneFord]

Breathing a reg on the surface, they all should feel the same. Try breathing them at 100ft...

 

[MrConclusion]

The R190 is typically sold with the MK2 first stage, which is built according to a "extremely reliable not extremely high performance" design. That's why they're so popular as rental gear.

I am under the impression that the MK2, being unbalanced, will become a bit harder to breathe as either (a) depth increases, or (b) tank pressure drops during the dive. In other words, the intermediate pressure is not as steady as with balanced first stage designs. (as depth increases or tank pressure increases, the pressure flowing to the R190 drops somewhat.)

This should not be dangerous, as this regulator combination has a serious track record for safety and reliability. However, it may have contributed to your impression that it was hard to breathe after 45 minutes. It may have been getting harder to breathe as your tank pressure dropped - but you though it was due to you getting tired.

My advice, and take this for what it's worth, is to let your shop check the intermediate pressure (this is what the first stage is sending to the second stage) the cracking pressure (this is how much effort it takes to start inhaling) and the breathing resistance (this is how much effort it takes to continue inhaling.) These are all checked during a regulator's yearly checkup, and it's possible that yours came from the factory a little out of tune.

 

[halocline]

I am under the impression that the MK2, being unbalanced, will become a bit harder to breathe as either (a) depth increases, or (b) tank pressure drops during the dive. In other words, the intermediate pressure is not as steady as with balanced first stage designs. (as depth increases or tank pressure increases, the pressure flowing to the R190 drops somewhat.)

There was a recent thread on this. Unbalanced regs react no differently to depth than balanced regs. IP is ambient + whatever, (138psi on the MK2, if I remember) so as depth increases, the IP goes up, just like a balanced reg. I've had mine to 130 ft and it breathed fine. Also, the MK2 delivers more than double the amount of air flow any diver would possibly need, and much more than any 2nd stage can deliver. As tank pressure falls to near the IP, breathing resistance does increase, but this is a SLIGHT increase until the tank falls well below 300PSI. I know this from personal experience.

A lot of the argument about high performance regs for recreational use is, I'm starting to realize, somewhat like people arguing over whether a porsche is better to go to the grocery store than a honda, because if you NEEDED to go 160mph, you can do it in the porsche. Not that there's anything wrong with going to the grocery store in style...

 

[uberspeed]

I did my cert on the MK2Plus/R190 combo and I felt it was quite good. Not smooth mind you, but I never felt that it didn't deliver enough air at any point, even while sharing. Granted, I wasn't at great depths or in strenuous conditions. I will say that the MK25SA/S600 that I tried was amazing in comparison. Flowed much more air and much "smoother" to me. I know smoothness is a relative thing, to me it's just how the reg delivers air, if it's choppy or not. I also think the reg must have been detuned or in need of maintenance for it to breathe as poorly as you describe. I considered getting that very setup when I went shopping for my own gear, as has been said, it's known to be pretty much bomb proof.