First used regulator help

[MJcK]

I purchased a used regulator from a diver off of craigslist for my first dive. He said the reg was serviced just under a year ago. I brough my diver friend along, he attached the reg to his tank and said everything looked fine but I should still take it to an LDS.
When I got home I did some of the tests on the Regulator Inspection Checklist.
For the Watertight Check I am having a problem. When I inhale through the octo, I can not draw any air. However, when I inhale through the primary second stage, I can draw in air; I found out the air is being pulled in from the mouthpiece of the octo, when I inhale through the primary.
Does this mean the primary failed the Watertight Check?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Do you have your thumb completely blocking the first stage area where it connects to a tank?

 

[halocline]

I purchased a used regulator from a diver off of craigslist for my first dive. He said the reg was serviced just under a year ago. I brough my diver friend along, he attached the reg to his tank and said everything looked fine but I should still take it to an LDS.
When I got home I did some of the tests on the Regulator Inspection Checklist.
For the Watertight Check I am having a problem. When I inhale through the octo, I can not draw any air. However, when I inhale through the primary second stage, I can draw in air; I found out the air is being pulled in from the mouthpiece of the octo, when I inhale through the primary.
Does this mean the primary failed the Watertight Check?

No, it just means that your primary 2nd stage has a seat saver feature that separates the orifice from the seat when the regulator is not pressurized. When you draw air on it, you're pulling air in through the octo, down to the 1st stage, and back out the primary. Is it an atomic?

If you want to vacuum test the primary 2nd stage, remove the stage and hose from the 1st stage. Put your thumb over the end of the hose, then try to draw air; you should not be able to. You can also try completely covering the mouthpiece opening of the octo instead of isolating the primary 2nd, but sometimes it's tricky to completely cover the opening.

 

[MJcK]

No, it just means that your primary 2nd stage has a seat saver feature that separates the orifice from the seat when the regulator is not pressurized. When you draw air on it, you're pulling air in through the octo, down to the 1st stage, and back out the primary. Is it an atomic?

If you want to vacuum test the primary 2nd stage, remove the stage and hose from the 1st stage. Put your thumb over the end of the hose, then try to draw air; you should not be able to. You can also try completely covering the mouthpiece opening of the octo instead of isolating the primary 2nd, but sometimes it's tricky to completely cover the opening.

It is actually an aqualung regulator. I believe it's one of the mid-range ones. I removed the second stage from the hose and covered the threaded area that threads into the hose. I could not draw air. I was just concerned because the octo does not draw in air, unlike the primary.
If the primary is drawing in air through the octo then wouldn't it draw in water if I had to breath through it underwater?

Do you have your thumb completely blocking the first stage area where it connects to a tank?

I have the regulator connected to the tank

 

[halocline]

It is actually an aqualung regulator. I believe it's one of the mid-range ones. I removed the second stage from the hose and covered the threaded area that threads into the hose. I could not draw air. I was just concerned because the octo does not draw in air, unlike the primary.
If the primary is drawing in air through the octo then wouldn't it draw in water if I had to breath through it underwater?

No, because air in the LP hoses is pressurized at IP. No way is anything going to flow from any 2nd stage to a 1st stage as long as there is pressure in the hose.

But I have to recant my previous answer....sorry I was thinking about other things as I posted. You would need a seat-saver in the octo for air to be drawn in through it while it's not pressurized. That's unusual for an octo. What kind of an octo is it?

I suggest you pressurize the reg and submerge it in the bathtub, look for any bubbles. If it's not leaking anywhere, it's probably fine.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I can't understand how the octopus would not leak air on a test, but would allow air to go the other way. I suspect that there is some kind of leak in the primary, but the air is not coming from the octopus.... So this is what you do... take the primary second stage off the hose, stick your finger over the hose hole and suck.... does it leak, yes or no?

 

[MJcK]

I can't understand how the octopus would not leak air on a test, but would allow air to go the other way. I suspect that there is some kind of leak in the primary, but the air is not coming from the octopus.... So this is what you do... take the primary second stage off the hose, stick your finger over the hose hole and suck.... does it leak, yes or no?

The hole that threads into the hose, correct? After covering it and sucking through the mouthpiece, I can not suck in any air, which I'm assuming means no leak.

No, because air in the LP hoses is pressurized at IP. No way is anything going to flow from any 2nd stage to a 1st stage as long as there is pressure in the hose.

But I have to recant my previous answer....sorry I was thinking about other things as I posted. You would need a seat-saver in the octo for air to be drawn in through it while it's not pressurized. That's unusual for an octo. What kind of an octo is it?

I suggest you pressurize the reg and submerge it in the bathtub, look for any bubbles. If it's not leaking anywhere, it's probably fine.

The primary is an Aqualung Titan and the secondary is an ABS octopus. If I inhale through the octopus, I am not able to draw in air. But when I inhale through the Titan, I can draw in air and I can tell that the air is being pulled in from the ABS octopus.

I am trying to narrow down the possibilities so I have contacted another member here with the same set-up and a similar issue.
I also removed the ABS octopus and connected the Titan to my alternate air hose (yellow hose) and attached my friend's Atomic Z2 to the primary hose. I tried the water tight test on the Atomic and I was not able to draw in air. I then tried the test with the Titan and again I was able to pull in air, this time the air was coming through from the Atomic. I switched it out the ABS with the Titan and did the watertight test again; neither regulator was able to pull in air. So I'm assuming the issue, or feature...possibly, lies in the Titan.

 

[herman]

I purchased a used regulator from a diver off of craigslist for my first dive. He said the reg was serviced just under a year ago. I brough my diver friend along, he attached the reg to his tank and said everything looked fine but I should still take it to an LDS.
When I got home I did some of the tests on the Regulator Inspection Checklist.
For the Watertight Check I am having a problem. When I inhale through the octo, I can not draw any air. However, when I inhale through the primary second stage, I can draw in air; I found out the air is being pulled in from the mouthpiece of the octo, when I inhale through the primary.
Does this mean the primary failed the Watertight Check?

Sounds like you have a bad octo to me. You are not pulling air when inhaling on the octo so the primary second seat and octo housing are airtight but you get air when inhaling on the primary second stage. That indicates either the primary second housing is leaking or the air is being pulled in from some other point down the hose. Since you indicate that the air is entering the reg via the octo, the octo LP seat has to be the issue. The octo should be sealed at that point, so the problem is a leaking octo LP seat or a badly adjusted octo. To verify it is the octo, take the octo off, plug the hose end with your finger and retry the test the primary again. Be careful when removing the octo or any reg for that matter, you need to hold the thin nut that is close to the plastic case with a thin wrench before loosening the hose nut. It's an easy fix in either case although I would consider replacing that particular octo, I don't care for them.

 

[MrSam]

Spoke with MJCK about the issue, it seems like we are having similar problems. My regulator on the other hand does not have the "drawing air" problem and I've used it on two dives without any trouble. Same set-up, without the Z2.
Did you try tightening the crown? That seemed to solve my problem.

 

[MJcK]

Sounds like you have a bad octo to me. You are not pulling air when inhaling on the octo so the primary second seat and octo housing are airtight but you get air when inhaling on the primary second stage. That indicates either the primary second housing is leaking or the air is being pulled in from some other point down the hose. Since you indicate that the air is entering the reg via the octo, the octo LP seat has to be the issue. The octo should be sealed at that point, so the problem is a leaking octo LP seat or a badly adjusted octo. To verify it is the octo, take the octo off, plug the hose end with your finger and retry the test the primary again. Be careful when removing the octo or any reg for that matter, you need to hold the thin nut that is close to the plastic case with a thin wrench before loosening the hose nut. It's an easy fix in either case although I would consider replacing that particular octo, I don't care for them.

The issue is, when I switched out the octopus with my friend's atomic z2, I am able to draw air while inhaling through the Titan; the air enters through the Z2. I know there is nothing wrong with the Z2 because he has used it on a few dives and it was just serviced not too long ago. If I take off the Titan and connect both the Z2 and ABS octopus, I am not able to draw air from either one.
Basically, the only 2nd stage I am able to draw air from is the Titan, and it always pulls in air from whichever 2nd stage I have connected to the octopus hose.
I'll take the Titan into the shop and see if anything can be done. I know when I cover up the hose (connected to the titan) I can not pull in air. Also, when I covered up the hose connected to the octopus (without the octopus being connected) I am not able to draw in any air.

Spoke with MJCK about the issue, it seems like we are having similar problems. My regulator on the other hand does not have the "drawing air" problem and I've used it on two dives without any trouble. Same set-up, without the Z2.
Did you try tightening the crown? That seemed to solve my problem.

Thank you for the assistance Sam. I will try tightening it when I get home but was your regulator having the same problem before or was it never an issue?