G260 Reviews - Warm and Cold Water

[TTPaws]

I've got over 50 dives on my 260. My 2nd setup is the 250V and although I really like it and have hundreds of dive on it, I've moved exclusively to the 260 outside of the pool (classes). I dive in the North East, with water temps from the high 30's to low 70s, St Lawrence seaway where the temps are in from mid 60s to 72, the Caribbean where the temps are in the 80s I have had no problems with the 260. I really enjoy diving this reg.

 

[Mikko Ilari Laakkonen]

Sorry guys, I just realized what i had done when i hit the send-button. Like I said I think MK25/G260 is the best regulator set of all time with hose routing perfect to sidemount. If one is going to backmount i would look at the new mk21 or go with the reliable workhorse mk17.

- Mikko Laakkonen -

I love diving and teaching others to dive.

 

[diver_from_the _north]

I think your issue is not related to the regulator. Go look in a mirror, there is where you might possibly find the problem. And if your dive center told you to set the regulator second stage to maximum effort then you need a new dive center as well.

N

I do not think so. Otherwise I would have this problem with other regs or on shallow dives as well.

---------- Post added December 29th, 2013 at 09:50 PM ----------

Correct! The harder it is to breathe, then the more work it takes resulting in increased consumption.Because your Scubapro G260 is set for Max resistance, you are working to breathe. As you go deeper, the air becomes denser resulting in increased work thus higher consumption. The reason it effects you more at depth is the work of breathing is extremely high.

Adjust your G260 to the easiest setting with the knob all the way out. Please report the results.

How is your diver adjustable Venturi Initiated Vacuum Assist (VIVA) dive/pre-dive control set?

This makes sense, thank you.

VIVA was set to Dive (Max) during the dive.

Unfortunately, I am back to Toronto already, dealing with the aftermath of last week ice storm. I won't be able to test until the water warms up here or I go south again.

 

[ajduplessis]

So if the "problem" with the higher gas consumption is not with the man in the mirror, where did the gas go?? Did the 260 on-gas and metabolise the gas?

@OP: The 260 is based on the 250 with updated design elements and materials. The 260 breaths fantastic and effortlessly at all depths down to 300ft )sorry I have not been down deeper yet with these). The 260 is heavy IMO even compared to the 700 (in water you will not notice this that much). The 260 was designed from the ground up to be a "tech" reg as you can open them while in water and configure the reg to fit your requirements.

If I was in the market for new regs I would buy them in a heart beat!! With rec diving in mind I would pair them with MK25's and for tech I would use MK17, Apeks Tec3's or any other balanced systems you prefer.

 

[diver_from_the _north]

So if the "problem" with the higher gas consumption is not with the man in the mirror, where did the gas go?? Did the 260 on-gas and metabolise the gas?

From the other comments, it looks like to problem is with the regulator setting.

 

[halocline]

From the other comments, it looks like to problem is with the regulator setting.

No it does not. There is no reason-zero- that a high performance regulator, or any adequate regulator, will have a meaningful effect on air consumption unless something's wrong with it, like a leak or freeflow. A diver's behavior, physical size/condition, skill, and exertion will determine air consumption. The added physical exertion of slightly higher WOB is so minimal that on it's own it's not going to measurably add to air consumption. Theoretically, yes, psychologically, maybe, but physically, no.

Coming from someone who actually understands how regulators work, and not from someone who has a vested interest in selling regulators or simply feeding the hype machine, I can once again say that ALL scuba regulators made by the major manufacturers in good working condition, function perfectly well for recreational diving with the exception of extremely cold water like ice diving.

 

[ajduplessis]

From the other comments, it looks like to problem is with the regulator setting.

Yes you are correct, It is a settings thing! You must first upgrade the 260's firware to version 2.2.13.4 "comfortable in the water" before a reduction in gas usage will be noticeable. In addition, version 9.99.1 "drag & peak buoyancy" will add to the overall performance of of the very basic release of SP G260 version 1.0

Safe Diving
OW 1.0.0.0.1

 

[diver_from_the _north]

No it does not. There is no reason-zero- that a high performance regulator, or any adequate regulator, will have a meaningful effect on air consumption unless something's wrong with it, like a leak or freeflow. A diver's behavior, physical size/condition, skill, and exertion will determine air consumption. The added physical exertion of slightly higher WOB is so minimal that on it's own it's not going to measurably add to air consumption. Theoretically, yes, psychologically, maybe, but physically, no.

Coming from someone who actually understands how regulators work, and not from someone who has a vested interest in selling regulators or simply feeding the hype machine, I can once again say that ALL scuba regulators made by the major manufacturers in good working condition, function perfectly well for recreational diving with the exception of extremely cold water like ice diving.

I definitely agree in general, however in my case I was specificaly watching what I was doing and still ended up with very low air. I do nothing different during shallow dives than during deep dives. I am not "overusing" air during shallow dives.

I simply do not want to go on 5 more dives before I find out that it is actually the reg that requires an adjustment.

---------- Post added December 31st, 2013 at 12:56 AM ----------

Yes you are correct, It is a settings thing! You must first upgrade the 260's firware to version 2.2.13.4 "comfortable in the water" before a reduction in gas usage will be noticeable. In addition, version 9.99.1 "drag & peak buoyancy" will add to the overall performance of of the very basic release of SP G260 version 1.0

Safe Diving
OW 1.0.0.0.1

Well, I was asking for an advice from experienced people who actually know and can help since I am relatevely new to this. Especially after the advice from a dive centre was quite different from what the manual said.

However, I can definitely entertain your posts as well.

 

[halocline]

I definitely agree in general, however in my case I was specificaly watching what I was doing and still ended up with very low air. I do nothing different during shallow dives than during deep dives. I am not "overusing" air during shallow dives.

I'm sure you understand the relationship between depth and air consumption. You're talking about one dive here, and there are lots of possible reasons why you used more air on a particular dive than another. But, the adjustment of your regulator is not one of them other than a leak. Think about the other factors I mentioned in my first post on this thread.

There is another possibility; occasionally I'll go on a dive to evaluate a different regulator and deliberately suck air to put the reg under a load, switch 2nd stages a few times throughout the dive, etc. That really goes through the air.

Regulators are really simple devices, there's an absurd amount of hype and gimmickry in their marketing and sale. This means that advice from both the dive centre where you bought it and any literature supplied with it by the manufacturer should be regarded with a grain of salt. All regulators do is step down the tank pressure to ambient on demand. If they don't leak and they don't take a truly disruptive amount of effort, they're not going to determine your air consumption, period.

 

[diver_from_the _north]

Regulators are really simple devices, there's an absurd amount of hype and gimmickry in their marketing and sale. This means that advice from both the dive centre where you bought it and any literature supplied with it by the manufacturer should be regarded with a grain of salt. All regulators do is step down the tank pressure to ambient on demand. If they don't leak and they don't take a truly disruptive amount of effort, they're not going to determine your air consumption, period.

Hmm, you are right. In my mind I give regulators too much credit. I will check it for leaks, just to be sure but will focus on other factors you guys have mentioned.