H Valve for deep recreational dives...

[mannydib]

hi all

Im considering putting h-valves on my Pressed Steel HP e8-119s for use on deep recreational (130') no deco dives.

I understand that the burst disk and tank o-ring are not redundant on an H. The cylinders are never over-filled, in fact they are dry filled. Tank o-ring failure seems very unlikely and like it would result in a slow leak.


Any advice, comments, suggestions or experience is most welcome.

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Instead of H-valves, get the Beuchat Y-valve...
Reduces some orings, and it looks cooler...

 

[MarcHall]

hi all

Im considering putting h-valves on my Pressed Steel HP e8-119s for use on deep recreational (130') no deco dives.

I understand that the burst disk and tank o-ring are not redundant on an H. The cylinders are never over-filled, in fact they are dry filled. Tank o-ring failure seems very unlikely and like it would result in a slow leak.


Any advice, comments, suggestions or experience is most welcome.

1. Can you easily reach the valves on your H Valve setup ?

It's there so you can shut down a valve in case of failure. If you can't reach your valves to shut it down while diving why bother. In my experience, doubles valves are usually easier for divers to manipulate then singles with H or Y valves.

2. Do you have adequate gas in your single tank to get you and your buddy home on your planned dive in the event of an Out of Air event ? You are planning on coming home ?

3. If you need doubles to safely do these dives then you probably in the realm of tech diving and should perhaps seek training in this area.

Enjoy

Marc Hall
www.enjoythedive.com
www.sdue.org

 

[DepartureDiver]

Instead of H-valves, get the Beuchat Y-valve...
Reduces some orings, and it looks cooler...

nooo ... very hard to get these days plus my partner says valve managment is virtually impossible since they stick straight up ... but perhaps others have had good luck being able to reach the valves

 

[SDAnderson]

The water in my neck of the woods is cold - rarely reaching 50F at depth and often in the 30s. First stage failures due to the cold are a constant threat but doubles are sometimes overkill - just too big. My buddy dives with "Y" valves on his single tanks, I dive with "H" valves. They don't resolve issues with blown neck o-rings but do allow for redundant first stages. Having never seen a blown neck o-ring in the water, I can't comment on how big a rush that would be but I don't spend a lot of time worrying about it. Both of us like our own set-up, both of us can reach and operate the valves, neither of us has had an in-water failure with them.

H-valves
Squirrelly looking contraptions, the valves are easier to reach than anything short of doubles but definitely take some practice due their skewed orientation. One fair criticism is that they have a lot of connections = failure points. I have yet to have a problem with mine in the water but it's something I worry about. I have had them get whacked at a fill station and develop an easily resolved slow leak.

Y-valves
An alternative to H-valves, Beauchat makes them and they appeal primarily due to the reduction in failure points and the compact design. That design sometimes causes problems - getting the first stages to fit without having to bend hoses can be difficult and it can be very difficult to reach the stems behind all the clutter. As DepartureDiver noted, it seems that nobody stocks the things and finding them can be an insurmountable obstacle. I tried a few years ago and gave up after having them on order for over six months.

Most of my diving is in doubles and they are are better for redundancy and gas supply but their size is an issue...

 

[CRDiver]

Then there's the issue of price on the Beuchat's.... List is something like $179.99... That can add up if you own several tanks.

 

[strider]

I dive twins a lot and like the OMS manifold. I also have a couple large singles, OMS 131 and 112 which I put H-valves on. The valves are great, It helps keep all the gear configuration the same since I can always use two regs and the redundancy,which is the primary concern.
With the H-valves I can add the crossbar and make another set of twins when I need them, which makes the H-valves even more valuable.
They are a very solid valve and I talked to a lot of people that used them for years before I bought them, a caver friend said that he accidentally hit the manifold on his oms doubles on the roof of a cave that had a wicked current outflow and banged the manifold up enough he wouldn't use it or sell it, but it worked fine still.
H-valves can grow with you and provide excellent redundancy.
Justin

 

[matt_unique]

hi all

Im considering putting h-valves on my Pressed Steel HP e8-119s for use on deep recreational (130') no deco dives.

I understand that the burst disk and tank o-ring are not redundant on an H. The cylinders are never over-filled, in fact they are dry filled. Tank o-ring failure seems very unlikely and like it would result in a slow leak.


Any advice, comments, suggestions or experience is most welcome.

I have tried both H-valves and Y-valves. I found the Y-valves easier to use for valve shut down purposes and they offer a bit more streamlined profile. I too searched for them and could not find them. I will look into the Beuchat.....I would not opt for a Y- valve if it's $180. Dive Rite makes an H - valve for much less money. I don't have the number in front of me but I recall it is about $60.

These systems offer every redundancy of doubles except for a blown tank O-ring. 119CF is a lot of air. You can definitely use singles for deco dives depending upon your dive profile and SAC rates and such. This is debated elsewhere but to provide an example, you can make a dive to 160' for 25 minutes following the rule of thirds with a steel 120 and a 30CF deco bottle. I used 120 singles with H and Y valves in my Deco Procedures course.

--Matt

 

[VTernovski]

Instead of H-valves, get the Beuchat Y-valve...
Reduces some orings, and it looks cooler...

no offense, but are you joking or this is a serious suggestion on your part?

 

[mannydib]

they dont provide burst disk redundancy