Help, been given a few FREE regs/long term loaners. Which to use!?

[pyrowill7]

hi guys,


First post here, been wanting to join this board for a long time since whenever I have looked for useful information, it's always linked me to a post on this board. Anyway on with the question.


I'm after some advice, I have been lucky enough to have been given/long term loaned 3 regs. ALL 3 def need a service since I haven't seen use in at least 2 years. But I am unsure which ones would be best, I'm unlikely to do any warm water diving till next year, so I'm looking for a reg that will sort me out for British lakes and seas through the winter (planning on buying a dry suit in a month or two).


So the regs are:
Oceanic Alpha 8 reg and octo with DS4 first stage. (I bought this about 2 years ago from someone who's dad had died and wanted to get rid of his stuff, had no idea of the value of it so parted with it for £30 (inc 10L tank!). I emailed Oceanic and they said it was rated to 4 degrees C. I tested this reg out the other day at wraysbury lakes and it seemed ok, but let water in a bit, and very much if I went upside down! (I'm not sure if that is inherent of the reg or just one that needs servicing).


Apeks TX40 reg and octo and I believe a DS4 first stage.
This reg is a long term loan to me from my friend who has just had a kid and doesn't seem any diving coming these days, so he says so long as I service them I can just use them for the foreseeable future.


Scubapro R190 reg, unknown Poseidon Reg (sorry literally can't see any identification other than the Logo), Scubapro Mk16 first stage.
This was given to me (I know very lucky right) by my friends wife who was a dive instructor but moved to Germany and seems to have given up diving, she just gave me a box of what I thought was just fins till I saw the regs under.


Cressi XS2 second stage, AC2 first stage
This was given on its own, no octo or console along with the scuba pro stuff above. It was folded neatly in a box and shows almost no sign of use. Although from what I've read its a real workhorse inexpensive unbalanced piston stage and reliable reg (although maybe not so good for cold water stuff, even though it says it's got a good heat exchanger!)


So guys thats it, thanks you so much for taking the time to read all this, as I said all regs would need a service, if you were in my position, what would you do?

p.s. Also looking at the Mk16, it has 2 LP ports, 1HP port and 2 High Flow Pressure Ports (LP), what are the last two for?

 

[Fishpie]

Without a doubt the Apeks.
It has unparalleled mix of performance, reliability and durability.
Also one of the best cold water regs around.
......plus it's made in the UK.

 

[The Chairman]

All are fine regs. Sure, some will say this or that one is best, but they are really robust regs and should be able to handle the cold. Me? Not so much, thank you, and I'll stick to my home waters.

 

[Tortuga68]

p.s. Also looking at the Mk16, it has 2 LP ports, 1HP port and 2 High Flow Pressure Ports (LP), what are the last two for?

Allowing ad copy writers to make silly claims about performance

 

[Paulmal]

Allowing ad copy writers to make silly claims about performance

They help you loose air faster in the case of a hose blow out.
Just like manifolds were designed so you can loose all your air at once.

 

[pyrowill7]

Wow, thanks for all the responses guys, so perhaps I should focus on the Apeks, just seems a shame, I have pretty much 3 pairs of regs and they are going to sit in the drawer. Also, the Apeks are the only ones that aren't mine and just a long term loaner

 

[halocline]

The MK16 is an excellent 1st stage, especially if it's been serviced at some point and retro fitted with the MK17 poppet. It should be fine for anything but the most frigid water, which usually means drilling a hole in the ice. The 'high flow' ports are just like any other LP port except they're located in a way that probably allows for a higher maximum flow. It's a bit of a gimmick; but usually they're oriented so that it's convenient to use one for the primary 2nd stage.

I once did a little test with IP drop to get an idea if more air did in fact flow through those ports to a connected 2nd stage. There are all sorts of factors that made my test less than scientific, but the bottom line is that I could not tell any difference at all in IP drop under full purge with the same 2nd stage connected to either a 'normal' or 'high flow' port.

The R190 would be fine as an octo, I wouldn't use it as your primary 2nd considering the other ones you have. Some poseidon 2nd stages are designed (I believe) to operate with a much higher IP; you'd want to make sure yours is not one of those.

If you're interested in somewhat consolidating these regs so that you have a go-to set that's your own, you could buy a used SP 2nd stage like the older style G250 and sell some of the others to fund the purchase. Then you'd use the MK16/G250 with the R190 octo. Then, on the other hand, if you think you can really hang onto the apeks indefinitely, that's fairly tempting.

I don't know anything about the cressi stuff, sorry.

 

[diverdorr68]

The Apeks TX40 is head and shoulders the best choice of those you mentioned.

 

[Shftrdog]

Scuba Pro all the way

 

[ams511]

The Apeks has balanced first and second stages and will probably breath the best out of all your choices. The MK-16 is balanced diaphragm first stage and is fairly cold resistant. The R190 is an unbalanced downstream second that is very reliable but won't breath the same as a balanced second stage like the TX-40. I agree with Halo's suggestion but would also recommend a G200B second stage as it breath's the same as the G250 but does not have an adjuster. In the US they are much less expensive than a G250.

One other thing to consider is the DS4 is sealed while the MK-16 is not. A sealed first stage is preferable for diving in polluted waters. So you may want to service that one first.


For ease of servicing I would not mix brands on the same rig except for the gauges. Personally I would keep the Scubapro and Apeks regulators and sell the others off and try to build a complete Apeks set as the primary and the Scubapro as a backup set.