Honking Regulator

[ZzzKing]

I just purchased an Atomic Aquatics Z2. Needless to say, I couldn't stand having it in the house without hooking it up to the tank to try.

It honks like a goose.

It doesn't seem like a new, out of the box reg should do that. Will it be a problem diving? Should I take it back for adjustment?

I had a honking regulator one day during certification classes. I remember it was fine under water but it wasn't as loud as this one.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

Craig

 

[redacted]

My Scubapro R190s often honk when not in the water. But I have never had that problem with the balanced barrel poppet SP regs that are comparable to the Z1. If you bought it from an LDS, you should see what they recommend. Otherwise, I dive it (a little conservatively at first) and see that it does not continue UW.

 

[BigWhiteSquare]

My Atomic SS1 honks too. It's never been a problem, and it breathes great. Dive it!

 

[moneysavr]

My Dive pal's regs give a honk when he add's air too,Guess that tells all that we got a dive and the airs is on!

 

[jamiep3]

Get it wet, probably no problem.

 

[Poseidon8118]

It's normal for some new regulators to honk on the surface. This happens because of it being dry and that you usually take a harder breath to test it. Take an easy normal breath and the honking should be minimal. Try it in a pool and the honking should stop because of the dampening properties of water. My USD octo and my wifes new Oasis did this very thing.

 

[Rick Inman]

My Atomic M1 honks, too, if I suck real hard out of the water.

P: Doctor, it hurts when I do that.

D: Don't do that.

 

[JustinW]

.... because of the dampening properties of water....

Major pet peeve of mine, while a property of water is dampening things like towels and anything it touches, but I think what was meant here is damping.
Dampening = getting something wet
Damping = The dissipation of vibratory energy in solid media and structures with time or distance. It is analogous to the absorption of sound in air.

 

[SStrecker]

You have experienced a well known phenomenon that also exists with the Atomic SS1 safe second regulator, which also makes a strange honking sound, when not damped by surrounding water. I own one and am very impressed with it's in-water performance. Just don't try to impress your uninformed friends with it out of water.

 

[jumbo]

Honking second stage-

The honking comes from a dry diaphragm on the second stage and has no effect under water and will cause no performance issues.

If you look on the newer scubapro second stages you will notice little rubber bubbles on the diaphragm. They are designed to add weight to the diaphragm and thus reduce the honking sound. They added the bubbles in response to customer concerns over the honking sound.

JUMBO