Inside the Tekna Regulator

[William Farrell]

He also mentioned that the tilt valve tended to self-position tipping slightly down in one plane and this should be positioned pointing towards the ID rod aperture.

Good point, thanks------

 

[race890]

Hi. A cousin of mine used to use a Tekna reg back in the 1980's. He said that he gave up using it after it failed (air supply stopped) at about 30m. He said that the corrosion of an internal part, which is inevitable, would cause the mechanism to stop working. He gave it away after that. Although it doesn't sound like anyone on this thread has experienced that. Can you see anything in the design that could allow that to happen? Maybe it was an earlier design fault or did it cause the demise of the manufacture of Tekna regs?

I can recall in the 90's, I read that one of the smaller Italian dive manufacturers was planning on bringing Tekna regs back onto the market, under their own name after they had re-engineered it to some extent. The external characteristics of the Tekna are so appealing, somewhat like a Lambo of dive regs. However just to make it easier on myself I stay with using, tinkering and fixing up my trusty old Apeks regs of the early 90's. I also like my Poseidon Xstream, which has some similarities to the Tehkna.

 

[William Farrell]

Hi. A cousin of mine used to use a Tekna reg back in the 1980's. He said that he gave up using it after it failed (air supply stopped) at about 30m. He said that the corrosion of an internal part, which is inevitable, would cause the mechanism to stop working. He gave it away after that. Although it doesn't sound like anyone on this thread has experienced that. Can you see anything in the design that could allow that to happen? Maybe it was an earlier design fault or did it cause the demise of the manufacture of Tekna regs?

I can recall in the 90's, I read that one of the smaller Italian dive manufacturers was planning on bringing Tekna regs back onto the market, under their own name after they had re-engineered it to some extent. The external characteristics of the Tekna are so appealing, somewhat like a Lambo of dive regs. However just to make it easier on myself I stay with using, tinkering and fixing up my trusty old Apeks regs of the early 90's. I also like my Poseidon Xstream, which has some similarities to the Tehkna.

I've restored more than a dozen of these and have never encountered an internal part that was corroded. The only part that fails on these (in my experience) is the rubber seat on the needle valve. Some combination of heat and age can turn these seats into goo, as seen in some of the photos earlier in this thread. The usual result of this failure is free-flow, not stoppage, so I'm not sure what happened to your cousin's regulator. I'd be happy to take a look at it if it's still around.

The Xstream is an intriguing regulator---I think I may start tinkering with those next.

 

[2stroketony]

I cant see what would have done that. Any corrosion that would have caused that would have been prevented by cleaning and regular service. The only way I see that happening is if it were misadjusted/mis-assembled. The plastic bodied regs (2100BX) could and did crack and then free flow in the water at the worst times. The 1st 2100 brass bodied regs were spotless in my experience. I still have 4 working and I use them. I experienced a BX that cracked and began free-flowing as I went down off of Kailua and by 15 feet it free flowed without stopping. Tekna fixed and replaced all back then (about 1990). Since then I use only my originals. Super effortless and highly sensitive. Those that dont know them find it un-nerving that they appear to free flow until you get it in the water just like the jetstreams and omegas only more so. They can be adjusted slightly. The BXs were an attempt to detune the reg to make it more appealing but the plastic housing and the plastic innards had problems the original didn't have.

The Italian firm may be Ocean Reef of full mask fame. I heard they bought the patents after Ocean Edge tried to make a go of the Tekna Line. I hear that they still have the patents but am not positive. I called Ocean Edge in San Diego once and they didn't know what I was talking about when looking for spare parts. I tried to do the same with Ocean Reef in the US office and they claimed they didn't know either.

I have 2 pairs of jetstreams and use them often with Tekna dive computers (Computeks). I know the Oceanic Omegas are similar to Tekna basic design and nearly the same in performance. The latest Hollis/Oceanic I hear is fantastic. I would like to try that soon.

If you ever need parts for a Tekna let me know.

Take care,
Tony

 

[2stroketony]

The yellow bodied regs were in production for about six months to my knowledge and were recalled. Replacements were 2100BXs. I think they went on the BCs. They were rare. I have two but no spares.

 

[2stroketony]

Adjustment for sensitivity of the 2100s is made by removing the module from the plastic body and rotating one way or the other very slightly (20 to 30 degree increments) and reinserting it into the body. Keep doing so to make it more or less sensitive as it is slightly offset of center when inserted in the diaphram hole.

 

[William Farrell]

The BXs were an attempt to detune the reg to make it more appealing but the plastic housing and the plastic innards had problems the original didn't have.

I've heard this "detuning" thing a couple times, but no one has been able to explain exactly what was involved in detuning. I've rebuilt a bunch of these, swapping internal parts freely, and I've never seen the slightest difference between nylon- and brass-bodied models with respect to design and functionality of internals. Yes, the outer nylon bodies can crack. The internal plastic valve bodies don't, and are dimensionally identical to the internal brass valve bodies. Do you have details on what was done to detune?

 

[Gregory L]

I cant see what would have done that. Any corrosion that would have caused that would have been prevented by cleaning and regular service. The only way I see that happening is if it were misadjusted/mis-assembled. The plastic bodied regs (2100BX) could and did crack and then free flow in the water at the worst times. The 1st 2100 brass bodied regs were spotless in my experience. I still have 4 working and I use them. I experienced a BX that cracked and began free-flowing as I went down off of Kailua and by 15 feet it free flowed without stopping. Tekna fixed and replaced all back then (about 1990). Since then I use only my originals. Super effortless and highly sensitive. Those that dont know them find it un-nerving that they appear to free flow until you get it in the water just like the jetstreams and omegas only more so. They can be adjusted slightly. The BXs were an attempt to detune the reg to make it more appealing but the plastic housing and the plastic innards had problems the original didn't have.

The Italian firm may be Ocean Reef of full mask fame. I heard they bought the patents after Ocean Edge tried to make a go of the Tekna Line. I hear that they still have the patents but am not positive. I called Ocean Edge in San Diego once and they didn't know what I was talking about when looking for spare parts. I tried to do the same with Ocean Reef in the US office and they claimed they didn't know either.

I have 2 pairs of jetstreams and use them often with Tekna dive computers (Computeks). I know the Oceanic Omegas are similar to Tekna basic design and nearly the same in performance. The latest Hollis/Oceanic I hear is fantastic. I would like to try that soon.

If you ever need parts for a Tekna let me know.

Take care,
Tony

 

[Gregory L]

I purchased my 2100BX and 2100 brass bodied regulators in the early 1980s and only used them once before going into indoor storage. I used my Scuba Pro, etc. and forgot I had the Teknas until cleaning out my closets. If anyone wants them let me know.

 

[Randall Frey]

anyone with a tekna 2100 for sale PM me