J-valve question

[captain]

Taking the lever off will not affect anything but it will make it easer to accidently bend the stem and also if by some chance the stem gets rotated you will have no way of knowing if it is off or on. Leave it down, tell the tank filler to leave it down.

 

[duckbill]

Thanks sounds like the best option. One is a USD I'll PM you after I have it done.

Thanks.

 

[AfterDark]

Taking the lever off will not affect anything but it will make it easer to accidently bend the stem and also if by some chance the stem gets rotated you will have no way of knowing if it is off or on. Leave it down, tell the tank filler to leave it down.

Thanks that's what I'm looking for, the stem may get bent. The safety wire I mentioned in my OP would prevent accidental rotation of the stem,but the stem getting bent is an issue that gives me concern.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I use my J valves the way they're supposed to be used, with a J rod and in the up position. I keep an eye on my watch and when I know my air is going to start running low (I'm already returning from my dive at this point) and when it starts to breath hard I reach back and pull the lever down and I know I have about 3 - 5 minutes of air left and I come up. When I use one of my 72's with a J valve I don't use an SPG. There's not really anyway to put on an SPG with my double hose reg. I thought this is how vintage diving was supposed to be done. I'm new around here myself so maybe I'm wrong, someone please enlighten me.

As far as I'm concerned if someone's going to use a J valve with an SPG then you're wasting a perfectly good J valve and you should remove it and replace it with a K valve, then send the J valve to me.

 

[AfterDark]

If you send me 2 K-valves I'll send you 2 J-valves. One is a little sticky and will need some service the other works fine. As I posted earlier, I'm not so much a vintage diver as I'm an old diver with some old gear that I still use because it works and I like it, my Scubapro MK5 for example. I don't have a problem with progress or technology most of the new gear I like. What I don't like is what I perceive as an over reliance on technology and equipment instead of developing useful skills.

The new wet suits for example are so far superior to suits even 20 years ago why would anyone not want to use one. I'll throw in 2 pull rods with the J-valves also, that's a 40 dollar bonus value as they say!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

If you send me 2 K-valves I'll send you 2 J-valves. One is a little sticky and will need some service the other works fine. As I posted earlier, I'm not so much a vintage diver as I'm an old diver with some old gear that I still use because it works and I like it, my Scubapro MK5 for example. I don't have a problem with progress or technology most of the new gear I like. What I don't like is what I perceive as an over reliance on technology and equipment instead of developing useful skills.

The new wet suits for example are so far superior to suits even 20 years ago why would anyone not want to use one. I'll throw in 2 pull rods with the J-valves also, that's a 40 dollar bonus value as they say!

I don't have any loose K valves laying around right now otherwise I would take you up on that. My comment about sending your J's to me was more tongue in cheek meaning I still use them and like them. For my modern diving I use HP 100's and HP 120's and newer scubapro regs.

With the wetsuits, I have to sort of disagree a little. Back when original Rubatex G-231 was readily available it was arguably the best wetsuit material of all time. The material these days is stretchy and comfortable, but they blend in too much nylon in and it has very poor compression resistance. That makes it difficult to practice no BC diving in thicker suits and it doesn't stay warm deep. Rubatex was natural rubber that was dense and was king at compression resistance. Also because it was nitrogen blown it was more stable at different temperatures.
I have a custom suit thats made out of some very dense commercial grade material (not Rubatex but similar) but the trade off is it's really hard to move in. But at the same time I can dive successfully without a BC in a two piece 7mm beaver tail suit.

 

[duckbill]

There's not really anyway to put on an SPG with my double hose reg. I thought this is how vintage diving was supposed to be done. I'm new around here myself so maybe I'm wrong, someone please enlighten me.

ZKY, U.S. Divers made banjo fittings available from 1967 on. I'm pretty sure others had them available even before that.

 

[Paladin]

I have used J valves in conjunction with SPGs for years and on one occasion it saved my bacon. My old White Stag Deep SPG failed and the needle was lagging behind the actual pressure in the tank. My J valve started honking at me with the SPG needle still showing more than 1200 psi. Back on shore, a pressure check showed about 450 psi. If I had been using a K valve, the outcome might have been very different.

 

[captain]

I have used J valves in conjunction with SPGs for years and on one occasion it saved my bacon. My old White Stag Deep SPG failed and the needle was lagging behind the actual pressure in the tank. My J valve started honking at me with the SPG needle still showing more than 1200 psi. Back on shore, a pressure check showed about 450 psi. If I had been using a K valve, the outcome might have been very different.

Yes, a J valve can save your bacon in the case of a bad SPG or someone who gets distracted and doesn't check the SPG as often as they should. With all the emphasis on redundancy these days a J valve can be a bit of redundancy to the SPG.

 

[Paladin]

Yes, a J valve can save your bacon in the case of a bad SPG or someone who gets distracted and doesn't check the SPG as often as they should. With all the emphasis on redundancy these days a J valve can be a bit of redundancy to the SPG.

What I don't understand is why they won't sell J valves to civilian divers anymore. That simple little gadget might well save a lot of divers in case of SPG failure or inattentiveness.