J valve

[Scuba Lawyer]

Vintage gear is currently all the rage in California; and, sometimes, it looks like the last reel of Thunderball off Carmel . . .

So, here's my old and current rig with a J-valve on my twin 38's manifold (see how I worked that into the topic of this thread ) Are you saying I've lived long enough to come full circle and what was once new and became old, is now new again?

 

[Bigbella]

Fantastic!!

 

[Angelo Farina]

I believe one of the problems with J-valves was that divers forgot to push the rod up making the warning at low gas unavailable. What a horrible thought when your reg breathed hard and you found the rod was down. Also, more moving parts for more failure points. You can forget to check your SPG which produces the same result but at least with the SPG their is nothing to set before the dive.

Well, this problem was solved by Technisub back in 1972, when they patented a valve equipped with a spring-loaded reserve. It will not "stay down" until the pressure felt below 50 bars, as the spring was making it to go up again...
This is the reserve system equipping the two ARALU twin sets which I and my wife still own:

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Well, this problem was solved by Technisub back in 1972, when they patented a valve equipped with a spring-loaded reserve. It will not "stay down" until the pressure felt below 50 bars, as the spring was making it to go up again...
This is the reserve system equipping the two ARALU twin sets which I and my wife still own:
View attachment 557226

That is really interesting. I have not seen anything similar in the US.

 

[2MADAKAT]

Its good to hear some others appreciate the J valves purpose. I still have a couple of early 70s aluminum tanks with J valves that I use locally, and I say locally, because I have been refused fills by shops that are around dive destinations. Because of the scare of older aluminum tanks exploding, many shops here in Ontario won't fill a tank that is over ten years old and the J valve was a dead giveaway the tank is older than that. Its disappointing when you have perfectly good tanks with current hydro and visual tests.

 

[Angelo Farina]

That is really interesting. I have not seen anything similar in the US.

Commander Ferraro founded Technisub in 1962 (with shares owned by J. Cousteau - La Spirotechnique); he was a great innovator.
For example, Ferraro invented the Inject regulator, the first regulator with a strong Venturi effect, which was sold in US with La Spirotechnique brand:
INJECT Regulator | Luigi Ferraro
TECHNISUB Inject 40 L | BluTimeScubaHistory
Later Technisub was aquired by Air Liquide, and is now part of Aqualung.
The partnership with Aqualung started decades ago, so it is well possible that products manufactured by Technisub, or its partner La Spirotechnique, had been sold in US under the Aqualung trade mark.

 

[drbill]

Had them in the 60s (and still have one). One time when I really needed the reserve, I discovered the J-valve rod had snagged on kelp and was already down. My buddy had the same issue.

 

[DogDiver]

By that rationale, those who are fond of restoring and using vintage diving equipment, must be wasting their time? Vintage gear is currently all the rage in California; and, sometimes, it looks like the last reel of Thunderball off Carmel . . .

Would anybody in their right mind use 50 year old gear 2400 feet back into an underwater cave. No. Vintage dive events in controlled open water environments are fine. However, there is a point where old outdated gear just is not practical.

 

[AfterDark]

I use a 50+ year old J valve on 1 of my 72's when I dive with my 49 year old double hose, works great and I check that it's up regularly during the dive, a habit I picked up back in the day when we used them all the time. That habit was replaced by checking my SPG often during a dive. What's a controlled open water environment anyway? All my regs, double or single hose are 1970's vintage I dive the same sites here everyone else does and some most don't dive.

 

[herman]

Would anybody in their right mind use 50 year old gear 2400 feet back into an underwater cave. No. Vintage dive events in controlled open water environments are fine. However, there is a point where old outdated gear just is not practical.

Why not? USD Conshelf and Scubapro MK-5 are over 50 YO but just as reliable as any reg made today. As long as they are properly maintained....just as a modern reg must be....there is no reason not to use them. If anything they are more robust and less likely to be damaged. Don't confuse new with better....that is not necessarily the case.