K valve or a din any difference

[sdexcalibur]

Just bought a steel tank, it came with a fairly new din valve. The dive shop doen't rent regulators that will go to it. They said it would be about 50 dollars to swap over. I'm going to be buying a reg setup soon. Should I keep it and just get one the fits it or switch. Any pros and cons? What about the adapters that will make the din a yolk-valve?

 

[DiverBuoy]

K means on/off and this valve is represented on both DIN and Yolk style mounts. DIN IMO is better, because there are readily available adaptors, that can be used in 5 seconds to convert from DIN to Yolk. I've heard there are adaptors for the tank itself to go from Yolk to DIN but harder to find.

But additional benefits to DIN are less hassles with o-rings and misalignments in general (the threading guides the connection), higher pressure tanks, which usually mean smaller tank with more cubic feet of air (but not always).

 

[Dryglove]

Do you know if its a 200 bar din or a 300 bar din.If its a 200 bar din you can get an insert to convert it for use as yoke.If you have a 300 bar din your stuck.If your tank is a high pressure tank its gonna be a 300 bar din valve.Im assuming that since the dive shop said they could change it over to a k-valve its not a high pressure tank.

I personally prefer the din style.My tanks can be used as either one.My reg is din while my wifes reg is a yoke.

 

[DiverBuoy]

I dive DIN. I have a High Pressure 3500 tank, which at service pressure holds 65 cf of air. This morning I did a 60 minute dive to 50 feet in Laguna Beach with this tank (just before work). But when you see this tank (when anyone sees this tank) one has to laugh - it looks like a little steel pill. It is just so tiny. The BC is way taller than the tank - so you can see BC above and below the tank. It's like a fat Pony bottle. And when it's down to 500psi at the end of a dive - I can jog up the thousand flights of stairs or run - it's my preference, cause it's like I don't have a tank on at all.

 

[Walter]

While it's true when using DIN, there's no o-ring in the valve to replace every 500 or so dives, you do have to contend with the o-ring that falls out of the regulator every other dive.

"less hassles with...........misalignments"?

I've never heard of a hassle with a misaligned yoke, but cross threaded DIN is another story.

DIN is an improvement over yoke in giving a more secure connection, but it is a minor improvement at best and I'm not convinced it's worth the additional hassles unless you are using very high pressures. Prior to the introduction of DIN valves to recreational SCUBA in the US, I routinely used a yoke for pressures up to 3800 PSI with no failures. Most DIN tanks in the US are actually filled with an adapter that allows them to be filled with a yoke connection to pressures many consider too high for a yoke.

 

[The Chairman]

of the fore and aft of the valve? It's worth a 1000 words each and would help us to help you.

I use DIN... and a DIN is not a K valve with different threads. The names K and J came from a Scubapro catalog long before I started diving. They numbered all of the items on their pages, A, B etc. Well the "reserve" valve was labeled "J" and the basic valve was labeled "K". That's it. DIN came later from Germany as their engineers can't seem to leave well enough alone.

Some common truths about the different valves...

1) ALL valves use a captured O-Ring. Some are on the valve, and some are on the regulator. And yes, I have had my DIN o-rings blow! (Ask Walter, he was there)

2) Pressure causes the O-ring to actually seal correctly. Any gap between the body and valve on either one and all bets are off. We call this extrusion!

3) Din and K/J valve configurations are available for all 230 bar/3300 psi tanks (and below). This is an industry standard. The ONLY time this is not the case is when the tank has tapered threads, and then only the K/J valves are available... maybe.

4) Din is the only valve available on tanks rated above 230 bar/3300 psi. Again this is an industry standard.

5) There is no difference in strength between 200 bar DIN valve and 300 bar DIN valves. The difference in length was to prevent a 200 bar regulator from being erroneously affixed to a 300 bar air source. That is a null factor with today's regulators.

If you need to swap out the valve, PM me. If the tank is lp then, I would gladly swap a used K valve for a used DIN. I use both so there is no problem for me.

 

[joens]

I will give you 2 K valves for the 1 DIN. I have a box of them that came off tanks some of them are brand new.assuming they have the 3/4 threads .
joens

 

[DiverBuoy]

Our experiences couldn't be more diametrically opposed. I've replaced hundreds of yolk valve o-rings, but on my Atomic, Apeks, and Dacor regulators I've never HAD to replaced an o-ring (I do it on my terms, not because it cracks, splits, falls out and gets lost).

Because it is the right thing to do - I check periodically. On the other hand, the Yolk valves always get twisted. Every boat dive I've ever made. And when they do they let out an awful hiss. You have to reseat them over and over, and in the process your abusing the o-ring again and again.

I've never cross threaded a DIN - you've shed light on this for me - I didn't know it was possible (but I guess it could be). I've never had a DIN hiss - not once. The comment about misalignments is regarding the way your regulator screw makes perfect flat contact with the back of the tank connection everytime - perfect. So the O-ring is never twised or pinched - I don't see how it could be, there are so many threads before it finally reaches the back. I'm yet to encounter a scuba shop (anywhere I've gone) that can't fill DIN - everyone of them has the adapter.

IMO DIN is superior to yolk, hands down.

Walter once bubbled...
While it's true when using DIN, there's no o-ring in the valve to replace every 500 or so dives, you do have to contend with the o-ring that falls out of the regulator every other dive.

"less hassles with...........misalignments"?

I've never heard of a hassle with a misaligned yoke, but cross threaded DIN is another story.

DIN is an improvement over yoke in giving a more secure connection, but it is a minor improvement at best and I'm not convinced it's worth the additional hassles unless you are using very high pressures. Prior to the introduction of DIN valves to recreational SCUBA in the US, I routinely used a yoke for pressures up to 3800 PSI with no failures. Most DIN tanks in the US are actually filled with an adapter that allows them to be filled with a yoke connection to pressures many consider too high for a yoke.

 

[herman]

I will stay out of the din/yoke debate. But I will add that if you intend to travel with your reg (US and Caribbean) and you do get a DIN reg, then be sure and get a yoke adapter to go with it. Rental DIN tanks are hard to come by at a lot of places.

 

[O-ring]

herman once bubbled...
I will stay out of the din/yoke debate. But I will add that if you intend to travel with your reg (US and Caribbean) and you do get a DIN reg, then be sure and get a yoke adapter to go with it. Rental DIN tanks are hard to come by at a lot of places.

Another piece of info to add to it...if you get an Apeks do NOT do what I did. I had plenty of knowledgeable people (namely Uncle Pug and Lost Yooper) tell me NOT to get the Apeks yoke adapter and to get the yoke conversion kit. I didn't listen and got the adapter. It sucks....thing sticks out an extra 1-1.5 inches further than the yoke conversion kit and has a tendency to hit you in the back of the head. I finally got a yoke DS4 for a stage reg and it came yoke with a DIN conversion kit. The switchout takes less than 2 minutes and the difference is astounding...as a matter of fact, only a picture will do it justice.