Manifold Questions

[randy88k5]

I am looking at a few different brands of isolation manifolds, and I would like some suggestions and pros/cons of the different brands. I want a rotating crossbar 200 bar DIN with yoke plugs on AL80s (for now - they are the 7.25"). I am looking at

HOG

200 Bar Manifold


Dive Rite

SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Sidemount, Rebreather, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc - Product Catalog - 200 Bar Manifold


XS Scuba

XS Scuba Manifolds


Pros/cons?

Ease of service? Availability of parts?

Does anyone else know where the others are made? I know the XS is made in Taiwan.

How about the valve rotation? The XS is 1.5 turn.

Thanks.

 

[PfcAJ]

Low number of turns is not what I'd want, personally. Other than that, they're all pretty much the same. Some have different valve seats (the XS one probably has special ones, others are usually interchangeable), which might be an issue with getting them serviced.

 

[ajduplessis]

They should all be fine. The valves should turn easy and have soft knobs. You could also look at DIR Zone valves.

Why the yoke plugs??? The "design" behind doubles is redundancy and reduction of failure points. Yoke IMO adds possible failure points especially during wreck & cave.

 

[randy88k5]

Low number of turns is not what I'd want

I do not like this feature either. I want to have several turns to open and close the valves. The DR and HOG do not say if they are the 1.5 turn or the standard valve with more turns.

Why the yoke plugs??? The "design" behind doubles is redundancy and reduction of failure points. Yoke IMO adds possible failure points especially during wreck & cave.

Yeah, that is a concern of mine. Currently, my regs are set up for yoke. During the next service cycle, I will convert them to DIN. Due to time constraints, I will probably be diving yoke for the next month or two, then go DIN after that.

I also want the flexibility of using an adapter plug and yoke if the situation arises. Such as using borrowed gear.

 

[fire_diver]

Any of them will work fine for you. They all operate the same, and I doubt you could tell much of a difference between them.

There is nothing wrong with starting out with yoke regs, don't let the nannies stop you. Double AL80s with yoke regs are great for getting used to using doubles. DIN regs are a better configuration, but not so much that you need to run out and buy a new set. Use what you have. If you are planning on going into cave or wreck penetration, then your instructor can evaluate your gear and make suggestions to things that might need to be changed.

 

[Tortuga68]

I do not like this feature either. I want to have several turns to open and close the valves

1.5 turn valves roll off easier but are easier (faster) to shut down, so the question is, which situation are you more likely to be in with the type of diving that *you* do - rolling off accidentally on an overhead, or needing to do a shutdown?

Personally I have two sets of doubles - XS manifold for OW and Halcyon for overhead

According to some people, if your valves aren't 100% open you're gunna die anyway in which case who cares what manifold you use