"Mixing" brands of Regs & other questions

[sytech]

Are there any inherent problems in purchasing a good quality primary reg. from say Sherwood and then getting say a Mares Proton Metal Octopus?

Could I use 2 Mares Proton Metal Octopi 1 as a primary and 1 as backup?

Am also considering a Sherwood Gemini combination inflator/safe second octopus. Is there any problem using that device with another brand regulator as my primary reg.?

Comments will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Sy

 

[Luis H]

My favorite single hose regulator combination is an Aqua Lung Titan first stage with old Scubapro Balanced Adjustable metal second stage. But, I do all my own maintenance.

Most modern regulator use about the same IP…from about 130 psi to about 145 psi and the IP can be adjusted for best performance.

The only real disadvantage of mixing brand names is that some technicians will not want to service a brand they are not familiar with or are not a dealer for it and don’t have parts.

 

[Stu S.]

Luis is the expert, so I'd appreciate his comments.

There's a combination I could not make work. I bought the Sherwood Dual Octo. It has no internal or external adjustments. It was probably built for a low IP, while my first stage and primary second stage, from Mares, is designed to run around 143 psi.

After two years and two of these octos, I never could get everything working together to my satisfaction. Sherwood went on eBay and a Mares octo (from eBay) worked like "Plug and Play".

Is this the exception? I think so. I hope so.

 

[Nemrod]

You can generally mix and match however you may have to adjust the second stages to both be happy with the same IP. Generally this is not a problem. I would think the two conventional second stages mentioned by the OP could be made to be happy together.

N

 

[Luis H]

Luis is the expert, so I'd appreciate his comments.

There's a combination I could not make work. I bought the Sherwood Dual Octo. It has no internal or external adjustments. It was probably built for a low IP, while my first stage and primary second stage, from Mares, is designed to run around 143 psi.

After two years and two of these octos, I never could get everything working together to my satisfaction. Sherwood went on eBay and a Mares octo (from eBay) worked like "Plug and Play".

Is this the exception? I think so. I hope so.

Thanks for the compliment, but there are plenty of regulators that I am not familiar with…including your Sherwood Dual Octo. A second stage that has no adjustments…that must have been a big cost savings…


To clarify what I wrote earlier, if you mix brands, unless you are DIY, when you need service you want to find a tech that will service all the different brands you are mixing.

 

[Stu S.]

Luis, I took the hose off and there was no place to put the hex wrench. Just a hole, no adjustment. A service tech in Ft. Lauderdale put a new spring in my second one (Sherwood replaced the first) an turned it from a free-flower to a hard breather.

Maybe there would have been no freeflow using a Sherwood first stage. Lower IP, I believe.

I finally gave up on it.

Stu.