Need Reg Suggestions: Temperate, Silty Water

[DeadCactus]

Looking to by my first regulator. Looking in the $150-300 price range. Mostly diving temperate water with a lot of silt and suspended particulates. Was looking at:

Oceanic Alpha 8 CDX5 (Leaning toward this one.)
Mares MR12 Rebel
or a used Mares V16 Proton Metal

Any suggestions?

 

[fisheater]

Check out the deals on Zeagle's FlatHead VI. Now that the FlatHead 7 came out, the VIs are on close out. E.g, ScubaToys.

 

[Couv]

Looking to by my first regulator. Looking in the $150-300 price range. Mostly diving temperate water with a lot of silt and suspended particulates. Was looking at:

Oceanic Alpha 8 CDX5 (Leaning toward this one.)
Mares MR12 Rebel
or a used Mares V16 Proton Metal

Any suggestions?

Hello Dead Cactus,

Shortly, you will be swamped with advise about buying a regulator, mostly by people who own a brand and are very fond of it. One thing to keep in mind about regulators is that most are great at what they do. So how do you separate the wheat from the chaff? That won't be easy, but it will be fun and entertaining. Soon you will find out there are quite a few gurus on this board in each section. It's helpful to pick out a few of them and read lots of their post and you will be off to a very good start. In the regulator section I can highly recommend the post of (in no particular order) Awap, DA Aquamaster, Captain, Pescador775 and Luis H ©Õhere are lots of others but that will keep you busy for a while.

At any rate, you want a regulator brand that has a good track record for keeping parts available for each model. Of course unless you intend to DIY, you also want a regulator that can be serviced by your local dive shop and lots of locations in the world. The two best companies in both regards are Aqualung and Scubapro.

My recommendation for the average recreational diver, i.e. not freezing water, 150 feet or less, is a simple non balanced piston 1st stage such as the Scuba Pro MK 2 (or Aqualung Calypso, Mares R2, Sherwood Brut and a few others.) This simple design is usually inexpensive, nearly bullet proof, easy to get parts for and easy and inexpensive to service. It is also easy to DIY because it requires only a few o-rings and a seat. Yes, the unbalanced design will increase the breathing effort at low tank pressure, but I view this as a good thing especially for new or inexperienced divers. See this thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/87374-scuba-pro-r190-2.html

Additionally, if/when one wants to start more advanced diving where high concentrations of oxygen will be used this type regulator can be moved to that application.

For a second stage I like an adjustable and balanced unit. This allows the regulator to be tuned to minimum inhalation resistance with the option of the diver increasing the resistance it if he/she finds the need to. Having said that, a straight forward classic downstream design with a simple to replace set of o-rings and generic soft seat can be highly recommended; it is a tried and true design, parts are usually available and almost anyone can service them.

It is a good idea to have the same manufactures 1st and 2nd stage to make getting service less complicated.

For more demanding diving and high end/higher performance (higher price) regulators see the following link for DA's excellent advice.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/181745-advice-regulators.html


couv

p.s. Because you will be diving in silty water, you may want to consider a getting an environmentally sealed first stage kit on your first stage.

 

[Jimmer]

Hi Deadcactus,

Within your price range, I think the Alpha 8/CDX5 is a great option for the dollars. I own 2 of these as octos on my GT3/CDX5's, and they breathe just as nice as the GT3 but without the adjuster. They are enviro sealed for cold/particulate filled water, and the price is right, at $145 at scubatoys.

The suggestion of the Zeagle Flathead VI is good as well, (I own 2 of these as well), but quite a bit pricier at $399.

 

[DeadCactus]

Thanks for the input everyone, reading through the forums and doing some more research right now. A few questions popped into my head:

1) How is Oceanic on availability of parts and service (both in the US and internationally)? Are they pretty common or am I likely to have a hard time finding someone?

2) Is a piston regulator a good idea for silty water? It's my understanding that they are environmentally open and that a diaphragm would be a better choice for this reason.

3) How are Zeagle Envoys? Better of worse than those previously mentioned. (And is the warranty transferable?)

 

[Couv]

2) Is a piston regulator a good idea for silty water? It's my understanding that they are environmentally open and that a diaphragm would be a better choice for this reason.

I will leave questions 1 & 3 for others, for question 2, have a look at this thread:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/197974-diaphram-vs-piston-regs.html

 

[Jimmer]

Thanks for the input everyone, reading through the forums and doing some more research right now. A few questions popped into my head:

1) How is Oceanic on availability of parts and service (both in the US and internationally)? Are they pretty common or am I likely to have a hard time finding someone?

3) How are Zeagle Envoys? Better of worse than those previously mentioned. (And is the warranty transferable?)

Couv addressed #2.

1) Oceanic has a pretty solid dealer base throughout North America. I'm not too certain on the rest of the world, but I would suspect it would be less than the likes of Scubapro or Aqualung. Having said that, Oceanic is very well known for having excellent customer service, and an eagerness to take care of the customer.

3) Zeagle Envoy. If you are comparing the regular envoy to the Alpha 8/CDX5, they are are very similar. The CDX5 is enviro sealed, so it's good for cold water, the Envoy has a balanced second stage, so it should in theory breathe a little more consistently across the board. The Envoy also has a venturi adjust on the second stage, the Alpha does not.

Here is where it gets a little more interesting tho. If you step up to the Envoy deluxe, you now get an adjustable second stage, and the regulator is now a Zeagle DSV minus the second stage heatsink and the first stage enviro seal. Both of which can be added aftermarket if you wanted.

Zeagle is also well known for their customer service, and you can't really go wrong with either from that standpoint. One thing that Zeagle has going for them, is that all of their diaphragm first stages, past and present, all use the same service kit, and all of their second stages use the same kit. So rather than go into a shop somewhere and need a specific kit for a specific brand's specific model from a specific year, you just need to find a shop with a diapragm first stage and second stage kit, and you're set.