Oceanic Omega 3: Any reports?

[Kharon]

RE Omega 3. Beware it uses a propriarary hose that is NOT interchangable with standard hoses. The internals of the Hollis 500SE are identical and you can use any hose. The differences are cosmetic and I understand the Hollis breaths dry while the Omega breathes wet. Haven't tried mine yet (back injury). I expect to get to dive in a week or so.

 

[Akimbo]

… The internals of the Hollis 500SE are identical and you can use any hose. The differences are cosmetic and I understand the Hollis breaths dry while the Omega breathes wet...

If the internals were identical, as in interchangable, then you could use a standard hose. The main valve body must be different at the hose end because the hose connection is machined into it. The Omega 3 has a dive/pre-dive setting, which would be useful on such a high performance regulator. The Omega 1 and 2s I have used, and presumably the Hollis, will blow off tons of gas if you hit the water and it isn’t in your mouth or the post is not shut down.

As for being a wet breather, some of the models 1 and 2 got this complaint but I have never seen one so it isn’t universal. All three Omegas use an integrated diaphragm and mushroom exhaust valve.

I must say the design of the Omega/Hollis servo valve is a study in elegance, reliability, and simplicity. I just hope they offer an Omega model that uses a standard hose without an adapter, even if they have to lose the pre-dive or swivel features. I have always liked the integrated diaphragm and exhaust system that was pioneered by Poseidon.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

I was thinking a hollis second stage as the long hose primary, and an omega 3 second as the bungied back-up due to its dive/pre-dive switch. The issue of the non-standard hose fitting on the Oceanic is a matter of concern, though.

After looking at the Hollis I see that it does not have the integrated purge/exhaust. It is designed like the Poseidon Xtream where the purge is on the end, and the exhaust is on the front, but behind the shield that shunts the bubbles off to the side. I don't know for sure why these two different designs were used in the Hollis and Oceanic.

I have posted in a couple of places to see if anyone can explain the reason for the differences in terms of performance (for example "dry" versus "wet" breathing -- which is the only reason I can speculate on for the differences), but no one has posed any responses.

Now that DiveGearExpress has both Poseidon and Hollis, I am going to look at them both and compare. With DGX and now LeisurePro carrying Poseidon, it looks like their availability and the ability to get them serviced will markedly improve. The poseidons are not that much more expensive, either.

 

[ams511]

There is one listed on eBay, so I guess they are shipping.

 

[Doug Krause]

The Omega 3 is designed with a proprietary hose. The original design was considered a "wet breather" as the exhaust valve was designed inline - on the same plane as the bottom of the housing, as opposed to well below the mouthpiece as just about every conventional downstream second stage. The original design featured a combined inhalation/exhaust valve; the inhalation diaphragm on the outside of the hub and the exhaust valve in the center, a bit uphill from the bottom of the housing where water could accumulate. Further, we found that the weight of the hose and lightweight second stage created a situation where the exhaust valve pointed just a bit north, further complicating things.

In the Omega 3, the inhalation/exhaust valve design is reversed - with the exhaust valve on the outer portion of the hub. From the start, a swivel was designed to maintain a horizontal position when in use. Weight was a critical issue so that we didn't negate the benefit - hence designed with the proprietary hose.

Additionally, as Akimbo posted, a dive/pre-dive switch was also added to eliminate or minimize surface sensitivity of the valve.

An adapter has been designed to allow the custom hose to be swapped with a standard connection. It will soon be available as an accessory - and we are considering whether to build stock units with the standard hose.

 

[Akimbo]

…An adapter has been designed to allow the custom hose to be swapped with a standard connection. It will soon be available as an accessory - and we are considering whether to build stock units with the standard hose.

Thanks for the feedback. I never had a problem with the Omega being a “wet breather” but had used side-exhaust regulators for years before. In any case I hope you do a version of the Omega with standard hoses.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Doug, thank you for that very clear description of the design changes on the Omega 3, all of which (including the swivel) appear to have a specific purpose of making the reg even better than the Omega 2 and eliminating the "wet" breathing issue. By the way, although I experienced that issue, it really was not an "issue" in terms of water actually being inhaled or anything remotely like that and was more than made up for by the superior breathing. Still, this new design sounds like something really excellent, and the larger exhaust which extends below the housing will allow water to drain on each exhale and should be a dry breather.

Will the adapter still retain the swivel, and allow it to be used on standard hoses? Alternatively, would you make a 7' hose available with the swivel?

Finally, can you go into why the Hollis design adopted the different approach of separate inhalation diaphragms and exhaust valves, with different locations, as discussed in my post above?

Thank again for the response.

 

[Doug Krause]

By the way, although I experienced that issue, it really was not an "issue" in terms of water actually being inhaled or anything remotely like that and was more than made up for by the superior breathing.

I agree with you there; I used an Omega for more than 10 years and loved it. There were a handful of "issues" inherent with the design that you just needed to be aware of. As we began the process of dreaming up the next version, it made perfect sense to eliminate or minimize them.

Will the adapter still retain the swivel, and allow it to be used on standard hoses? Alternatively, would you make a 7' hose available with the swivel?

The adapter and standard hose would replace the swivel hose. We built up multiple length swivel hoses for a previous model and found that the market for them was virtually non-existent. We build this stuff here - it's not a major hurdle, we just need to determine interest so that we're not building something to sit on the shelf.

Finally, can you go into why the Hollis design adopted the different approach of separate inhalation diaphragms and exhaust valves, with different locations, as discussed in my post above?

I can't speak to the technical design objectives - but the simplest answer is that there was a desire by Hollis to bring out a servo-valve reg - and to do so with an Omega copy, a regulator that is such a classic Oceanic product, wouldn't make sense... to anyone.

 

[weezieharris]

Same company but the regs look like they have design differences. I am looking to see if anyone has actually seen the Omega version. I have looked at the Hollis one.

I started folliowng this thread because I was in the market for a new reg and the Omega 3 and an Atomic reg where at the top of my list. I read all of the articles about the hoses but since I have no desire/plan to move into tech diving, I ultimately decided that the proprietary hose fitting was not a major concern for me. With that in mind, I went to my LDS today tried the Omega 3 in the pool, bought one, and made one lake dive. This is my first Oceanic purchase and I have no experience with other side exhaust models. However, I did look at it side by side with the Hollis model. The Omega was a little smaller and lighter. It also has the dive/predive switch and swivel at the second stage with the Hollis does not. Overall, was very impressed with the regs performance. It was breathed extremely easily - almost forcing air. It was lightweight, comfortable, and the swivel made it really easy to hold in place. I also liked that feature that circulates the condensation to help ease dry mouth. I did think it was a little noisier than my previous reg but I noticed it more when I was sitting in place in the pool than when I was swimming around. My experience is limited to using it today only but I was truly pleased and am excited to get it back in the water.

 

[Akimbo]

… I have no desire/plan to move into tech diving, I ultimately decided that the proprietary hose fitting was not a major concern for me...

The advantage of using standard hoses is you can usually find a replacement even on a liveaboard or on some island in the middle of nowhere.

I replaced my inflator hoses with regulator hoses and an adapter fitting for this reason, and to simplify my own spares inventory.

Edit: Here is a link to a typical adapter:
http://www.divegearexpress.com/regulators/adapters/qd.shtml#597