Pony bottle assembly

[Trickie Dickie 99]

Roger all. Thanks. Where can I get Christo-lube? LDS or will Home Depot do?

Also, I have an octopus on my current setup (Aqua-Lung Cousteau 1st stage with Calypso 2nd stage with Octo). I am thinking of removing the Octopus after I rig the pony, since I don't need 3 regs. When I remove the HP plug from the Oceanic reg to install the pony gauge, can I put the same plug back into the Cousteau where the Octo was?

Well speaking for myself, I left the occie on my primary cylinder, asa well as the reg on the pony.

Really, your pony is your AAS first and foremost. Think through some scenarios of your buddy going OOA at various stages of the dive, say at the start because of equipment failure, when you've got almost the full 200-230 bars, in which case you've got around 100 bars each - it might be better for your buddy if he shares off your full cylinder, than if he only has a 3L x 230 bar, amounting to 19 cu ft, or perhaps only a quarter of a main cylinder full.

Personally, I thouight it best to retain the occie, even though I had the pony, it gives us both more options to play with.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I've left my octo on my main regulator. I don't always dive with the pony. If you remove your octo, you have to always carry the pony otherwise you don't have a second. Also, and this is just my opinion, I still view my octo as my main option if my primary 2nd stage has an issue or if another diver goes OOA. The pony is for me in the event I have a major 1st stage or tank failure and my buddy isn't close by or capable enough to share air. I view my pony as a last option, but a very important option to have on deeper dives or dives with instabuddies.

 

[Berdman]

If you are asking about the o-ring that goes on the face of a yoke valve (where you attach the first stage regulator) then you should NOT put any lube on there. The problem is that lube can cause things (sand, dirt,etc.) to stick to it when the regulator is removed.:no

I mean the orings on the plugs and the hoses attached to the 1st stage

 

[RSL]

With just 1 2nd stage on your pony setup you should put an overpressure relief Valve on your 1st Stage.

 

[Trickie Dickie 99]

With just 1 2nd stage on your pony setup you should put an overpressure relief Valve on your 1st Stage.

Why? All modern second stages are "upstream" (I think that's it!!), so any large increase in intermediate pressure will simply blow off through the second stage valve; that's your overpressure valve and it should make no difference whether there's one or two.

I've not seen an overpressure valve on a first stage for over 25 years.

 

[Trickie Dickie 99]

I mean the orings on the plugs and the hoses attached to the 1st stage

No. There's no need for that at all, just fit them dry.

 

[paulwlee]

Why? All modern second stages are "upstream" (I think that's it!!),

That's "downstream".

With just 1 2nd stage on your pony setup you should put an overpressure relief Valve on your 1st Stage.

As TD99 said, nope. In fact, up till the octopus became standard fare in the late(?) 80's, most regulators had only one 2nd stage, and none (except for rare exceptions like the Poseidons, that had upstream second stages, but then I think they had OPV's built into the first stage) had OPV's.

You only need an OPV in regulators with only upstream second stages (I don't think there are any any more, I think I heard that Poseidon went downstream too) or regulators that don't have second stages, such as drysuit inflation (a.k.a. Argon) regulators.

 

[BobbyT22]

Thanks again all for the advice. I will probably leave the octo on for now until I am comfortable with the pony. Will let all know how it goes as I assemble it.
Rob

 

[Thalassamania]

You might pick up some viton o-rings too.

 

[geraldp]

Thanks again all for the advice. I will probably leave the octo on for now until I am comfortable with the pony. Will let all know how it goes as I assemble it.

When I got a pony I moved to an Atomic Aquatics SS1 integrated BC 2nd stage. That eliminated the 2nd LP hose and still gave me the option of diving with or without my pony. I keep my pony reg bungied around my neck.

Good choice on the pony selection. What mount did you choose?

Personally I found that the small button Pressure Guage was too small for me to see reliably, so I moved up to a Scubapro mini-guage on a 6" hose.

Jerry