Poseidon regulators

[Luis H]

Well, I tend to agree with SangP.

The MK25 is a flow through piston regulator, which by design they are not ideal for cold water. The flow of adiabatically cooled air tends to freeze any water in the ambient chamber.

Can a flow though piston regulator be made to operate in cold water, sure. But it requires extra thermal isolation (or some form of sealed chamber) and very good cold water techniques.

The MK 25 does have a reputation for freezing. I much rather have a diaphragm first stage up here in Maine.


I have limited experience with Jetstream (as opposed to the Cyklon 300 which was my favorite regulator 30 years ago). But my experience with the Jetstream (and other pneumatically piloted demand valves) it does breathe somewhat different. It is very easy breathing, but some people find air burst somewhat un-natural.

Pneumatically piloted demand valves can also be a bit tricky to adjust, but I have very limited experience with this particular regulator so, therefore I can’t specifically comment about servicing it. I can only comment on their reputation and on what I picked up on a couple of regulator servicing classes I took that covered them.

Parts availability in the US has changed a lot over the years since Poseidon has had several different distributors in the last four decades. There have been times when the distributors were pretty bad, but I think the situation is much better now.

You would think that in Norway it should be easy to get parts and service, but I have no idea.

 

[SangP]

Well, I tend to agree with SangP.

The MK25 is a flow through piston regulator, which by design they are not ideal for cold water. The flow of adiabatically cooled air tends to freeze any water in the ambient chamber.

Can a flow though piston regulator be made to operate in cold water, sure. But it requires extra thermal isolation (or some form of sealed chamber) and very good cold water techniques.

The MK 25 does have a reputation for freezing. I much rather have a diaphragm first stage up here in Maine.


I have limited experience with Jetstream (as opposed to the Cyklon 300 which was my favorite regulator 30 years ago). But my experience with the Jetstream (and other pneumatically piloted demand valves) it does breathe somewhat different. It is very easy breathing, but some people find air burst somewhat un-natural.

Pneumatically piloted demand valves can also be a bit tricky to adjust, but I have very limited experience with this particular regulator so, therefore I can’t specifically comment about servicing it. I can only comment on their reputation and on what I picked up on a couple of regulator servicing classes I took that covered them.

Parts availability in the US has changed a lot over the years since Poseidon has had several different distributors in the last four decades. There have been times when the distributors were pretty bad, but I think the situation is much better now.

You would think that in Norway it should be easy to get parts and service, but I have no idea.

Ahhh... that's what's it was called the Cyklon 300. That was a very nice poseidon reg. It was that reg that had me consider poseidons in the first place but the jet n xtream were a bit disappointing.

The piston design of a reg leads to very powerful flows but in order to reduce the chance of cold water free flows, atomic stuffs it with cristol lube which is a real pain when it comes to servicing. It adds to servicing costs n I won't recommend a piston type reg for cold water diving.

SangP

 

[NC Wreck Diver]

Well, I tend to agree with SangP.

The MK25 is a flow through piston regulator, which by design they are not ideal for cold water. The flow of adiabatically cooled air tends to freeze any water in the ambient chamber.

Can a flow though piston regulator be made to operate in cold water, sure. But it requires extra thermal isolation (or some form of sealed chamber) and very good cold water techniques.

The MK 25 does have a reputation for freezing. I much rather have a diaphragm first stage up here in Maine.


I have limited experience with Jetstream (as opposed to the Cyklon 300 which was my favorite regulator 30 years ago). But my experience with the Jetstream (and other pneumatically piloted demand valves) it does breathe somewhat different. It is very easy breathing, but some people find air burst somewhat un-natural.

Pneumatically piloted demand valves can also be a bit tricky to adjust, but I have very limited experience with this particular regulator so, therefore I can’t specifically comment about servicing it. I can only comment on their reputation and on what I picked up on a couple of regulator servicing classes I took that covered them.

Parts availability in the US has changed a lot over the years since Poseidon has had several different distributors in the last four decades. There have been times when the distributors were pretty bad, but I think the situation is much better now.

You would think that in Norway it should be easy to get parts and service, but I have no idea.

My MK25 and my MK10 have never froze in fresh waters of PA, and salt waters in NJ, NY. I have no enviromental upgrade to each of these balanced piston first stages. I'm sure I can GET them to freeflow if I work at it. But just breathing them with a decent SAC rate has never been a problem. As I mentioned in my earlier post, they are listed in the US Navy Approved Equipment to 38 degrees F, and that is good enough for me. I know that I'm in water to this temp, but no lower.

Maine is one thing............Singapore is another.

 

[vintagediver]

The tonsil blast thing is standard internet speak for lets bash Poseidon for something I read about. I own 5 of them and have dived every model of Poseidon made in the last 40 years. They breath no differently than any other regulator other than they can provide a tremendous volume of air. The purge is completly proportional. They are not finicky and one of the most simple and stable regulators made. They are not complicated. They don't go out of tune. They don't use an extremely high IP. The repair kits are reasonably priced and have always been availabe from the authorized dealers. I have read and heard much bull**** about Poseidons on the net and in person. People I have met site the same talkig points over and over as if it is gospel, but they have never dived one and when questioned directly admit that they know nothing about them. I have also heard the Extreme 2nd stage cannot be cleared of debris, that an overpressure situation will cause it to fail to deliver air and that the IP is 180 psi. To dispell these myths in person is very gratifying. I don't believe what you say about Poseidon is anything other than internet regurgitation.

 

[tfsails]

As a Poseidon-certified reg tech, I can attest to Vintagediver's statements about Poseidons. They are NOT difficult to service, or to tune. They ARE different from everyone else's regs. That's all. Once you learn how to service them, all the mystery goes out of them. I was leery of them at first, but then I found out I was merely ignorant.

 

[Thalassamania]

As a Poseidon-certified reg tech, I can attest to Vintagediver's statements about Poseidons. They are NOT difficult to service, or to tune. They ARE different from everyone else's regs. That's all. Once you learn how to service them, all the mystery goes out of them. I was leery of them at first, but then I found out I was merely ignorant.

In fact, the first regulator I ever learned to service was the Cyclon 300, after that, for quite a while, I wondered why all the other regulators were so damned hard to service.

 

[Gilldiver]

Ahhh... that's what's it was called the Cyklon 300. That was a very nice poseidon reg. It was that reg that had me consider poseidons in the first place but the jet n xtream were a bit disappointing.

The piston design of a reg leads to very powerful flows but in order to reduce the chance of cold water free flows, atomic stuffs it with cristol lube which is a real pain when it comes to servicing. It adds to servicing costs n I won't recommend a piston type reg for cold water diving.

SangP

At least in the US they had other names in the 80's

Cyklon = Thor = the North East wreck diver nickname was "The Hockey Puck"
Jetstream = Oden = the North East wreck diver nickname was "The Shower Head"

 

[Saudi-Diver]

I have dived a Cyklon Metal Regulator since about 1999, I also own a Scubapro Mk17 ( lovely Reg) and have dove Apex and Aqualung products. I still like my old Cyklon and use it for my Scottish Diving, it seems to get easier to breath the deeper you get. My poor old Mk17 is relegated to a back up/ spare reg.

 

[SangP]

15 Regulators on test - Divernet

The xtream isn't as good as what it was.

SangP

 

[Sponon]

Back on topic again:

Poseidon Extreme MK3

According to Poseidons own website you can only use this regulator for air and trimix with a maximum of 21% oxygen. So if you want to breath nitrox with either 32% or 36% oxygen you cant use this one?

I`ve talked to some divers in my district telling me that basically all regulators can handle nitrox up to 40%, and that this is an EU-regulation established a couple of years ago.

Is this true?