Pre 2008 Titan good enough?

[buddhasummer]

As per title.

I have too many regs, yes, too many and for ease of parts stock etc I'm wanting to get rid of some.

Currently my first stages consist of MK17 Evos, Conshelfs (late14s and 21s) and older Titans which I've dry sealed.

I only rec dive and mostly in the 20-40 meter range.

My most common second stages are 156BAS and G250s.

I've read lots about tank valves being the limiting factor in regards to air flow. I'm considering keeping the Conshelfs and Titans and selling off my MK17s assuming I'd notice no difference.

Can one of you gurus @herman or @Luis H offer some advice please, assuming I'd notice no difference keeping only the Conshelfs and Titans would make my life easier as I have parts for Africa for them. If a Titan with a G250/156BA nets me the same breathing performance as a MK17/G250 combo then that's what I'll use.

Thanks in advance.

Merry Christmas.

 

[buddhasummer]

From my afternoon research it would appear at rec depths, and likely even beyond, I'd not notice a difference. One of my MK17s swings 13PSI from high to low tank pressure, this irks me somewhat, doesn't appear very well balanced at all. I'm surprised given the known swing that SP offers it packaged it with an unbalanced second.

 

[herman]

The bottom line is this, the Conshelf and older Titan are the same reg internally. The only difference is number of ports (on some) and the "look" of the exterior. Performance, is (should be) identical . Exact same parts kit.

As long as a first stage can keep IP stable within a reasonable range and flow enough gas (all modern ones can) then it makes almost no difference at all which first stage you hook to a second stage, you will never notice a difference. This is esp true if you are using balanced second stages.

Based on what you list above, I would use the Titan with the 156 or 250s. The only reason for the Titan over the Conshelf is it's a little lighter, otherwise it's a wash.

 

[buddhasummer]

Thanks Herman, appreciate the reply. I prefer the Titan to the conshelf as I use a dry suit and hose routing on the conshelf is less than ideal.

 

[claymore]

Many people prefer the Titan over the Conshelf because the hose routing is better.

 

[buddhasummer]

IMO Single tank, no dry suit and using transmitter the Conshelf 14 routes very nicely.

 

[buddhasummer]

The Titans pack nicer too and you can flick them over if you want your transmitter on the right. All in all I think the Titan is a "better" conshelf but doesn't look as pretty. I swapped all the yoke knobs to conshelf ones as the Titan ones stick out too far. You can also use a chrome conshelf yoke on a Titan, not needed but it does have the recess for the snap ring, I tried it but didn't like the aesthetics.

 

[buddhasummer]

They look pretty with 156BAs and red diaphragms.

Just showing off, sorry.

 

[northernone]

They look pretty with 156BAs and red diaphragms.


View attachment 439818

Just showing off, sorry.

Liked!

 

[Luis H]

I am a very strong fanatic of the Conshelf and Titan first stage. There are other very good first stages but none of them have a 52 year record of excellent performance (or at least I can't think of any at the moment).

Even the latest Aqua Lung regulator to this day uses some of the same internal parts.

When I designed the Argonaut I decided to use the internal valve components of the Royal Aqua Master, the Conshelf, and the Titan because of its very long record of excellent performance, reliability and accessibility of replacement parts.

I have done a lot of testing on Conshelf and double hose regulators that use the same first stage and the first stage by no means is a flow restrictor. It will deliver far more air than several divers can demand with very little IP swing. I have posted a video on how quickly an Argonaut can empty a scuba cylinder. If you need to empty an AL80 in about 3.5 minutes, you can use a Conshelf.

There are other excellent first stages, but in order to simplify parts inventory, I only use first stages that are based on the Conshelf (actually the RAM is its predecessor).

I mostly dive an Argonaut, but any pony or stage bottles are Conshelf.

I even have a couple of Conshelf adjusted to 165 PSI IP that are feeding Poseidon Cyklon second stages.


My wife prefers the Titan when using a drysuit up here, but her preferred travel regulator is the Conshelf 21 (for its hose routing). For a second stage she always uses a Scubapro BA. I got her a couple of G250, but she hasn’t tried them yet. She is always happy with one of the Scubapro 156/BA.