Recreational Regulator conversion to Sidemount Setup

[nakatomi]

Grit that gets into the first stage can easily be flushed/rinsed out, it should not be an issue.
It would certainly not be an issue in sidemount with the first stages well protected under the armpits, unlike in backmount where all the silt and little limestone chunks rain down from the ceiling (or rust particles for the wreck divers). And even then, it can be rinsed.

 

[tbone1004]

I agree, and unless you are basically digging through a passage or are regularly setting your bottles down in clay/muck which can be a problem for OW guys if they leave their bottles in the water, then it is pretty much a non-issue, but it is something to consider as with the performance advantages basically gone, that is the only significant difference between piston and diaphragm first stages. Although pistons do tend to perform better with pure O2, but even that is nit picking.

 

[bamafan]

The Atomic B2 has the same hose routing as the DST, so that's out, the only disadvantage it has is that it is a piston, and that means you either have to pay an extra $25 minimum/service to have it packed with grease to seal it, or you have to be super careful when sidemount diving that you don't get sand/silt/clay inside of it. In backmount your valves never touch the ground, in sidemount they can touch when you are first putting the tanks in the water, they can touch if you're in a sidemount passage, etc etc. For non-sidemount only cave diving, there is no practical difference, and certainly no difference in singles.

Tbone reading this sentence I take it that you think a person is going to die if they get mud or silt in a unsealed Reg. This is not true. I don't know why you would think this unless you have had more experience and had failures with them. I find it really funny how you and your buddy Victor have an opinion on everything. I have seen you two comment on everything from rebreathers, scooters and GUE diving that as far as I know neither of you have ever done. Just yesterday you were tackling the problems of cave surveying on CDF. Have you actually surveyed? Some of the stuff you and Victor come out with is laughable but at least it provides humor.

 

[tbone1004]

survey yes, ccr yes *have built an O2 breather actually*, gue no though my training was very similar. The survey was a tongue in cheek jab to the Cis-Lunar cave mapper.

Pistons I have seen get packed with grit and lock up, haven't seen it on a mk25 or an atomic, but I have seen them get stuff inside and have it cause problems, in a quarry after a diver took a nose dive into a clay/sand mound in sidemount and one of the regs locked up, then the other was abuse due to lack of rinsing from salt and the salt buildup caused the piston to freeze up. Both are operator error, but while it is easy to rinse out in normal use, it is something to be considerate of, that's all. You're not going to die, the reg is likely not going to fail, but you have to at least be aware of the potential downside of that technology.

 

[victorzamora]

Somethings you may want to consider is that the OP isn't talking about cave diving and concern with silt,clay etc. Matter of fact, this is used as a recreational sidemount forum and he asked a good question about regulators. Less than 1% of 1% of the people who visit this forum probably ever have to worry about environmentally regulators versus non-sealed, because they dive the configuration only.

One thing being missed here is that environmental sealing is for more than just caves...right? For very cold water and salt water, environmentally sealed regs also provide a large benefit. I bought sealed diaphragm regs for the salt water diving I'd be doing, not the silt/clay from the caves they were primarily purchased for. Just another thought.

 

[kr2y5]

Tbone reading this sentence I take it that you think a person is going to die if they get mud or silt in a unsealed Reg. This is not true. I don't know why you would think this unless you have had more experience and had failures with them. I find it really funny how you and your buddy Victor have an opinion on everything. I have seen you two comment on everything from rebreathers, scooters and GUE diving that as far as I know neither of you have ever done. Just yesterday you were tackling the problems of cave surveying on CDF. Have you actually surveyed? Some of the stuff you and Victor come out with is laughable but at least it provides humor.

I think it's great that folks like TBone come here to offer their advice on a variety of topics, their posts contribute to making this a more interesting forum. Personal attacks, on the other hand, are a waste of everyone's time, and only project negative image of a person who resorts to such tactics. If you disagree with TBone's advice, you should be able to politely state your reasons, and that way, you could contribute towards having a productive discussion that others can benefit from.

 

[karstdvr]

One thing being missed here is that environmental sealing is for more than just caves...right? For very cold water and salt water, environmentally sealed regs also provide a large benefit. I bought sealed diaphragm regs for the salt water diving I'd be doing, not the silt/clay from the caves they were primarily purchased for. Just another thought.

Correct. The key point of what I am saying is that different manufacturer of first stages can have an advantage because some ports can be configured better with a left post and a right post, due to positioning of HP and LP ports. This is nothing new to sidemounting, because before sidemounting became mainstream this practice was done. Currently regulators are sold as packages so we end up with all Hog, Apex, Dive Rite etc etc, versus using manufacture A on the left post and manufacture B on the right post. I am sure there are reasons for piston and diaphragm, balanced vs unbalanced which can be discussed all day,but main goal was to point out to the OP that what he has right now could be just fine.

---------- Post added June 11th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ----------

I think it's great that folks like TBone come here to offer their advice on a variety of topics, their posts contribute to making this a more interesting forum. Personal attacks, on the other hand, are a waste of everyone's time, and only project negative image of a person who resorts to such tactics. If you disagree with TBone's advice, you should be able to politely state your reasons, and that way, you could contribute towards having a productive discussion that others can benefit from.

I agree, attacks have no purpose. Tbone shows strong enthusiasm for the sport and has accrued a lot of information. All I can do is provide a different perspective.

 

[tbone1004]

Kelly, I agree on what he has now being perfectly ok and that was my suggestion to get another Atomic set, the only downfall is now looking at the cost differentials, it isn't all that much more to get a full setup, especially if he intends to go back and forth between singles and sidemount. I've set my regs up so I can go back and forth to doubles only by changing the HP hoses, but to go to singles is a completely different ball game. I do have the advantage of having quite a bit of extra hoses and SPG's and what not so it is pretty simple, but if I was in his situation I'd grab a Hog D3 or Dive Rite XT set, learn to service it myself, and then have dedicated sidemount and backmount

 

[adamchooi]

I've decided to get another Atomic B2 with a long hose. It makes more sense in terms of servicing, parts and familiarity. The first stage has a turret that is perfect for SM and I need not purchase a fifth port adapter unlike the apeks DST.

That being said, I went to check out all recommended regs (DR, Hog, XTX). The hog is definitely very attractive based on its price and quality. First stage mimic the Apeks DST and a solid second stage. It's quite heavy thought and i read it might have free flow issue out of the box and needs a little tuning. I have some difficulties finding performance reviews for this set as it's still fairly new in the market.

Anyway, Thank u guys for all the valuable inputs and opinions.

 

[kr2y5]

The hog is definitely very attractive based on its price and quality. First stage mimic the Apeks DST and a solid second stage. It's quite heavy thought

I was also surprised how heavy it was, but I found this to be a complete non-issue. I have D3 on backmount tanks, sidemount tanks, and deco bottles, and it has worked great for me so far.

and i read it might have free flow issue out of the box and needs a little tuning.

When I serviced the D3 as instructed, I ended up cranking it up even further, the reg I serviced is more prone to free-flow if you try to suck on it really hard than the 5 others I have not touched. Despite that, in the 50 or so dives I did since buying these regulators, I never had an unprovoked freeflow issue undewater (I did manage to provoke a deliberate freeflow once while draining tanks below 500psi during a weight check, but it was easily fixed by feathering the valve). I think the factory settings are pretty reasonable. Also, extremely easy to adjust on your own... and the service class is very much worth taking even if you do not plan to service those regulators yourself.

HOG D3 are really good regulators, I would encourage you to reconsider, you will not regret your decision if you go with them.