Regulator Use in Cold Water

[meierdierck]

One very important consideration is surface or 'dry' breathing.

Many cold-water freeflows originate from icing that occurs before you enter the water. Primarily, this is because divers conduct a standard pre-dive safety check in cold air temps. Nreathing off a 'dry' regulator can cause the initial icing, which then becomes more severe as the dive begins, leading to freeflow on descent.

My advice is to postpone breathing from the regulators (to check function) until you are in the water and the 1st stage is submerged. This can be done at the surface, or just below the surface.

I disagree with this statement as well, I have seen no evidence that breathing on the surface leads to free flow,

I agree with web monkey "The problem is that the amount of cooling depends on how much air you're using"

I usually reccomend my students dial down the amount of air if they have the option on their regs, and this has seemed to help reduce the number of cold water freeflows we have

 

[mikeyjoe]

But I just added an Oceanic CDX5 first stage to my old Oceanic Omega II second stages as I prefer these old regs.

Richard

I dive the exact same setup - what an easy breathing, enviromentally sealed reg - a real dream.

My wife is pi**ed at me because when she got certified earlier this year, I couldn't find an Omega II for her - discontinued....And no, honey, you can't use mine..

For cold water, the CDX is a real nice and moderately priced first stage, and Oceanic has some nice seconds to go with it. Good value.

Happy Diving

 

[DevonDiver]

No offense intended, but if the reg needs to be coddled like that, it's not up to the task. Emergencies don't happen at convenient times. If you can't stuff a reg in your mouth at any moment and breathe like you're climbing Mt. Everest, without causing problems, the reg isn't up to the task.

Although breathing on the surface increases cooling (actually decreases heating from the surrounding water), it really shouldn't be an issue. Not breathing on the surface prevents a great number of pre-dive safety checks, which include breathing on all the regs and checking that the BC and drysuit inflators work.

No offense taken.

I just post that because I've seen it happen several times...and it happened to me when I was a newbie.

Sub-zero surface temps, coupled with extreme cold water (freshwater quarry... 3-4 degrees centigrade)....

It's not 'coddling' the regulator...it is understanding what factors will initiate a regulator to freeze.

..and trust me, my regs were up to the task...

This was a common practice when freshwater, winter diving in the UK.

Not breathing on the surface prevents a great number of pre-dive safety checks, which include breathing on all the regs and checking that the BC and drysuit inflators work.

Who said a pre-dive safety check had to be completed on dry land?

By postponing the checks of air systems (breathing) until you are in the water, you drammatically reduce the chance of free-flow in icy conditions.

Tech divers will conduct descent checks at 5m.... this is just a derivative of that and a good adaptation of knowledge for specific circumstances.

I disagree with this statement as well, I have seen no evidence that breathing on the surface leads to free flow,

I agree with web monkey "The problem is that the amount of cooling depends on how much air you're using"

I usually reccomend my students dial down the amount of air if they have the option on their regs, and this has seemed to help reduce the number of cold water freeflows we have

I have seen the evidence..personally and with others. Believe me or not. If you don't ever experience free-flows using a standard buddy check, then go with that.

My rationale is that surface breathing enables the initial 'film' of ice to be created, thus forming a basis for further ice encrustation to develop on the dive itself. As the diver descends and breathes denser air, the ice develops to a level where it will freeze up the 1st stage.

Given that most ice-related freeflows occur on or immediately after descent to depth, this has some logic.

Also, de-tuning the second stage will increase breathing resistance (venturi effect) but won't have any impact on the volume of air flowing through the 1st stage (which is dictated by your breathing rate and lung volume). Given that most ice-related free-flows are due to 1st stage freezing, fiddling with your second stage venturi adjustment has no bearing whatsoever....

 

[sffrenchman]

Delta 4 the new cold water reg
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced its new regulator pick. In the June issue of Undercurrent, we wrote about NOAA's new rules and regulations for government divers in response to the death of two Coast Guard divers in Alaska last summer. One major change was giving the boot to all regulators Coast Guard divers had previously used for cold-water diving. After testing of multiple regulators, NOAA found Oceanic's Delta IV to be the most reliable.

"It consistently came up first for meeting all our criteria, and it won't freeze up in cold water," says Lieutenant Eric Johnson of the NOAA Diving Program. The Delta IV is an environmentally sealed diaphragm regulator and its first stage has Oceanic's Dry Valve Technology, designed to stop moisture and contaminants from entering and to prevent corrosion of internal components. NOAA bought 350 of the regulators and now requires its 500 divers to use that model when diving in water temperatures of 50 degrees or less. Johnson says the Navy's experimental dive unit is using them, too. The Delta IV is also commercially available for sport divers; Oceanic's suggested price is $570.

Cold-water divers should definitely invest in a good regulator that won't freeze up underwater. Two people died last April because of that problem. Jason Balsbough and Daniel Frendenberg, both age 21, and Sherry Eads, 43, went diving in a quarry in Gilboa, Ohio, where the water temperature was 38 degrees. Another diver called 911 to report the divers were down. Balsbough had regulator problems but was able to surface by himself. Frendenberg and Eads were too deep and their regulators were too iced for them to breathe.

The oceanic Delta 4 has the FDX-10 first stage. Does any of you know whether the environmental kit is standard out of the factory or needs to be installed afterwards. I read the user's manual and it was not clear to me (see excerpt from manual below).

"ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION KIT
By function of design, the inner components of Oceanic diaphragm type regulator first
stages (i.e., CDx, DX4) are isolated from the ambient environment. However, the outer side of the diaphragm and the diaphragm spring, located inside the cavity at the hex opening end, will be subjected to environmental conditions.
Oceanic recommends installation of an Environmental Kit on diaphragm type First Stages (i.e., CDx) subjected to environmental conditions in which debris, or sediment, or ice, or salt crystals might form in the spring cavity. The kit is a unique dry seal system that uses no messy grease or chemicals.
Most DX4 first stages are shipped from the factory with the Environmental Kit installed. If your DX4 (or other model) is not configured with an Environmental Kit, one can easily be installed by your Authorized Oceanic Dealer. "

 

[Jimmer]

The oceanic Delta 4 has the FDX-10 first stage. Does any of you know whether the environmental kit is standard out of the factory or needs to be installed afterwards.

No need to worry, the FDX-10 and CDX-5 from Oceanic both come with the enviro kit already installed.

Jim

 

[rstofer]

I dive the exact same setup - what an easy breathing, enviromentally sealed reg - a real dream.

My wife is pi**ed at me because when she got certified earlier this year, I couldn't find an Omega II for her - discontinued....And no, honey, you can't use mine..

For cold water, the CDX is a real nice and moderately priced first stage, and Oceanic has some nice seconds to go with it. Good value.

Happy Diving

I had the original regs I bought in '88 to which I added several I bought on eBay. I sent them to DiveSports to have them rebuilt and they all work like a charm.

There are a couple of second stages on eBay at the moment. A lime green (yellow?) and a pink one. I don't think I am interested in either. They are coming from the United Kingdom.

2 X OCEANIC OMEGA REGULATORS FOR SPARES OR REPAIR - eBay (item 130327280060 end time Sep-05-09 13:23:01 PDT)

I was surprised there weren't more. Usually there are 3 or 4 sets for sale.

Richard

 

[Dustin_360]

Reeldreems- Do you know that type of regulator the Coastguard used to use?

The majority of my diving will be in warm water but I want to be able to do some cold water dives too... I'm thinking my Mikron may not have been the best choice. I might return the Mikron to my LDS and get another regulator. Any recommendations in addition to the Oceanic Delta 4/FDX and ScubaPro Mk17/G250V? I would like to stay under $700 but if the features were worth it I might pay more. Also, which ones would be the least expensive to service? I'm a bit of a newbie so I appreciate for everyone’s advice.

 

[reeldreams]

the fdx is a good all around reg.I have a friend that dove it in 45 degree water t 130 ft and no problem.

 

[gndpdr]

right now i'm diving a oceanic eos/fdx10/dvt ...... for many years in the greatlakes i used a sherwood blizzard for my cold watwer reg

 

[rstofer]

Reeldreems- Do you know that type of regulator the Coastguard used to use?

The majority of my diving will be in warm water but I want to be able to do some cold water dives too... I'm thinking my Mikron may not have been the best choice. I might return the Mikron to my LDS and get another regulator. Any recommendations in addition to the Oceanic Delta 4/FDX and ScubaPro Mk17/G250V? I would like to stay under $700 but if the features were worth it I might pay more. Also, which ones would be the least expensive to service? I'm a bit of a newbie so I appreciate for everyone’s advice.

You can certainly stay under that price with the Delta4/FDX10
Oceanic Delta 4/FDX10 w/DVT Regulator

The Mk17/G250V is pretty cheap at Leisure Pro but you'll set your LDS on fire if you buy it there
Scubapro MK17/G250V Regulator

Still I would expect that SP reg to retail for less than $700 at your LDS. The list price is $600.

There's nothing wrong with having more that one regulator hanging around. If the LDS doesn't want your Mikron, hang on to it. Or, sell it on eBay.

Richard