What regulators are you using on your deco bottles?

[deedaddy66]

I am beginning my Tech apprentice classes and I am looking for suggestions and or information on what are good and economical regulators to dive on my two deco bottles. I currently Dive a set of Apeks Tech 3's on my LP 95's. I also have a Apeks XTX 50 that I dive on my right tank when in sidemount and I own a Atomic B2 that is technically my wife's in a yoke. I am considering the Dive-Rite O2 that is $250 for %100 compatible right out of the box but, it is an unbalance second stage. I think that it should be fine unbalanced when I have 100% O2 in it the tanks because I will be above 20 feet.

What I am looking for is; has anyone dived or decompressed on this regulator with less rich mixes below 50 feet? Also my main concern is finding a good and inexpensive regulator that can handle high oxygen deco mixes at depth for my secondary deco tank. I would like to use the Apeks XTX 50 that I currently own or one of the Tech 3's and get them cleaned but, the kits and the cleaning are almost as much as the price of a new regulator. Also, then I could never use them with Air while diving in foreign countries without getting them cleaned again.

Any and all advice is welcome thanks,

Dee

 

[Dive-aholic]

A bit of advice before you spend a lot more money on regs. Getting into tech diving means lots more gear. You will eventually have so many regs that you might decide to start servicing them yourself. If that's the case you will find it useful if your regs meet the following conditions -

They are all the same manufacturer/style (easier to service if it's the same service for all of them).
You can buy service kits directly (not all manufacturers allow sales of service kits to the end user).
You can learn to service them (only one manufacturer has a sanctioned reg servicing certification at this time and only a few of us teach the class).

Accepting now that you may eventually service your own regs will save you a lot of money later when you have all similar regs rather than a collection of regs from different manufacturers.

Also, Apeks and Atomic regs do not allow sales of service kits to the end user. That doesn't mean you won't be able to get them. It just means you'll need a connection.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Let me preface my comments by saying that I'm not a technical diver at all. I'm just an OW recreational diver who services his own Apeks regs...

Since you already have Apeks regs, you might as well learn how to service them yourself. If you are a detailed-oriented person with some patience and time, it's not very difficult at all. Heck, you should even be able to figure out how to make them O2 clean. The Frogkick website offers downloadable reg tech manuals for many of the Apeks regs out there. Not a lot of specialized tools are required to work on Apeks regs, so that's nice. You'll need to get a couple of the Apeks AT30 pin spanner wrenches ($15 each), a first stage tool handle (or discharged CO2 cartridge), a couple sets of o-ring picks (at least one should be made of brass), some O2-compatible lube (I use Tribolube 71), a 3/8"-drive torque wrench (torque range 0-300 inch-lbs.; I like the CDI dial torque wrenches), metric hex bit adapters (for torque wrench), metric crowfoot adapters (for torque wrench), an intermediate pressure gauge, and a big jug o' vinegar. You may want to consider getting an ultrasonic bath if you end up doing a lot of regulator work. In your existing tool chest, you probably already have standard sets of crescent wrenches, screwdrivers, and allen wrenches (metric and imperial). That's really all you need.

If you purchase a set of HOG regs, which are very similar to the Apeks regs, and take the HOG Reg Repair class (I think both Dive-aholic and Dive Right in Scuba offer this class), you can use your newfound skills to work on your Apeks regs (or apply your knowledge of Apeks reg repair to HOG regs). You should be able to use all of the same tools on both Apeks and HOG regs. You can source overhaul kits for Apeks first and second stages through unauthorized third parties on the Internet. Contrastingly, HOG reg overhaul kits can be bought openly through any authorized dealer. The HOG kits tend to be more affordable than the Apeks kits (HOG 1st stage kit: $20, HOG 2nd stage kit: $13).

For Apeks kits, expect to pay $30 for an official 1st stage kit and $18 for a 2nd stage kit. That's $66 to overhaul a reg setup consisting of one 1st stage + two 2nd stages. I tend to overhaul my Apeks regs once every 2.5-3 years. For each rig, that works out to about $22 per year in servicing. If you learn how to DIY O2 clean your regs and tanks, you'll save a lot of money in the long run. Vance Harlow's Oxyhacker's Companion and Scuba Regulator Maintenance and Repair books are wonderful references for the DIYer.

 

[knowone]

Airspeed Press Homepage - Books For Serious Divers

On Oxygen Cleaning:

"One way or another, it seems clear that there are a lot of people doing partial pressure mixing of nitrox who are not using professionally 02 clean tanks or hydrocarbon free air and appear to be getting away with it. Does that mean you should?
Don't expect me to tell you it's OK. It's one of those things that you may get away with ten or a hundred times, but if on the thousandth time it blows up in your face you¹re going to feel pretty stupid in those last micro-seconds.
Rather, take it to mean one doesn't have to be overly intimidated. Oxygen cleaning, it appears, is not rocket science, as we've been led to believe in the past, but rather kitchen science - a matter of detergent, hot water and common sense. The important thing is to use cleaning agents that will remove any hydrocarbons, but not contribute any themselves. Flammable solvents, obviously are out.

The Navy dive manual. the CGA, and other technical publications have leaned towards heavy duty solvents and detergents such as anhydrous technical grade trisodium phosphate, trichlorethylene and liquid freon, followed by rinsing with deionized water. These are hard to find, environmentally suspect in some cases, and, in the case of trichlorethylene, leave a bad smell in the tank that's almost impossible to get rid of.

Fortunately, there are some much milder and more easily obtained detergents that are popular with tech divers and seem to do the job just fine. Two of the most frequently mentioned are Simple Green, which can be used diluted, and Formula 409 which is usually used straight. The tank is filled with a hot solution of the detergent of choice, shaken, scrubbed, or tumbled, then thoroughly rinsed and dried.

Cleaning tanks can be done better, and a whole lot easier, if one improvise a washing and drying stand that will hold the tank upside down and a few inches off the ground, so it can drain freely. Then the tank can be throughly rinsed by sticking a hose up inside and blasting it out with flowing hot water. "

Vance Harlow's

OXYGEN HACKER'S COMPANION

 

[deedaddy66]

Thanks for the advice. I guess that I will need to get one more Apeks reg and find a dealer to clean it for 100 percent 02 since I do not think that I am ready to do the cleaning myself.

Dee

 

[Tortuga68]

Good plan

 

[Deac in the Wake]

Not to be a thread cop but you might get a wider field of responses if you re-post this to one of the advanced/tec forums (may need to apply for access).

 

[Doppler]

For deep deco or travel mixes I have found ScubaPro Mk 17s with G250 second stages as well as Mk 25s with S600 seconds all work very well. For stops from 21 metres up, and on my CCR Mk 11s seem fine. I also have some old Mk 2+ but suggest you stick with whatever brand you are comfortable with... the bottom line is that your deco reg is going to be in your mouth longer than anything else, buy wisely.

 

[craracer]

Hollis 210, and ScubaPro MK25/S600. I have some reservations about the ScubaPro because I've heard people have had freeze up problems when diving cold.