What's the best reg for me?

[buza831]

COUV,
That's good info.

 

[deepblueme]

And the DVT doesn't do anything to keep the water out of your 1st if there is water in the tank valve when you conect it.

 

[mempilot]

I will try.

First, I am referring to the device in the air inlet that is intended to close when the regulator is not attached to a tank to prevent water from entering the regulator.....IMHO, some divers already feel that water into the first stage is not a high risk…or they would be far more careful about closing it with a good water proof dust cap.

Luis,

Thanks. I wasn't aware of this 'new device'. I agree with you, that sometimes we try to engineer out good common sense. I'll take mine with a dust cap over this any day. Well, I dive DIN, so mine are screw on caps.

 

[squidster]

I'm looking for a new reg to replace my old Mares. Here is a background of what I want and how I dive.

• I will do warm water diving only
• Diaphram only
• My max price is $650 for the reg (I will buy the octo separately)
• No Atomic (I will forget and dunk my reg and that would ruin the Atomic's first stage)
• Preferably not pneumatic
• Needs to be durable
• Preferably serviceable in Mexico
• I will be doing 1-2 dives a day, 6 days a week, for 6-8 weeks at a time
• Needs to be an easy breather

The reg I am leaning towards is the Oceanic Delta 4 but I have also heard good things about some Apex's.

ScubaPro MK11/S555 Easy Breathing diaphram reg, get serviced any where About 380-400.00 reg setup

 

[Stu S.]

The piston-type Oceanic Alpha 8 works great at 120 feet. Plenty of air and easy breathing. It is simple and robust. We have one in the family right now. Great for Florida, but not advised for real cold water.

To dive daily for eight weeks, you could buy two of these and keep one as a spare. That's a just-in-case, so you don't miss diving if you need a repair. Instead of sitting on the beach waiting for service, you would be diving.

The Alpha 8 can be had for around $150. When the eight weeks is up, you could sell one if you wanted to.

 

[halocline]

WOB Does have ALOT to do with saftey.

Never hear of divers panicing due to not getting enough air(over breathing or a hard breather Reg)?

I have seen it many times.
One student during an air share drill in 40 feet told me to surface after she had switched back to her reg.
When we got up she said there was something wrong with her reg a MK2/R190 I had just tuned.
We had we had been buddy breathing off my MK20/G250.
Her reg was working fine till she took some breaths off of mine with a higher flow rate and easier cracking effort(WOB).

I suppose you have a point, it's just that any decently tuned reg will supply WAY more air than any diver "needs". For example, the MK2 supplies about 90SCFM, which would theoretically empty an entire AL80 in under a minute. Of course the 2nd stage capacity is less than 1/2 that, and the tank valve is typically the slowest link in the chain, I believe. In the case of a panicked diver, a high flow reg could provide a sense of comfort. My comment was in reference to the comparison that reg manufacturers often make about WOB as a selling point; in truth practically any reg that's working correctly will supply plenty of air to be safe.

 

[weaserm99]

Weaser,

Just curious. You think an Oceanic is easier to overhaul than an Aqualung Legend?? The 1st literally takes like 10 minutes if it doesn't need cleaned.

Yes i do think that it is easier to overhaul, my legend had the ACD system, similar in theory to the oceanic but different system. IMO the system is terrible it makes the reg overhaul a lot harder, not to mention that i actually had to call aqualung to get the sizing for sockets to help me take apart the regulator, when i took my reg clinic from aqualung the tech was telling me that he wasnt going to be teaching the ACD system because it was to difficult, then when i told him that my reg he gave me to use was one with the ACD i could see that he didnt want to have to go through it. That was just the yoke, the din is harder IMO. To take apart the oceanic is so much simpler. The easiest aqualung to service IMO is the titan or conshelf, which use the same exact rebuild kit. The easiest regs ive ever serviced are the sherwoods, simple in design, the only piston reg i would recommend, but id still recommend the delta 4 over anything else, not to mention that NOAA just picked the delta 4 as the regulator that they make their divers use if they are in water less than 50 degrees.

 

[mempilot]

Strange. I can overhaul the first stage in about 10 to 15 minutes, and the second stage in about 15 to 20 minutes. Very easy IMO. I don't find anything difficult about it, and I'm not a reg tech.

 

[ocpaul]

Strange. I can overhaul the first stage in about 10 to 15 minutes, and the second stage in about 15 to 20 minutes. Very easy IMO. I don't find anything difficult about it, and I'm not a reg tech.

Wondering if you maintain the SP regs or the Apex regs (shown in your profile), or both. I'm looking at needing to make some changes and have been thinking about the desirability of being able to maintain regs myself.

 

[squidster]

If you're going to the caribbean side of Mexico, like Cozumel, for 6 weeks, I'd consider getting another Mares reg. The Abyss is one many experienced divers swear by. I personally have never used one, so I don't know about them. The reason I would recommend it is because I know that Mares regs are very common on Cozumel; there's a distributor on the island I believe, and a DM told me they're very easy to get serviced there, unlike my SP regs.

I have a feeling something is wrong with your reg to give you the impression that it's not responding to your air demand accurately. All 2nd stages, balanced and unbalanced, are designed to give you the air you want, not any more. In both cases, the spring counter-acts against air pressure from the 1st stage at whatever the IP is. The difference is that balanced regs divert some air into a balance chamber, so that it "pushes back" along with the spring to keep the valve closed until you inhale. So, the spring itself is lighter, but the end result is that you're still opening the valve against the IP. Does this make sense? With a good solid IP, and proper adjustment of the 2nd stage, the difference between otherwise identical 2nd stages that are balanced or unbalanced is very subtle. For example, if you had a G200 and a G200B(balanced) both adjusted well on the same 1st stage, you might tell a difference but it would be subtle.

What you're describing kind of sounds like an over-active venturi assist.

I have a D300 second stage ,can i pair it up with a MK10?
Can i still get MK10 Serviced?
If so i woud like to pair them up.