When storing regulator, leave venturi min or max?

[goldenwar]

hi all,

i have apeks xtx 200 which has venturi and effort control knob.

from my understanding,

when washing or in surface close(clock wise,close to the regulator) the effort control knob and change venturi lever to minus(min)

When storing, open(counter clock wise, away from the regulator) the effort control knob to extend the life of low pressure seat(per Apex manual), but how about venturi lever?

should it be on - or + when storing? or is it only the knob that matters to extend the life of the regulator?

thank you!

 

[herman]

Doesn't matter at all. It simply deflects the airstream inside the reg and has nothing to take a set.

 

[goldenwar]

Doesn't matter at all. It simply deflects the airstream inside the reg and has nothing to take a set.

thank you! manual only says to open(counter clock wise, away from the regulator) the effort control knob but it didn't say anything about venturi lever so i just wanted to make sure.

 

[flyboy08]

I thought leaving it in + places undue pressure on the diaphragm?

 

[Diver0001]

All the venturi lever does is move a little flap of plastic inside the the 2nd stage just behind the mouthpiece. There are no moving parts there or anything that is connected to the demand valve.

The "effort control" knob (also called the "cracking adjustment") actually moves the piece of the demand valve that forms a seal back and forth a little bit. This is done so that you could theoretically make the valve a little easier or harder to breathe from. In theory if you back that knob off when you are storing it then the low pressure "seat" in the second stage will be under less sustained pressure and may theoretically last longer before needing to be replaced. That said, I have a regulator that has a control like that I bought in about 2000 but I haven't touched that knob in 17 years and I haven't seen any abnormal wear on the seat as a result. I think you may actually run a higher chance of doing something that causes the demand valve to wear faster by turning that knob around all the time. That is, of course the opinion of one guy so take it for what it's worth.

R..

 

[herman]

I thought leaving it in + places undue pressure on the diaphragm?

Nope, its nothing more than a piece of plastic that deflects airflow. Other than it's mounting structure, it does not connect or touch anything.

 

[tc]

No, the lever just rotates a piece of plastic around the shaft to deflect the airflow. As stated above it doesn’t contact anything so the storage position doesn’t matter.

 

[tbone1004]

I thought leaving it in + places undue pressure on the diaphragm?

on the Poseidon Jetstream you have to leave it's switch in the + position because the - position bends the diaphragm which will take a permanent set.
In the adjustable second stage world leaving the adjustment knob all the way out or in the + position puts a bit less spring pressure on the LP seat which is good for longevity as mentioned above.

The venturi adjustments are just plastic levers that do various things depending on the regulator. In the Apeks it happens to be a semi-circular piece of plastic that covers the barrel and when moved to the - position puts a barrier in front of the valve outlet to prevent the venturi from kicking in. In some other regulators it looks like a rudder and goes from the "straight" position in the + mode, to deflected in the - mode.

 

[goldenwar]

thank you all!