Which Apeks first stages for tech back mount

[Marie13]

I absolutely hate my apeks regs. I’m a life long scuba pro user and my wife and I last year got rebreathers that come with apeks regs. We both hate them. First main thing is compared to any sp reg we’ve ever had (about 25ish), the apeks din’s are hard to seat in the valve. The sp regs just screw right on. The apeks constantly have to be jiggled and adjusted while screwing on because the cross thread and lock up. It’s all 4 regs on varied valves. The din face also doesn’t like to hold an oring. After every dive at least one pops off. I was told originally the apeks o rings suck so an apeks tech gave me replacements. Same problem continues. I finally found some of the really good sp polyurethane o rings and have had success. On top of that I’ve known several people who have had hp seat failures in the last year.
Since getting the apeks they’ve been nothing but annoying. They’re currently being replace.

And I thought problems getting the Apeks DIN first stage seated in the valve was just me. I also have the same issues with the O ring frequently popping off.

 

[garyh]

Concur with rddvet, regs that came with my JJ (apeks) constantly have the O rings popping out, usually at the most inconvenient time, in the process of swapping these out for SP diaphragm 1st's. For cold water open circuit up here I use apeks FST's they have been bullet proof for me for the last 20 years, angled ports give nice hose routing, down side is they have one 1/2" port which requires an adapter. For warm water cave (MX) all my regs are SP Mk 20/25's route nice never had an issue with them.

 

[a878bob]

The apeks 1st stage din oring is a different size than other din’s. Dont know if this is widely known, may be the reason they pop out.

 

[tmassey]

The apeks 1st stage din oring is a different size than other din’s. Dont know if this is widely known, may be the reason they pop out.

Apeks uses a true DIN o-ring, which is *not* a 112 or 111. Buna and Viton will pop out like crazy. This extends to the clones, too: I had the problem with DGX by Deep6 and I’ve seen it on Deep6 Signatures as well.

But once you use a PU o-ring, the problem goes away. I’ve used the DGX PU o-rings ($5 for 5) or similar ones I’ve bought from Wayne at Amigos. From an o-ring pop out 50%+ of the time to never in two years. I’ve also given away about 6 of them as well...

Why they don’t use them as original equipment is beyond me...

 

[rddvet]

And I thought problems getting the Apeks DIN first stage seated in the valve was just me. I also have the same issues with the O ring frequently popping off.

Not just you. My wife and I thought it was just us, till we started both complaining of the same problem regardless of which bottle we put them on.

Concur with rddvet, regs that came with my JJ (apeks) constantly have the O rings popping out, usually at the most inconvenient time, in the process of swapping these out for SP diaphragm 1st's. For cold water open circuit up here I use apeks FST's they have been bullet proof for me for the last 20 years, angled ports give nice hose routing, down side is they have one 1/2" port which requires an adapter. For warm water cave (MX) all my regs are SP Mk 20/25's route nice never had an issue with them.

I'm switching to MK17s, I just contacted Martin at tecme to get some blanking plugs for the oxygen side as my unit requires a constant ip. Actually what I'm buying aren't my beloved scubapros, I'm getting the halcyon version. Pretty much the same thing but $100 less. I don't think the halcyon are marked as "evo" but I don't think there's actually a difference, and for $100 I don't care.

The apeks 1st stage din oring is a different size than other din’s. Dont know if this is widely known, may be the reason they pop out.

I was told that as well.

Apeks uses a true DIN o-ring, which is *not* a 112 or 111. Buna and Viton will pop out like crazy. This extends to the clones, too: I had the problem with DGX by Deep6 and I’ve seen it on Deep6 Signatures as well.

But once you use a PU o-ring, the problem goes away. I’ve used the DGX PU o-rings ($5 for 5) or similar ones I’ve bought from Wayne at Amigos. From an o-ring pop out 50%+ of the time to never in two years. I’ve also given away about 6 of them as well...

Why they don’t use them as original equipment is beyond me...

I bought the dgx PU orings but it kept happening since they're standard 112s. I went by a scubapro shop and got the really expensive scubapro ones and they're a slightly different size and have worked well so far. I'd love to know the actual apeks size to order. Nobody so far as been able to tell me. I plan to keep the apeks regs, but probably will rarely use them. But I'd still like an oring that doesn't pop out.

 

[Scubagaskets]

I think the size you have to use is the 614 oring Scuba O-Rings NBR Sh90-614-for DIN & YOKE inserts
Scuba O-Rings NBR Sh90-614-for DIN & YOKE inserts

 

[rddvet]

I will add that the proprietary aspect of scubapro does suck and it's alot harder to get them serviced in an emergency on a trip out of the country. Apeks win there. But that's why I always have spares.

 

[rddvet]

I think the size you have to use is the 614 oring Scuba O-Rings NBR Sh90-614-for DIN & YOKE inserts
Scuba O-Rings NBR Sh90-614-for DIN & YOKE inserts

But are they the correct durometer to match apeks? These apeks bastards are touchy

 

[a878bob]

So after a little reading, it seems the exact size for apeks din is cs2.5mm, 12mm id, 17mmod.

after doing some careful measurement of an official apeks, that doesnt seem right.

the measurement i came up with is cs 2.6mm and 11mm id. Which is much closer to the 111 size.

 

[Scubagaskets]

ho

But are they the correct durometer to match apeks? These apeks bastards are touchy

The durometer for High pressure(over 100 bar) is recommended by our o-ring specialist-consultant to be Sh90 or Duro 90 if you wish. In contrast, many scuba gear manufacturers keep using soft orings sh70-75 or duro 70-75 at high-pressure applications for some reason. In any case, we as scubagaskets follow our consultants recommendations and we always suggest to our customers to use sh90 o-rings for High-pressure applications especially when the o-ring is subjected to friction often, as for example the o-rings of the tank valve that usually have sizes 112-111-110 or 614 according to the brand.