Which is the most durable regulator?

[jullian_pdx]

I have been very happy with my Apeks DS4's. I usually dive cold water and have not expeienced a problem yet.

Becuase of that I am planning on picking up a second stage bottle reg kit.

 

[Bob Vincent]

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.

I found this interesting ... just think, it probably didn't make Scuba Diving Mags " the best of, or somewhere close " Funny is it not.

 

[Nemrod]

Single hose regulators tend to freeze up in the second stage. They have very little conductive area and they are plastic. Many are not enviro sealed, that is often an option or an upgrade. Fortunately the Aqua Master is fully sealed since the first stage and second stage are completely dry inside the cans. That in additon to their being made from heat conductive brass and the large area help to prevent icing issues with them. Just about any regulator can ice up under the right conditions, so glad I have no interest in diving in frozen quarries. N

 

[Bob Vincent]

Nemrod look up!

And as far as the Sherwood goes they are the preferred rental gear of bunches and bunches of Dive shops if they wasn't super tough they wouldn't be!

As for saying the old stuff like the Royal and other old US Diver's stuff is great stuff thats true so is a 50's Chevy. But the best and longest lasting ... ok I'll bite show me the number of dives on it? I'm sorry I haven't been diving that long a little over 30 years but I know the best reg in the world period was the first single hose ever made and that would be Poseidon. Actually more divers in the world used them. In fact more commercial divers, military divers etc used Poseidon regs than any other. Today they are still used by alot of military services in the world today because of dependability and safety. The old Cyklon model not the newer Deep's are Jet-Stream which now has a huge military, commercial and tech following. So when I think of the best I think well it's been used since the 50's and still used today and reported to have more dives on it in all types of diving ie tech, wreck, ice etc.

So if I truly wanted an old reg to have something different that is the best and a conversation piece I can share with new divers that will think thats really cool I think I'd have to dig out my first Cyklon 300.

 

[Luis H]

Nemrod look up!

And as far as the Sherwood goes they are the preferred rental gear of bunches and bunches of Dive shops if they wasn't super tough they wouldn't be!

As for saying the old stuff like the Royal and other old US Diver's stuff is great stuff thats true so is a 50's Chevy. But the best and longest lasting ... ok I'll bite show me the number of dives on it? I'm sorry I haven't been diving that long a little over 30 years but I know the best reg in the world period was the first single hose ever made and that would be Poseidon. Actually more divers in the world used them. In fact more commercial divers, military divers etc used Poseidon regs than any other. Today they are still used by alot of military services in the world today because of dependability and safety. The old Cyclone model not the newer Deep's are Jet-Stream which now has a huge military, commercial and tech following. So when I think of the best I think well it's been used since the 50's and still used today and reported to have more dives on it in all types of diving ie tech, wreck, ice etc.

So if I truly wanted an old reg to have something different that is the best and a conversation piece I can share with new divers that will think thats really cool I think I'd have to dig out my first Cyclone 300.

That is a good write up about a great regulator, but I have to disagree on several points.
First I will say that the Poseidon Cyklon 300 was my favorite regulator since the early 70’s. I own several and still think the second stage is one of the classic all time best designs ever made. I also stated repairing and servicing the Cyklon 300 in the early 70’s and that is why I will disagree on a number of points.

But, first the claim of it being the first single hose regulator made, it has been fairly well documented that it is not the case. I think it has been debated that the Sportsways Waterlung might also be the first single hose, but IMO, that debate is academic since the Australian made Porpoise predates either by several years.

The Cyklon 300 is a very reliable regulator when it is working properly, but IMO its over all durability is not even in the same category of a Conshelf or even a Scubapro Mk-5…lets not even mention the mechanism of an Aqua Mater or a DW Mistral (I am leaving the old duckbill out of this discussion since it was the Aquila’s heal of the durability of the DH regulator). The Cyklon needed regular service in a time (in the 70’s) when most divers did not service their Conshelf or Mk-5 for years and they worked fine.

Also servicing a Cyklon is basically a pain. To replace the second stage diaphragm you basically need a special press and even that had to be modified (I own one). Adjusting it is also a process since the first stage was not balanced and you had to adjust the first and second stage to play well together. After you adjusted the first stage you change the IP to meet the demands of that particular second stage, not to a specified IP.

All that being said, I still like that second stage. Its production started in 1957 and it is still being made…no other unit can claim that. Lately I am playing with using the Cyklon second stages with an Aqua Lung Titan (the Conshelf successor) and try to get the best of both worlds. I have adjusted the Titan to an IP of 175 psi, but I am thinking about modifying the Cyklon to work at a lower IP.


About the number of dives the Navy did on the Aqua Master…who knows. They now dive the Mentor (for re-breather training), which is basically a partially repackage Royal Aqua Master (similar to the Phoenix).

 

[Noboundaries]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced its new regulator pick. After testing of multiple regulators, NOAA found Oceanic's Delta IV to be the most reliable.

I found this interesting ... just think, it probably didn't make Scuba Diving Mags " the best of, or somewhere close " Funny is it not.

I'm pretty positive I remember the Delta IV on several Scuba diving mags "best of" lists three or four years ago, but it won't make them today. That's old news. But I will bet anyone the new NOAA announcement will make a shadow box filler or current events announcement in every scuba mag where Oceanic advertises. Not to do so would be just plain stooooopid on the magazine's part if they want to keep Oceanic's advertising dollars.

 

[eelpout]

The US Divers Conshelf line of single hose regulators would outlast most regulators when it comes to durability and availability of parts. Most of the the parts on the present Aqualung Repair kits would repair the non-metal parts on a Conshelf regulator.

The problem with Sherwood regualtors is the plastic second stage housing crack. That would not be a vote on durability. A chrome plated 2nd stage would corrode and lose it's chrome but would still be functional after a good cleaning.

Jim



.

 

[Gilldiver]

For single hose regs the Conshelf just can not be beat except for the modifications that Kerby Morgan did on it to make the Super Flow 2nd stage that is on their helmets. But these mods are almost the same as the USD SE2 only in a metal can. The KM Superlite 17 & 27 helments have way more hours deep, much deeper use (I am talking over 1,000 feet here) and more lives depending on them then any regulator in the sport diving market

But, if we stay with sport diving.

Most Durable

Double Hose
Less then 2,000 psi tank press = USD DW Mistral vintage 1956
2,000 to 3,000 psi tank press (3,500 w Phinox Nozzle) = Royal Aqua Lung

Single Hose
USD Conshelf XIV with the metal 2nd stage body.

 

[halocline]

i was thinking of the hard helmet systems and whether they would apply to this thread. Since you brought it up, is it true that in the event of a suit leak while using one of really deep, the diver would get squished up into the helmet?

That's got to be an urban legend....but it would be an effective way of experiencing life from the octopus's point of view(for a few milliseconds)!

 

[Luis H]

i was thinking of the hard helmet systems and whether they would apply to this thread. Since you brought it up, is it true that in the event of a suit leak while using one of really deep, the diver would get squished up into the helmet?

That's got to be an urban legend....but it would be an effective way of experiencing life from the octopus's point of view(for a few milliseconds)!

Not from a suit leak, but if the hose gets cut near the surface or there is a total air pressure loss at the surface and there is no one way valve at the helmet it would try to equalize the ambient pressure up into the hose.

The very early hard hats did not have that check valve and the pumps were hand operated…I think they learned very quickly about the pressure differential. The air inside the hose is all at one pressure, the water column outside has a pressure gradient. The air pressure in the hose needs to be higher that the maximum depth of the diver. If air pressure is lost at the surface it would be very bad news without the check valve.

I don’t know if anyone actually was crushed into the helmet (suit and all), but I have heard it has happen to some degree.

From a sui leak the diver will get wet and loose buoyancy…which in turn I guess could result in rapid decent if he is not supported on a stage, etc.