Which regulator for both very cold & warm waters?

[Mr. Sunday]

I think most (all? almost all?) Aqua Lung servicing dealers will also service and sell Apeks in the US.

I have a set in for service now. No issues getting them done in my experience.

 

[EireDiver606]

Any reg will do.

 

[rhwestfall]

Any reg will do.

Having spent nearly 30 years diving the Great Lakes, I will say there are some that are quite a bit more appropriate than others....

The more skilled diver can likely make some success, but bettering your odds is a very smart approach.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

Well here is what I have learned. I actually bought a Zeagle F8 and had it ordered to the shop. I thought I had done my research and decided that I wanted a diaphragm reg for 2 reasons.

#1 Its sealed, and in theory it should last longer because less contaminants can get inside and you can use it in cold water.

#2 They are supposed to deliver air at a more consistent rate.

My dive shop guy then told me that you can actually over breathe a diaphragm reg, if you are exerting yourself and need a ton of air delivered it is possible to get into a situation where it can not deliver enough air.

He also said below 500 pounds in your tank and diaphragm regs don't work very well at all, and can even seize up. Just a week after him telling me this the recall on Oceanic regs came out and thats exactly what the problem is, under 500 pounds the reg can stop working. My shop said diaphragm regs have a tendency to do this.

So since I do a lot of spearfishing and can maybe get into to a fight with some goliath and be breathing like crazy I sent the Zeagle back and got the Atomic B2. This is a balanced piston reg. Some will argue they are not as smooth as diaphragm regs but there is no doubt they can deliver more air. And they don't seize up at the end of a tank.

The only drawback to this is its not a great cold water reg because it can freeze up, but all you have to do is get it sealed (they pack grease inside) and now your good to go for cold water.

So for me its piston regulators from here on out. Hope this helps.

 

[ams511]

Hello,
So far I have learned, that very cold water oriented regulators, may not be optimal in warm water, because of decreased performance. I have also read somewhere, that in EU I should probably orient myself towards apeks, instead of scubapro. It seems to me, 2 years ago top shelf regulators, suitable for technical diving where a lot more expensive, or am I just imagining it? Will I have less fun in warm water with ice-optimized regulator? Should I rather try to get two sets?

Welcome to Scubaboard.

Cold water regulators have decreased performance for two reasons. The first is the IP on the first stage is lowered to help prevent freezing, the second is that the secondary seal on diaphragm regulators reduces performance (This is per the US Navy, personally I have not noticed it). That being said the regulator performance is often a personal thing and small differences are noticeable only to a machine. I sincerely doubt you will have less fun using a cold water regulator.

If you want a cold water regulator then I would look at Apeks XTX-50, ATX-40, Mares Navy, Aqualung Glacia, Scuabpro A700/g260/MK-17 and of course any of the Poseidon regulators.The least expensive would be the Apeks ATX-40, the most expensive is the Poseidon. If you want to be an ice diver then I would recommend not overthinking the regulator decision and think more about exposure protection. Nothing is fun if you are cold.

Personally, I would talk to divers in your area and see what regulators they use and then talk to shops. When I watch Arctic diving on TV, they are using Y-valves on a single tank so 2 first stages are necessary. Is this required in your area? If so you need a doubles set.

 

[eelnoraa]

Well here is what I have learned. I actually bought a Zeagle F8 and had it ordered to the shop. I thought I had done my research and decided that I wanted a diaphragm reg for 2 reasons.

#1 Its sealed, and in theory it should last longer because less contaminants can get inside and you can use it in cold water.

#2 They are supposed to deliver air at a more consistent rate.

My dive shop guy then told me that you can actually over breathe a diaphragm reg, if you are exerting yourself and need a ton of air delivered it is possible to get into a situation where it can not deliver enough air.

He also said below 500 pounds in your tank and diaphragm regs don't work very well at all, and can even seize up. Just a week after him telling me this the recall on Oceanic regs came out and thats exactly what the problem is, under 500 pounds the reg can stop working. My shop said diaphragm regs have a tendency to do this.

So since I do a lot of spearfishing and can maybe get into to a fight with some goliath and be breathing like crazy I sent the Zeagle back and got the Atomic B2. This is a balanced piston reg. Some will argue they are not as smooth as diaphragm regs but there is no doubt they can deliver more air. And they don't seize up at the end of a tank.

The only drawback to this is its not a great cold water reg because it can freeze up, but all you have to do is get it sealed (they pack grease inside) and now your good to go for cold water.

So for me its piston regulators from here on out. Hope this helps.

"out breathing a diaphragm reg" is totally BS, unless you are doing spear fishing at 300ft, breathing air and sharing 3 other people, and chasing my great white at the same time, maybe.

The 500psi issue from Oceanic is Oceanic's unique problem, it doesn't apply to all other diagram regs. Oceanic makes lousy reg to begin with.

B2 is a great reg, I have some. But due to the 2nd stage material used, it isn't as good of a cold water reg as the lower cost Z2.

Maybe it is time to find a new shop for advices

 

[outofofficebrb]

My dive shop guy then told me that you can actually over breathe a diaphragm reg, if you are exerting yourself and need a ton of air delivered it is possible to get into a situation where it can not deliver enough air.

He also said below 500 pounds in your tank and diaphragm regs don't work very well at all, and can even seize up. Just a week after him telling me this the recall on Oceanic regs came out and thats exactly what the problem is, under 500 pounds the reg can stop working. My shop said diaphragm regs have a tendency to do this.

What does it mean to overbreathe a diaphragm reg? Can someone who has knowledge in its design comment on this? It sounds like hocus pocus speak from someone who is trying to sell a piston reg but I only interpret that as such with limited knowledge. I dive a diaphragm reg and have done so for more than 150 dives. I’ve hit below 500 PSI many, many times (surfacing mostly between 350-just below 500, naughty!) and have never had problems with my diaphragm regs, even with the much hated ACD. (I have Aqua Lung Legend LX.) If anyone has any info, please chime in. I’d like to know more. Thanks!

 

[IncreaseMyT]

B2 is a great reg, I have some. But due to the 2nd stage material used, it isn't as good of a cold water reg as the lower cost Z2.

Maybe it is time to find a new shop for advices

I don't know you can say that, but I can breathe quite a bit of air.

The recall on Oceanic is a unique problem but are you saying that a diaphragm reg will deliver as consistently under 500 PSI as a piston reg will?

Also are you saying a diaphragm reg can deliver as much air as a piston reg?

I have heard, from multiple people that have been diving quite a long time, that it may even free flow on your last 200 PSI. Which makes sense because of the mechanics.

 

[lowviz]

...//... Also are you saying a diaphragm reg can deliver as much air as a piston reg? ...

Either would be more than good enough for me under the most extreme duress. Hyperventilating is most often confused with a reg not being able to keep up.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

Either would be more than good enough for me under the most extreme duress. Hyperventilating is most often confused with a reg not being able to keep up.

Right but the piston reg can deliver a lot more. Now I am not trying to say that is going to be very likely, but I doubt there are many people out there that could breathe more air than I could. Last time I was down I shot 2 x40 inch permit and spent 15 minutes fighting off 8 Goliath. It may not sound strenuous but I literally had to rip it out of their mouth multiple times, and use all my strength to push them away, they kept trying to bump me and spike me.

After that dive I was done, I had never exerted so much energy, trying to swim and yank that thing out of their mouth while getting dragged down into 100 ft hole.

So I am not saying I can even over breathe it, but also being 290 lbs if there is a chance someone is going to over breathe it then its probably going to be me.

But at the end of the day for me, since I live in FL, Atomic was the way to go because it is a better warm water reg. I like Zeagle thats the BCD I have, just pointing out the only differences in the 2 types of regs I could find. Since there is very little difference between most of them.

Wasn't really trying to convince the op either way, more let him know what I learned as far as performance goes, and there is no doubt a piston reg can deliver a lot more air. But I do see your point as it would be extremely hard, almost impossible to over breathe any reg.