Which regulator to buy

[JonOh]

I bought my first reg (Atomic B2) and it came with the swivel. Didn't really help. Then I discovered Miflex hoses and it was like nirvana.




Environmentally sealed stages are primarily for keeping the first stage from freezing and inducing freeflow. Piston type first stages are the only ones that would need an environmental seal kit (usually it's just a fancy grease like Christolube or Tribolube that they put inside the first stage). Diaphram type first stages don't need it.

The Atomic first stages are all piston types, so if you were to dive in cold water (like low 40s-F or less), then you'd need it to be packed with the grease. Either that or go with a diaphram type first stage. Aqualung and Scubapro has some of these types as are other manufacturers - ask your LDS which is which.

I used my Atomic M1 with packed 1st stage and my Aqualung Titan LX when I was diving in Idaho a couple of years back. Neither freeflowed even though the ice melted water hit 40-F.

Check into the Miflex hoses' lengths. They run the gamut from short to extremely long. XStreme Scuba is the US importer for Miflex so most any shop can order the hoses.

So which shop do you go to in Boise? Dive Magic/Boise Water Sport or the new one in Meridian? The people that runs the new one in Meridian also used to run Boise Water Sport until the owner sold the shop to Dive Magic's Mike and his family. Then the people that ran Boise Water Sport decided to open up the Meridian shop.

---------- Post added February 27th, 2013 at 08:19 AM ----------



I know another shop in SoCal that also rents out regs with the 360-degree swivels coupled to short hoses. The owner believes in that setup for convenient hose routing and such.

I personally prefer Miflex hoses over the use of swivels, but that's me.

I think that it's good for a shop to have regs and equipment rigged in standard configurations and alternative configurations. That way the diver can rent and try out to see if the differences are worth investing into.

---------- Post added February 27th, 2013 at 08:21 AM ----------



Boise Water Sport has a swimming pool, and I'm sure that they don't mind letting you try out the rental regs.

Cool! I will into the Miflex hoses too. Sounds very robust and useful. I go to the Dive Magic and Mike is still there. He is the dealer for Scubapro and Aqualung and since those two seem to be the most popular brand around the world, I will stick with those two brands. Plus I prefer to buy the regulator locally so the LDS can service it for me. 40F seems too cold for me to dive. Even with a drysuit, I might stay away from it. I will definitely try it but I doubt I will do many cold water dives.

 

[fnfalman]

Cool! I will into the Miflex hoses too. Sounds very robust and useful. I go to the Dive Magic and Mike is still there. He is the dealer for Scubapro and Aqualung and since those two seem to be the most popular brand around the world, I will stick with those two brands. Plus I prefer to buy the regulator locally so the LDS can service it for me. 40F seems too cold for me to dive. Even with a drysuit, I might stay away from it. I will definitely try it but I doubt I will do many cold water dives.

Dive Magic rents out drysuits and with the proper undergarment it's fine. Your face and hands do go numb though, and you'd have ice cream headache for the first couple of minutes but it does go away.

Nothing wrong with Scubapro and Aqualung. I "believe" that all Aqualung regs are diaphram type so you don't have to worry about environmental seal kits. Scubapro has both piston and diaphram regs, so the piston reg would need to be packed if you were to do cold water/ice diving.

You might wonder why would anybody want a piston reg if diaphram doesn't require an enviro kit. It's really down to what you want. Piston regs tend to breath easier, especially when the tank pressure runs low. Then you'd have to look at the quality of the unit itself too. I'd rather spend the money on the Atomic plus Christolube/Tribolube piston reg than some unknown Taiwanese diaphram regs.

PS Tell Mike that HT says hello.

 

[JonOh]

I will tell him you said hi. I just saw him yesterday and he gave me a little tutorial on buying regulators. Now I now what sealed chambers mean, and I would like one even though I'm not diving much in cold water. But I do have one question that came up though. I notice that the exhaust valves vary between manufacturers. Some have wide T valves that seem to try to channel the bubbles away from the face. Is there any preference out there on exhaust options on brands. Any brands do it better than the other? What I noticed was Atomics have wider T's.

---------- Post added February 28th, 2013 at 10:46 AM ----------

One more thing. Materials. Do they really matter? Sounds like a marketing gimmick. Sure, titanium is great but people have been diving with non titanimum for decades. My local LDS guy even said he is still servicing regulators 20 years old. It has been drilled into me to take care of my gear and it will be no different for my regs and that is why I prefer a sealed unit as a redundancy. Other than rinsing my gear will there be an instance where titinium will have a significant benefit? Also what about brass, tungsten and those other materials? Any comparison charts with pros and cons out there?

 

[iluvtheocean]

i thought the titanium was for less rust and weight myself.

I found out that you need to actually partially disassemble the reg in addition to rinsing to make sure nothing trapped inside (sand, tiny shells);by disassemble i just mean unscrewing the ring and exposing the innards - nothing that requires any tools cept your fingers and possibly a clean bit of cloth.

 

[JonOh]

i thought the titanium was for less rust and weight myself.

I found out that you need to actually partially disassemble the reg in addition to rinsing to make sure nothing trapped inside (sand, tiny shells);by disassemble i just mean unscrewing the ring and exposing the innards - nothing that requires any tools cept your fingers and possibly a clean bit of cloth.

Yes you are right. From what I have read, it helps with corrosion from seawater. Brass and other coatings don't hold up as well. Although I did read that tititanium might not be able to handle higher blends of O2, so you need to be careful to make sure the manufacturer supports up to 40%. I thought this was odd since titanium seems more inert than the other metals and didn't expect the higher O2 to oxidize the titanium as much. But my chemistry is already rusty anyways.

 

[jIM STEELE]

If you have a lot of bucks and like to show branding, it does not make any difference what you buy all regulators breath good face down or up the best bang for the buck is a hog get the metal tube for cold water. great service

 

[diversteve]

Under $600 - if buying new - Ti regs are mostly out of your price range anyway - except maybe for the best EDGE or some of the Cressi line. All completely Ti regs have the advantage of zero issues with corrosion. If you fly a lot - they have a marginal weight advantage - esp. into the south pacific as carry-on. But we're talking ounces. Ti 2nd stages are often a little lighter also - for example the T2x second, without the swivel, actually floats. So they minimize jaw fatigue slightly.

Most Ti regs are now good to 40% - if you specialize later in mixed gas tec/cave diving you may want something else. But if you do, you'll likely be buying new regs then anyway as that gear is much more specialized. In the Atomic line (since you're familiar with them) the M1 is that choice, it's all Monel (inert) and has a cave ring option for cleaning the 1st stage u/w if needed.

Divers Direct on I95 in Ft. Lauderdale has a lot of regs behind the counter. IDK if they do demo's but as far as selection, it's one of the largest I've seen.

 

[ams511]

Yes you are right. From what I have read, it helps with corrosion from seawater. Brass and other coatings don't hold up as well. Although I did read that tititanium might not be able to handle higher blends of O2, so you need to be careful to make sure the manufacturer supports up to 40%.

Chrome plated brass has been used since the early days of scuba and last forever with proper (and even improper) maintenance. Servicing a 20 year old reg is nothing, some people still use the vintage double-house regs which some are over 50 years old. Like the other poster said the main advantage to titanium is the weight savings. A titanium reg should handle handle all recreational nitrox levels just fine.

If you want a sealed reg and are looking for deals I would check with Beaverdivers to see if he has any of the S600/Mk17 regs (or the Subgear S-1000) available for $400 or Northeast Scuba Supply for an Apeks ATX 200 for $400. Both are top of the line regs which you will NEVER outgrow at an excellent price. Your local dealer should be able to service them and they will be covered under warranty.

 

[JonOh]

How does the warranty work when I buy from Northeast Scuba Supply? Do I need to send the reg back to them or can any authorized dealer service the reg and maintain the warranty. When I buy used, the warranty is normally out the door right? Sorry if these questions all seem dumb, but I tried reading the sites and they seem very vague on what/how things are covered.

 

[diversteve]

IDK NE Scuba Supply but as long as they're a mfr. authorized dealer for what you're buying any other dealer will be able to check your registration and do any required warranty work. Some dealers register your gear after the sale also, others include the warranty card - sometimes stamped with their dealer info. Most major brands have online registration thru their website now also.

Used you're on your own typically. If you buy a used reg, it would be good to either have the seller service it first or make arrangements to return it if there's something fundamentally wrong with it after you do. And you should have it serviced before diving it also. So factor in that cost in any used good deal.

I believe that some demo gear bought from larger on-line retailers may still have a warranty. I bought a back-up demo reg from Scubatoys a few years ago - it included the warranty card and I was able to register it online. In my case, it was their counter display model so looked brand new.