Why adjustment knobs might matter

[Pressurehead]

Yep I sure fluked it here, ocean out the front, caves out the back

How cold is the caves and ocean in July? Looks a good beach for Australian Salmon

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

IMHO..... the 2nd stage adjustable inhalation resistance and venturi free flow controls are the cats pajamas! I have them on both my primary Apeks ATX200 and the Zeagle F8 that's my Pony 2nd... I pretty much keep my Pony reg fully "detuned" knowing that I can easily adjust if ever needed. For my Primary ATX 200 I also keep it detuned right up to the point that I begin my descent and then I put it into full "Feed me Seymour" mode.... The only drawback......which I don't really consider much of a drawback is that I need to remember to back off the cracking pressure on the ATX when I hit the surface or it will freeflow....

Bottom line is that I love the adjustment knob and lever!

 

[L13]

just seems to me like another failure point OR another something to needlessly putz around with.

I don't get this preoccupation with "failure points." Not all failure points are equal. not all failure points add more risk. You can't just count the number of parts or o-rings to measure risk. Also, equipment "failure points" that reduce operator "failure points" may pay off tremendously.

The number of parts in a nuclear submarine is many orders of magnitude higher than in a scuba rig. It goes deeper for longer, in a far more "risky" environment. And yet it is far safer to spend an hour on it than on a scuba rig.

 

[bradlw]

well, I'll say in the context here anyway for me, it's about exploring the worth of the feature compared against the downsides. That's all. This wasn't about saying that it was oh so bad...just that in my estimation it doesn't seem bring much to the party that I need based on my experience. ...and again, it's about discussion exploring if I'm correct or not

 

[Geo7]

For a long time I favoured simple designs with few parts for the reasons stated above: fewer failure points and fewer sources of assembly errors. For example non-adjustable second stages over adjustable ones, and piston 1st stages over diaphragm regs. I came to the conclusion that while in theory a simpler design may in some cases have a "larger time between failures" (I beleive that is the engineering term), even the "complex" designs, i.e. adjuster knobs, we are talking about here, don't actually fail that easily or that often. So I'd suggest that while correct in theory, it has no effect in practice the way we use and service our regs.

 

[SlugLife]

Anyway, I'll stop dissing adjustment knobs from now on. They actually have a purpose.

SideMount or stage regs is a good use-case. You might want easy breathing, but also want to "de-tune"

Funny I say that when I always forget to ever touch the adjustment knobs on my regulators.

Besides, my wife says I adjust my knob too much

Clearly, that's her fault, if she's not going to adjust it for you.

Apeks ATX200

I used to have one of those. Nice reg, until it ended up on the bottom of a lake.

 

[BoltSnap]

Nice reg, until it ended up on the bottom of a lake.

How??

 

[happy-diver]

Mate don't you read Slugmug posts

anyway what's this top stuff, the bottom stuff is Krytox

Three hundred years worth

 

[Pressurehead]

Three hundred years worth

That's good, mine has only lasted 38 years, it would outlast cockroaches .
I have plenty of the other goo also, DC111 Molykote, bought 3 tubes of the stuff.

 

[SlugLife]

How??

Lost Improperly Tightened 2nd-Stage Regulator

This is embarrassing, my fault, and happened a little over a year ago. I'd rather not tell the story, but this was a year ago, and it would be improper for me to not share given I've learned from other's Accidents/Incidents. My dive was around an island, at 20 to 45 feet deep. At about 30...

scubaboard.com