Why use DIN?

[MSilvia]

I didn't get any answers in the other Yoke vs DIN thread, so here it is again:
I've only ever used yoke, and I haven't a clue what DIN is. What are the advantages of DIN, and why did you switch if you use it? (assuming you started with yoke)

 

[ninja]

I mainly use them because i dive in overhead enviroments wear the chance of dislauging a yoke is far more likely than a DIN valve!

Because a din fitting is threaded into the valve with a captured o-ring there is less chance of o-ring failure and lets face it, lets see you smack a bolt out of a nut impossible IMHO!!!

They are the fitting of technical divers mainly for the safety factor I would think if given an option most recreational divers would accept and understand the the advantages of din valves and would choose them for themselves
I'm not saying yoke is unsafe it has worked for decades but Din is far superior!!

I beleive DIN stands for (Deutsches Institut für Normung) It is a german standardization..

Hopes this helps

Len

 

[devilfish]

Din is rated for higher pressure than yoke. With the intrduction of high pressure cylinders, the din became a neccesity.

 

[Scubaroo]

In a nutshell, a DIN regulator is screwed into a DIN valve (like a bolt into a nut), whereas a yoke regulator is clamped over a yoke valve, relying partly on air pressure to keep it secure. Yoke valves are commonly (rightly or wrongly) refered to as K valves.

DIN is a more secure fitting, slightly more compact, can handle higher working pressure tanks than yoke, and has a reduced likelyhood of a blown o-ring ruining your dive. Internally, DIN and yoke regulators do not differ, and depending on the manufacturer, can often be converted from one type to the other.

I'm moving from yoke to DIN in the very near future as I think it is a superior system. It is very popular outside of the United States, particularly in Europe. Yoke is historically more popular in the US.

A regulator purchase decision regarding yoke or DIN should be based on if you own yoke or DIN tanks, or the availability of yoke or DIN rental tanks. Travel adapters can adapt a DIN regulator to yoke if travelling to a destination where DIN is not available.

 

[devilfish]

K valve is the on/off tank valve. J is reserve valve. Has nothing to do with yoke or din.

 

[Scubaroo]

True devilfish - a K valve can be either yoke or DIN.

But valves are "commonly" refered to as being either K or DIN - even if the DIN valve is actually a K valve. So a lot of people call a "yoke valve" a "K valve". Sort of like saying a quarter is a coin, but a penny is a penny. They're not wrong, they're just not being definitively accurate.

Anyway!

Has your original question been answered, MSilvia?

 

[devilfish]

I just hate to see things get lost in a shuffle because of common knowledge and then eventually taken for gospel.
Since J valves became obsolete and seldom seen nowadays, the on/off K valve became the most common choice valve. So, since din valves bacame popular in the US and have been around in Europe longer, it would make no sense to put it with a J valve. Thus all Din valves have a K valve.
K & J, simply item numbers from an old US divers catalog.
Just on the funny side, first there were the May West aka horse collar, then stab jackets aka stabilizing jacket, then BC aka buoyancy compensator, then BCD aka buoyancy compansating device, what's next? WBCD? Weight Belt Compansating Device?
I love technology and progress, but sometimes it gets funny.

 

[MSilvia]

You've all been very helpful. Thanks for filling me in!

 

[Josh Levinson]

Originally posted by ninja

I'm not saying yoke is unsafe it has worked for decades but Din is far superior!![/B]

I don't know if I'd say DIN was "far" superior. It's definitely better than yoke, but I think it's advantages are really only significant in some applications (i.e. tech and overhead diving). Otherwise, yoke is fine.


Josh

 

[pipedope]

If memory serves, the K and J designations come from the internal configurations.
In a diagram you can 'see' the letter internally.

Anybody have an 'old' diving book to look for the illustrations? I seem to remember it in a PADI manual when I got certified in 1978.

michael