Bringing Italy to America

[Bob]

I own five sets of regulators, a Mares MR 12, V 16, SP MK 10, MK 25, and a Zeagle Flathead IV. The MK 25 and Flathead are the best breathers, all are reliable and no failures from any of them. almtree: Bob

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Jimmer your in fresh cold water, My wifes g250hp did same thing on lake superior wreck in minnesota two days before 9/11, I was diving my b1 atomic it didnt freeze and thats what happens in your diving enviorment. I've delt with that problem alot in the great lakes. to date the DA Aquamaster or equivaliant is best for ice diving, but of course new style regs are better at depth.
Seems like you would be diving enviormentaly sealed first stages. That helps the problem. We turned the tank back on at 40-50' freeflow thawed and stopped went down to 90' and finished the dive.
Now thats points for my b1, Beuchat vs4 is my favorite beuchat its older, MK17 is a favorite older scubapro also, I have alot of other brands and there all ok.

My honest opion is MK25 AF/S600 best breather at 175' and beyond.

Jimmer I have not dove them in fresh cold water, So I cant be certain it wont freeze and free-flow. Never a problem in saltwater at extreme depth.

Atomic machines there own regs, this is the first I've heard, But after a couple hundred dives mine did come loose also, Its a 99 possibe there made cheaper now.

 

[NC myerssl]

Let me take a shot at explaining the harder breathing upside down.

This has to do with the cracking resistance on the 2nd stage. Usually, a 2nd stage will start to freeflow when there is a slight pressure difference. For example when you put your 2nd stage in a sink of water diaghram first (mouthpiece is still out of the water), the 2nd stage should start leaking air when it is .5 - 1.5 inches in the water. The reason behind this is that there is pressure from the water pushing on the diaghram which opens the lever for air to be released. When you are breathing face down, your 2nd stage is filled with air and the water pressure is pushing upwards into the diaghram/lever which makes it easier to breath.

Upside down, you have more air pressure in the 2nd stage than you would in a face down position, (even though it is only a couple of inches), and less water pressure pushing on the reg which in turn makes the reg harder to draw on.

An example of this on the surface is when you experience a freeflow on your 2nd stage, by tilting it down (mouthpiece first) you change the pressure slightly and are able to stop the freeflow.

So long story short; the less cracking resistance of the regulator, the easier it is to breath upside down.

 

[Jimmer]

Jimmer your in fresh cold water, My wifes g250hp did same thing on lake superior wreck in minnesota two days before 9/11, I was diving my b1 atomic it didnt freeze and thats what happens in your diving enviorment. I've delt with that problem alot in the great lakes. to date the DA Aquamaster or equivaliant is best for ice diving, but of course new style regs are better at depth.
Seems like you would be diving enviormentaly sealed first stages. That helps the problem. We turned the tank back on at 40-50' freeflow thawed and stopped went down to 90' and finished the dive.
Now thats points for my b1, Beuchat vs4 is my favorite beuchat its older, MK17 is a favorite older scubapro also, I have alot of other brands and there all ok.

My honest opion is MK25 AF/S600 best breather at 175' and beyond.

Jimmer I have not dove them in fresh cold water, So I cant be certain it wont freeze and free-flow. Never a problem in saltwater at extreme depth.

Atomic machines there own regs, this is the first I've heard, But after a couple hundred dives mine did come loose also, Its a 99 possibe there made cheaper now.

The Cressi that free flowed on us was a sealed first stage, but you're right anyone with half a brain around here dives sealed regs for deep cold water. I dive Zeagles and have never had anything but perfect solid performance in deep water, cold water, under ice etc. Apek's are also very popular around here.

 

[stablgr]

Apeks.... British Engineering.... what more can I say ????

 

[Specmac]

Let me take a shot at explaining the harder breathing upside down.

This has to do with the cracking resistance on the 2nd stage.

This makes sense and also means that a reg that is hard breathing upside down could be tuned/improved by decreasing the cracking pressure. I'm sure however at the expense that it would be more likely to free flow. I'll have to dig my old MR11 out of storage and do a little experimenting.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

FYI, over here, in Europe, Cressi has the same reputation you mentioned above, cheap for rentals and weekend divers and that's about it. Not an established name for serious diving, however you may define it.

I believe they are over any birth pains as they are present with their regulators for quite some time now, but still have to earn their ground in the reg market.

I'd love to hear feedback from European LDS owners/shop keepers present on SB on this...

I second your opinion regarding Cressi's reputation in Europe. I received a set of "high end" Cressi regs for review before I decided on Oceanic instead. I already sold Apeks and Poseidon* at the time, but the Cressi didn't fit in.I want to see diver adjustments on any 2. stage that's supposed to be a brand's top model. No such thing on the Cressi. And yes, they do not have a reputation for being great regs either. Not bad ones, but you can get better deals for the same money. Our local diving is cold freshwater. And I mean COLD...

*Poseidon has no easy adjustments either, but it's out of my store now anyways due to a new distributor I don't fancy...

 

[The Chairman]

Apeks.... British Engineering.... what more can I say ????

Is this along the line of why the Brits drink warm beer? Their fridges (Made by Lucas) don't work???

 

[Luis H]

Apeks.... British Engineering.... what more can I say ????

Lucas…the father of darkness…British engineering…what else would you like me to say?

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

Lucas…the father of darkness…British engineering…what else would you like me to say?

I once drove a Triumph motorbike on a rainy day...