300 Bar DIN Valve or 230 Bar?

[NickR]

Hi there

I have a question about tank valves. Being the new proud owner of a couple of Apeks ATX 200’s on a DS4 1st stage (DIN) I thought I would get the valve changed on my tank from yoke to DIN. Do I need to use a 300 bar rated valve on my tank with the DS4, or can I use a 230 bar valve?

I did have a 300 bar valve fitted by my LDS, however, it is a strange design because the DIN socket is inline with the knob. This means that the 1st stage is about 3 cm further forwards that it needs to be (I think). I am comparing this to my old yoke valve I have. I thought that all valves would have the DIN socket at right angles to the knob, and so I did a bit of an internet search and found what I thought were 300 bar valves in the traditional design. I mentioned this to my LDS and they queried whether they were actually 300 bar valves, they seem to think that to be 300 bar it must be in line.

They are happy to swap it over, but I need to know if this is the right thing for me to do or not. Should I just accept that the valve has a different layout to my yoke valve and live with it?

BTW, the tank is a Luxfer AL 95 if that makes any difference.

Your help is appreciated.

Cheers
Nick

 

[aabond]

The difference between 230 and 300 bar as far as connection goes, is that 230 uses 5 threads whereas the 300 uses 7. It's more of a security precaution so that 230 bar regs are attached to a 300 bar tank which could potentially damage the reg.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by different layout. Din and yoke face the same way in relation to the bcd. It does seem to stick out a little more, at least for me when I switched my reg for yoke to din, but it's only a couple of millimeters. My steel tanks came with the thermo din/yoke valve which is supposed to be 230, where you can screw in the little ring to convert it to yoke. However, my reg is 300. The din connection on your first stage should be 300 bar, which will work on both 230 and 300 bar.

 

[NickR]

Thank you for your quick response.

I probably didn't give the best description of the valve. Let me try it another way;

If you look at the tank, on my yoke valve you could look at the o-ring and have the knob on the left hand side. On the new DIN valve, if you orient it so you are looking into the valve at the o-ring, then the knob is actually behind the o-ring. So, if you looked down on the valve then the knob and DIN connection are in a straight line.

I was thinking that this seemed a bit strange.

But they said I can get it swapped so if my DS4 will fit OK with a 230 bar valve then I will just go for it.

Cheers
Nick

 

[oxyhacker]

Get a 230 bar "international outlet" combo DIN-yoke valve (if you don't already have one, some people do and not realize it because they don't have the inserts). There is nothing to be gained by going to a straight-300 bar DIN valve, and you loose the ability to use a yoke reg.

It's funny - the standard wisdom used to be that you HAD to have the 300 bar valve for 3500 psi tanks, and that they were "safer" and "more DIR" to use on lower pressure tanks because of the higher rating. But now they are in standard use on the new 3442 tanks without problems, and people are realizing that a 230 bar DIN valve used in the DIN mode is exactly as strong as a 300 bar DIN - the differences between the two are not contrived to make the 300 stronger, but just serve to differentiate the two. In fact, many divers feel that the shallower opening in the 230 bar valve is actually sturdier than the 300 bar, and less likely to get dinged.

 

[NickR]

The valve that my LDS would swap it for is a combination one; it has the insert to convert it to a yoke fitting. I will just go ahead and get it swapped over.

Glad to hear that this isn't going to be a problem for me.

Thank you all for you help on this.

Cheers
Nick

 

[Tamas]

If you look at the tank, on my yoke valve you could look at the o-ring and have the knob on the left hand side. On the new DIN valve, if you orient it so you are looking into the valve at the o-ring, then the knob is actually behind the o-ring. So, if you looked down on the valve then the knob and DIN connection are in a straight line.

Can you snap a pic of this please?! for the life of me I cannot imagine what this looks like :huh: and makes no sense. In a DIN valve, there is no o-ring.....ok I am lost!

 

[NickR]

No probs mate.

I expect my description is not entirely accurate though. I tried to find one that looked the same on the web and I couldn't. I'll get the camera out and upload something tonight.

Cheers
Nick

 

[NickR]

These pictures should hopefully overcome my naff description. There isn't an oring in there, I just though there would be (used to using yoke valves).

Now you'll be able to sleep at night!

Nick

 

[Tamas]

Now you'll be able to sleep at night!

Indeed! Now I can.

But those are some odd looking valves. Who makes them? The combination ones (with the screw in insert) would be a better choice maybe.....because by the time you put your 1st stage on there, it is going to stick out quite a lot, hitting your head most likely....and if need be you can still use an a-clamp/yoke regulator on it as well

 

[NickR]

I've done some more research and found that it is made by Sea Hornet, and my valve is pictured on their website: http://www.seahornet.com/cylinders.htm not sure why I couldn't find it before though.

But you're right, with the 1st stage on it would have been banging into my head.

Thanks again for all the advice guys.

Nick