Question Have you (or anyone you know) ever seen a yoke regulator dislodged while diving?

[VikingDives]

I had one fall off during an air depletion exercise. I turned off the student's air, and when I turned it back on, the yoke was just loose enough that it wouldn't seat.

 

[rjack321]

I've never even seen a yoke reg being used by a diver.

DIN is superior in every way and I am ready to die on that hill.

Clearly you've never been to the Bahamas or a myriad of other single al80 destinations with rental tanks

 

[Vicko]

I saw broken knobs that needed a wrench to be taken off the tank but never even heard of it completely sheering off.
To be fair a din reg is just as vulnerable if the tank falls off a rack.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I've never even seen a yoke reg being used by a diver.

DIN is superior in every way and I am ready to die on that hill.

They are super common in the Caribbean and Florida, not so much in Europe. But I'm in agreement with you.

 

[gmerick]

Not a yoke failure, but a failure due to yoke use. Caribbean - Sidemount - pair of AL80 w/ standard pro valves (not left/right), yoke adapters (corroded pro plugs), and DIN regs. Tank valves were turned off after I had prepped my gear. Negative entry. Instead of turning on tank valves, I loosened yoke screws. Ditched weight and made free ascent from sand.

 

[Degenerate]

Clearly you've never been to the Bahamas or a myriad of other single al80 destinations with rental tanks

You are correct.
I have zero interest in going there, waaaay too hot for my taste.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

Out of curiosity, was it a personal tank or rental? My (limited) experience with that failure mode (no impact, just the O-ring blew) has been either damaged tank valve or worn/damaged O-ring.
To be clear, I don't question anyone's choice of DIN or yoke... this poll is investigating the veracity of one specific failure mode.

Best,

James

Personal tank, o-rings are inspected before every dive and changed when they show signs of wear. I can’t say for certain what caused it.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

What's the effect when this happens -- is the regulator still breathable while you're rapidly losing gas, or does it blow the first stage full of water and all bets are off?

She rapidly lost gas. We identified the failure point and she shut the tank off since it was something we didn’t want to/probably shouldn’t fix underwater since we were so shallow. 1st stage was fine when we had it looked at. 1st stage didn’t “blow off” the o-ring extruded some how. This was about 30 min into the dive.

 

[herman]

I had my tank (AL-80) fall from standing up to the ground off a truck tailgate on Bonaire. Zeagle reg. It bent the yoke and the nozzle but it kept on working the rest of the week and while a little more difficult to get it to seal, it never failed. ...And no I NEVER leave my reg/tank standing after that. Oring leaks are a different matter and need different thread.
And another point no one has mentioned....the reg, be it DIN or yoke is inches from your head, if you are moving so fast as to knock one off with your head just inches from whatever knocked it off I would think you should rethink your diving style.

 

[BoltSnap]

In my days owning a dive center/shop with a big service department, I remember many Yoke regulators that needed replacement of the yoke connection due to "unit falling from the back of the truck" or other accidents while I don't remember anything like this from DIN regulators. I also seen and heard of many instances of tank valve yoke o'ring extrusion especially when the tank is filled to more than 230B but none with DIN.

P.S. There are far many more Chinese and Korean cars driven around the world than Mercedes and BMW's but they are nowhere even close to the superiority in every way to Mercedes and BMW.