What to do with my reg??????

Hi
Just wanted to share a not so nice Apeks TX50 experience with you. I'm certainly not here to bag Apeks regs they seem to have a great reputation and mine has been faultless and a great breather till now. However I've lost some confidence in it since this incident which I'm still trying to regain

The reg had just been serviced-first dive since service- was at 12m doing a bridge dive I've done many times. Had been under for 15-20 mins- The tide had turned and I had a couple of knots of current in the face. Suddenly could hear/feel water gurgling in through my second stage- lots of it- so quickly faced away from current to try and breathe. Thought maybe the purge value had been depressed.

Still breathing lots of water and little air so things were bad and had no choice but to get air elsewhere.....not good. Thought about going for occy.. but what if the first stage was leaking water.....is that possible? Then I'd be in real trouble
So luckily my buddy was nearby and I grabbed his occy and we made our way back to shore


The regs are TX50 DST swivelling first stage with TX50 second and hose swivel.
I didn't buy them new but have done 50-60 dives with them and had them regularly serviced. I took them straight to the service agent and he could not find anything wrong.

So do I take the risk this could happen again or get rid of them. How can so much water get into the second stage?
If I can find a reason this happened I'd be happy to keep them but not knowing plays on your mind a little. No problems since with regs in 8-10 shallow dives

Maybe I'll get flamed for this post but this is a true story and I really don't want to change regs

It's possible that a strong sideways current would lift the exhaust valves in the 2nd stage and let water in which off course could also cause a flow out of the opposite valve and generate the noise you heard.
Most unlikely that water would get into the 1st stage against the HP or IP pressure.
The exhaust valves of the 2nd stage are nothing more than silicone rubber flaps.
Check that they are well seated and that the facing surfaces are smooth with no irregularities.
If it happens again try shielding the exhausts from the current using your hand just to see if it improves.

Fot, you will never get flamed here for asking an honest question.

You probably could have gone for your own occy on the way to your buddy, but you did the right thing, which was secure an alternate air source.

Double check the mouthpiece. Sometimes, when they have a few dives on them, they can develop a crack near the cable tie which appears like a little perishing of the rubber. When swimming into a current, the water can press on the reg and push it down and back towards your chin, opening the crack and letting water in. That is about the only thing I could think of if a service tec has had a look in the guts of the second stage and not really found anything amiss.

Normally you dont get water coming in the first stage, it is usually gas coming out that happens there.

I would say definately do a trial dive with them again but cautiously, go into it with your buddy fully briefed and prepared to deal with it if it happens again.

miketsp:

It's possible that a strong sideways current would lift the exhaust valves in the 2nd stage and let water in which off course could also cause a flow out of the opposite valve and generate the noise you heard.
Most unlikely that water would get into the 1st stage against the HP or IP pressure.
The exhaust valves of the 2nd stage are nothing more than silicone rubber flaps.
Check that they are well seated and that the facing surfaces are smooth with no irregularities.
If it happens again try shielding the exhausts from the current using your hand just to see if it improves.

Click to expand...

Yeah reckon u are onto something there. I do recall I was probably more sideways to current when the problem occurred. It definitely sounded/ felt like the water was coming up the exhaust port. Sounds like this could happen to any reg. Wonder u don't hear of it more often. I'm relieved to hear the first stage is very unlikely to leak water so as long as my occy is in good condition I should be fine if this happens again.

Think I'll keep my Apeks