Yoke adapter doesn't fit ALL tank valves ...

Aloha-

I have an RG2500 and though I have DIN valves on my personal tanks, I use the DR yoke adapter for tanks other than my own (i.e. - charter boat diving using the standard AL80). Usually not a problem, however as I was going through my IDC training and subsequent IE, I discovered that the adapter doesn't fit a certain tank valve that my instructor development center has on every one of their tanks: the Sherwood 5000. The ring-collar that fits down on top of the tank valve o-ring is too short and never seats on the o-ring. This is further exacerbated by the fact the the "Y" of the adapter tapers in slightly and the valve actually hits the inside of each leg, preventing it from seating properly. So I had to borrow the dive center's Mares yoke adapter for the duration of the course. :-(

Anyone else ever have this problem?

Mahalo

Patrick

Well... I'm not familiar with those specific items but there's often a difference between the LP & HP DIN valves, the HP being "bulkier" in order to discourage folks from cranking LP devices onto a HP valve.
Might this be what's happening in your situation?

I have a problem getting my tank pressure checker to fit around the Sherwood valve. It works but it is tight against the sides of the yoke. That valve just seems to be wider and bulkier than others.

Patrick,

I'm glad you made this post. My girlfriend and I just returned from a great weeklong trip to Bonaire. The only gear issue we had was with our Dive Rite Din-to-yoke adapters. Since our regs have DIN connectors, we needed the adapters to allow us to connect our regs to the yoke tanks provided by our dive op. Every tank we used had a Sherwood 5000 valve. Right away we noticed that our adapters really didn't have enough clearance to seat properly on the tank O-ring. As you might imagine, this caused a major leak at the junction once we pressurized our regs. Slightly different from your observation, the problem appeared to be that the size of the adapter collar (part that seats against the O-ring) was a smidge too large to seat properly within the outer rim of the yoke tank valve. After fussing with the connection before each dive, we were able to wedge the adapter onto the tank valve by cranking down hard on the tightening knob. This was a suboptimal fix to say the least. The metal of the adapter was grinding directly on the metal of the tank valve. Post-dive, on several occasions, we had to fight to disconnect the adapter from the tank valve. We have enough dive experience to know that this is not the way such adapters should work. Another member of our dive party used a Trident-branded Din-to-yoke adapter without any problems whatsoever. I am unsure whether the problem was caused by non-standard sizing of the adapter...or non-standard sizing of the Sherwood tank valve. Regardless, this is definitely an issue that should be addressed by both manufacturers. I plan to write to Dive Rite directly about this concern. Hopefully, they'll come out with some fix -- perhaps a formal recall of the adapters. I have been very happy with other Dive Rite equipment that I've purchased thus far. It's pretty disappointing to find out that they didn't test compatibility of their equipment with all of the major manufacturers of tank valves.

Bob3:

Well... I'm not familiar with those specific items but there's often a difference between the LP & HP DIN valves, the HP being "bulkier" in order to discourage folks from cranking LP devices onto a HP valve.
Might this be what's happening in your situation?

Click to expand...

It's actually the shape of the Sherwood valve - it's kind of square in shape and wider than other more common valves. Other yoke adapters have no problem fitting it- the Dive Rite is the one that is having trouble.

Patrick

awap:

I have a problem getting my tank pressure checker to fit around the Sherwood valve. It works but it is tight against the sides of the yoke. That valve just seems to be wider and bulkier than others.

Click to expand...

Yup - the Sherwood is slightly wider and square...

Bubbletrubble:

Patrick,
Regardless, this is definitely an issue that should be addressed by both manufacturers. I plan to write to Dive Rite directly about this concern. Hopefully, they'll come out with some fix -- perhaps a formal recall of the adapters. I have been very happy with other Dive Rite equipment that I've purchased thus far. It's pretty disappointing to find out that they didn't test compatibility of their equipment with all of the major manufacturers of tank valves.

Click to expand...

I feel your pain. I tried cranking the knob down hard but the slight inward taper of the yoke legs prevented it from seating properly against the valve/o-ring. It seems that all other mfr's DIN2Yoke adapters don't have this problem. My course director is a also a tech instructor and has Dive Rite gear as well. He said he'd never seen anything like this before and suggested I contact Dive Rite and let them know. I was hoping someone from Dive Rite would read this post and give us some insight. I love my Dive Rite gear too- If they don't rectify the situation, I guess I'll just have to buy that adapter from Mares, Trident, etc. :-(

This got my interest and having the items in question on hand I decided to try the ones that I have...and they fit fine. I dont know if it is a matter of different lots but my Dive Rite adaptor fits the Sherwood 5000 valve that I have on hand. The part of the adaptor that fits aginst the o-ring has very little clearance on this one and may be the part that is causing the problem for others. Attached is a photo.

This got my interest and having the items in question on hand I decided to try the ones that I have...and they fit fine. I dont know if it is a matter of different lots but my Dive Rite adaptor fits the Sherwood 5000 valve that I have on hand. The part of the adaptor that fits aginst the o-ring has very little clearance on this one and may be the part that is causing the problem for others. Attached is a photo.

firemedic1015:

This got my interest and having the items in question on hand I decided to try the ones that I have...and they fit fine. I dont know if it is a matter of different lots but my Dive Rite adaptor fits the Sherwood 5000 valve that I have on hand. The part of the adaptor that fits aginst the o-ring has very little clearance on this one and may be the part that is causing the problem for others. Attached is a photo.

Click to expand...

From your photo, it looks as though the space between the legs of the adapter is a lot wider than mine, so it can accommodate the wider Sherwood 5000 valve. That is not the case with mine - the space is so narrow that the edges of the valve catch the sides of the legs and holding the adapter away and keeps the "male" adapter ring from seating against the o-ring. Maybe this is a production problem - possibly the adapters are manufactured in two separate plants and their specs differ slightly. Whatever the case, Dive Rite should tighten up their QC and catch these variances before their products get to the general public.

Great photo - thanks!

Patrick