ATX200 first stage

[Phoenix]

does anyone diving doubles/dir config find a problem with the position of the ports on the ATX200 first stage? (not sure its part number) I was just curious as i was considering buying two, but i heard the port locations making routing properly a pain, this however was by someone not used to diving doubles/dir config and so he may not of been trying to route them correctly anyway, doubt he had a long hose/etc

any input great

thanks

[Dryglove]

Phoenix once bubbled...
does anyone diving doubles/dir config find a problem with the position of the ports on the ATX200 first stage? (not sure its part number) I was just curious as i was considering buying two, but i heard the port locations making routing properly a pain, this however was by someone not used to diving doubles/dir config and so he may not of been trying to route them correctly anyway, doubt he had a long hose/etc

any input great

thanks

They seem to work great to me. Thats the reason i went with the ATX200 was due to the hose routing. I set mine up with the diaphram ends facing in.

[JeffAustin]

With ATX 200's for doubles. Both of my caps point the same way so I can easily put them on my single 95's using a y valve, also. The hoses point straight down the way they should. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that is is a really good configuration.

[Scubaroo]

I have a set kicking around from last year when I did some doubles diving - they're definitely being held onto for my own set of doubles. The hose routing is great when you put them sideways and face the diaphragms in - similar to the pictures of the TX100 doubles config on the WKPP equipment pages, but much more compact.

If price is not a consideration, go for it. Lots of people still use the trusty old DS4s though, however these have issues on doubled Catalina AL80s because of the very short tank neck. Come to think of it the ATX200 probably would have the same problems on these tanks.

[Phoenix]

excellent thanks for your input
ill be going for dual ATX200 setup and i will be blocking in the non standard port and using the alternate, is this the general consensus?

[Dryglove]

Phoenix once bubbled...
excellent thanks for your input
ill be going for dual ATX200 setup and i will be blocking in the non standard port and using the alternate, is this the general consensus?


Well...... On my setup, the right post has the long hose and the wing inflator hose which use the standard ports. The non standard port is blocked.

The left post has my back up reg, drysuit hose and spg. Being that i dont use argon or a seperate drysuit inflation system i have to use the non-standard port which has never caused me a problem.

[JeffAustin]

on my set up , both large ports are used. the long hose and back up reg utilize the big ports. If you get an extra set of hoses, the scenario often cited when discounting the use of the large ports(running around looking for a replacement hose on a boat 20 miles out to sea,etc...) will never occur.:)

[blackice]

I've looked at the ATX200 and was thinking of buying a 1st and 2nd stage for use in single tank diving.

I was wondering how I should use it for single tank diving? Should I use a downsizer to allow me to use my standard size long hose in the larger 1/8" port? and my back up short hose reg in the normal size port? or is there another way?

Thanks for any pointers you can give.

=-)

[Doof]

I'm using 2 ATX200's on my doubles as well. I use the 1/2" port on both. Both regs are rotated so that they're facing the right. I've got my 7' hose and wing inflator hose off the right post, and backup reg, drysuit inflator, and spg off the left. Works great.

When I switch them over to a single tank, I keep the long hose where it is, and I swap the backup over to a standard sized hose that I have. Both of these come of the right. Both inflator hoses and my spg come off the left. I've also had no problems with that setup either.

I also picked up 2 1/2" plugs so just in case I find myself stuck somewhere with only a standard size hose, I can just stick the plugs in and go.

[blackice]

So Doof, are you using a standard size hose on the 1/2" port with a down sizer or are you using 1/2" hoses?

Trying to figure out if I should buy a new hose or just a small metal converter?

[Doof]

Both hoses are 1/2". I wasn't comfortable with the idea of an adapter.

I'm planning on picking up another 1/2" 7' hose. Then I'll have a spare for both regulators (since both regs originally came with their own short 1/2" hose I've already got a spare for the backup).

Between that and the 1/2" plugs, I should be all set. Unless of course I lose/forget my entire save-a-dive kit. And if I'm having that bad of a day, I'm not sure I want to be diving. ;)

[Dryglove]

Doof once bubbled...
I'm using 2 ATX200's on my doubles as well. I use the 1/2" port on both. Both regs are rotated so that they're facing the right. I've got my 7' hose and wing inflator hose off the right post, and backup reg, drysuit inflator, and spg off the left. Works great.


Just out of curiosity why do you have both regs facing to the right and not facing in so they dont block the knob for the valve on the one side?

[Doof]

Because the 1/2" port is only on one side of the first stage.

I was actually concerned about that myself, but it doesn't seem to block the valve much. I haven't had any problems reaching and turning it.

Someday I may buy standard hoses so I can turn both regs in, but for now it isn't causing any problems.

[blackice]

Thanks Doof, I managed to get my hands on a long hose for the larger port, then I have the converter and a spare long hose (standard size) as part of my back up kit.

Can't wait to try it out, I asked for a 5' hose and picked it up , went home happy then held it up and realised that it was 6'. Now I'm not worried, it's kind of nice in fact as I was tossing between the 5' and 7'.

But am happy with 6' as I'm only 5.5'.
:-)

[DIR Tec Diver]

Just FYI, Halcyon now makes the hoses with the 1/2 inch ports, and the 24" back up hose for the Apeks is usually needed instead of the 22" due to the hose pointing downward then needing to curve over.

[divermasterB]

The end that mates up with the second stage? Is it all the same on the 1/2" and 3/8" hoses?

[JeffAustin]

The second stage end of the hose is the same, in most cases the hose is the same. All that is different is the diameter of the fitting at the end that fits the first stage.



divermasterB once bubbled...
The end that mates up with the second stage? Is it all the same on the 1/2" and 3/8" hoses?

[divermasterB]

Is there any justification for the non-standard ports. If they were really doing a wider diameter hose, I could see the performance argument.

[blackice]

blackice once bubbled...
Can't wait to try it out, I asked for a 5' hose and picked it up , went home happy then held it up and realised that it was 6'. Now I'm not worried, it's kind of nice in fact as I was tossing between the 5' and 7'.
:-)

As it turns out I was disapointed with the 6' hose and the 5' or 7' would have been better, I found the 6' was hard to keep in position against my body and would tend to float around.

I did end up hooking it under the end of the tourch to keep it close to me but it was just a little to short to run under my weights on the waist.

[blackice]

divermasterB once bubbled...
Is there any justification for the non-standard ports. If they were really doing a wider diameter hose, I could see the performance argument.

The port is designed for a wider hose the hose is quite a bit thicker - to see it check my profile page and look closely at the photo the main hose is the large one and the backup is on stqandard size hose.

With a larger hose one would assume greater gas flow. One other thing that I found no one mention was that as the hose has a greater voloume of air and as a result is very prone to floating up if you are changing positions (like with a camera).

[blackice]

divermasterB once bubbled...
Is there any justification for the non-standard ports. If they were really doing a wider diameter hose, I could see the performance argument.

The photo is really small in the profile so here is a much larger photo that shows the differance between the hoses.

<A HREF="http://www.thirteen28.com/holidays/manado/aaaa-Images/14.jpg" TARGET="_blank">Hoses config at Manado</A>

Hope it is clear enough

[blackice]

what a mess that link was - trying to be too smart

http://www.thirteen28.com/holidays/manado/aaaa-Images/14.jpg