Why DIN Valves??

[Shcubasteve]

Alright techies, I’ve got a question…I am a very active recreational diver who likes to take advice from technical divers… I am about to get a new regulator and am debating DIN fittings VS traditional yoke…. I am under the impression that DIN valves are more failsafe, and therefore more reliable then a standard yoke valve. Is this a correct assumption?? I know they can handle higher pressures and are better for HP cylinders, but are they safer to use then yoke???

Thanks all and Dive safe…

Steve W

 

[fisherdvm]

Not a tech diver by no means... Just from my own experience. I have a yoke valve on my pony tank. I wanted to keep it closed to conserve air (sherwood bubbly first stage). Unfortunately, after about 1 hour, the reg becomes depressurized. Now the yoke screw is very loose.

So, I was going to practice deploying the pony, fumbling the vaves, I turned the wrong one. I turned the yoke screw instead. Of course, that will let salt water into the first stage, and can rust up or crud up your reg.

That is one reason why DIN is better than yoke. When you are out of air, or have a regulator failure, you'll not mistaken which knob to turn.

Other reasons I've heard include that some DIN valve can handle the higher pressure of the HP tanks, more secure and durable connection that is less prone to failure when struck by overhead objects, and some say that if you had an O ring failure, that it might decrease the rate of air loss?? Maybe the tech folks can answer these better.

 

[BlueFrog]

There are many reasons as I'm sure everyone here will tell you but the big one for me personally is that DIN valves capture the tank o-ring and therefore prevents the "burst o-ring situation" that happens sometimes to yoke valves. There are other reasons but that one is enough for me. As a side note, more and more tank valves can be purchased with a yoke/DIN adapter that can be screwed in/out with a allen wrench so you don't have to throw away all your old yoke regs.

 

[Teamcasa]

DIN is just a better method of securing a regulator to the tank valve. Say good bye to blown Orings. Add to that, any DIN can by the use of a simple adapter be used on a Yoke valve.

The resort industry seems to be the last hold-out on converting to DIN valves. However, I believe as they replace tanks with the newer convertible valves, the use of Yoke valves will steadily decline.

Buy a DIN, use it anywhere. Buy a Yoke, you will eventually want to convert it to DIN.

 

[Peter_C]

The DIN fittings use a captured o-ring which is more secure and less likely to blow out. Yokes are known for blowing out sideways.

I have had o-rings last for a hundred dives using a DIN connection. With yoke it seems about every other dive they need an o-ring. I have never had a DIN connection leak, but yoke seems to leak very easily if the o-ring is not perfect. Now I bring lots of o-rings when going on warm water vacations, because of the yoke o-ring failures.

Beyond the o-rings the connection is much more solid with DIN and there are two different styles of DIN. 200 bar and 300 bar, with 300 having deeper threads. Most of the convertible valves are 200 bar which is fine for recreational diving.

The question becomes do you own your own tanks? 96% of the tank rentals are going to be yoke valves. You would need to get an adapter in case you had to borrow or rent a tank. When traveling to warm water I switch our regs back to yoke, and for go the adapter/failure point.

Hmmm...I just looked at your profile. Seems like you have a lot of diving experience, and even work in a shop??

# of Logged Dives
200 - 499
Dive Classification
Dive Shop Owner / Employee
Years Certified
Six - Ten Years

 

[Shcubasteve]

The shop I am at is a purely recreational organization... Our instructors are recommending DIN for various reasons... My mind was already made up about the DIN fittings but I wanted to get some second opinions.. thanks all for the input.

 

[spectrum]

The DIN O-ring is bigger and in a more defined containment making for a more positive connection.

Not all yokes are the same, the groove in some older valves are much less effective.

I would not trust DIN or yoke in a non pressurized state. I have seen both spin out. They both rely to an extent on being end loaded when pressurized.

A DIN connection opens the door to 3500 PSI cylinders which can be good used buys.

Yoke ends at 3442 which for intents is comparable, just a few atmospheres below 3500 to skirt the DIN requirement.

A yoke connection will work on vacation. In a rental setting a a DIN valve is a novelty. In the used cylinder a DIN valve is less common unless you are committed to steel, then it gets more likely as the pressure increases or the prior owner was tech. Valve changes usually take the luster out of used cylinder savings.

Mating fill whips and regulators to a DIN valve means mating threads. You have no control over whip condition or fill person finesse. The next thing to screw into it will be your regulator threads. The connection to a yoke valve is the mating of surfaces essentially and not a lot can get botched up. Along the same lines the DIN connector will be more sensitive to sand. The DIN connectors has more surfaces not quickly rinsed of salt water residue.

The yoke connection is basically a face, O-ring, a yoke and a screw and it's all solid stuff. The DIN connector incorporates at swivel that captures the hand wheel. It works fine but if someone handles it the wrong way it can break free and resetting the assembly will be required. It often incorporates a brass Allen socket that is deceptively easy to strip out.

Without changing any regulator parts a DIN regulator can be adapted to a Yoke tank. A Yoke regulator can't be adapted to a DIN tank. There adapters that allow the filling of a DIN tank from a yoke whip but they are not intended to be used while diving. Changing the connectors for travel and so forth is a minor DIY task and an alternate connector will cost about $50.

I am on board with the DIN connector being a superior connection however the yoke connection has been utilized at very high pressures successfully. There is not that much drama associated with todays HP cylinders compared to an AL80. A generous AL80 fill and a typical HP short fill can easily be equal in pressure.

Some brands/models will route nice in one configuration or another and it varies with each design. A DIN connector on a double hose regulator is a beast.

I started out DIN and for various and sundry reasons now dive about 50/50. If I was starting all over today I think I'd only be slightly biased to DIN and that would be to maintain compatibility with 3500 PSI cylinders.

Pete

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

Besides the o-ring issue discussed above my second biggest complaint is the snag hazard of the yoke nut. After taking the public safety diver survival class through dive rescue international as part of my dive teams requirements I immediately switched over all but 1 reg to DIN. Nets, line, and weeds love to just latch on and entangle around that little nob. avoiding th problem of having 1 more place to catch a line was reason enough to change over to DIN.

So you have 4 reasons to go DIN:

Captured O-ring
Not as much chance of entanglement
higher pressure tanks
all the cool kids are doing it ;-)

 

[lowviz]

Quickly read through this thread, just want to note that 200 bar DIN's will work with a yoke adaptor, 300's won't.

 

[digital_steve]

eh?
since when?
mine works fine