Can I reverse a tank and regulator

[trrchaney]

I have din first stage regulator. When I go out on a dive boat I use a din to yoke adapter to fit the boats tanks. When I dive with the adapter the first stage jabs me in the neck. Is it safe to mount the tank in reverse so that the first stage is pointing the other way.

 

[Doc]

You mean upside down?

Sure. Just so your neck bends down far enough to suck on a standard hose, no problemo.

Except it will now be poking you in the Kardashian.

Or Inside out? It should work.

Just don't get screwed up on the lefty loosey thing.

I am told you can even carry it tucked under an arm. Side-something or the other.

 

[tbone1004]

they don't care what their orientation is. It's not smart to do that, but it won't effect the functionality of the equipment.

Problems with reversing
Muscle memory says valve is on the right, knob is now on the left if you jump in with your air off or need to shut off/feather the valve it's backwards.
The regulator has to be flipped upside-down for the hoses to come out properly. This means that your regulators are now backwards for lost regulator recoveries. Primary is now in the back
This also effects the position of the hoses, most regs have the hoses pushed somewhat forwards, so now they are going behind you and back forward. Not the end of the world but an issue.
Depending on how low you have your tank positioned *most everyone wears them dangerously low*, picking the rig up may be an issue. A DM may not be able to reach the valve to haul you up or to help stabilize the rig etc without grabbing the first stage. This means that the yoke can slip off. Same if you have a bad entry off of the boat, it may knock the first stage and pop the whole thing off, rare and unlikely, but it's there.

Depending on the regulator you have, it may be better to just buy the yoke conversion and make nice with the show/dive boat operators and see if they will swap if over for you if you aren't comfortable doing it yourself. It takes less than a minute and is a much better option that switching them over.

 

[nimoh]

Have you tried calling ahead when booking boats to see if they have DIN valves available?

In my experience, most do but need to know in advance to have them ready for you. Otherwise, they just assume you have a yoke.

 

[Nemrod]

Reverse mounting is not really a good thing. It exposes the regulator first stage and hoses to impact damage. But, yes, it will function.

N

 

[trrchaney]

Thank you for all your input. I think I'll try asking the boat crew if they can accommodate. I hadn't thought that the first would be exposed to damage.

---------- Post added July 27th, 2015 at 05:26 PM ----------

Ha ha. I'll be careful with my Kardashian

 

[JahJahwarrior]

If you only use boat tanks, which tend to be yoke (however unfortunate that might be), why did you buy a DIN reg? Of course, all of my gear is DIN and I think there are several reasons that it is superior, but if I was just diving yoke tanks, I'd get a yoke reg.

You can flip all your hoses around however you need to have it backwards but be careful. That exposed regulator presents a nice lever for bending the yoke off of the tank. That's actually one reason I think yoke valves are inferior. I've seen several get bent from a few foot fall to the point of losing air pressure connection...lotta bubbles if it happens underwater, probably not fun for anyone involved. The extra length on the din to yoke converter makes it an even worse lever, in the sense that bumping a wreck could bend it off.

 

[Bob DBF]

You just rotate it to the side a bit, if you only need a little room, or wear the rig lower on your back.
Done both, not at the same time.


Bob

 

[PfcAJ]

You just rotate it to the side a bit, if you only need a little room, or wear the rig lower on your back.
Done both, not at the same time.


Bob

+1. I wear my tank high enough to reach the valve (no higher) and angle the valve out a little if using a yoke adapter. Easy peasy.

 

[fisheater]

Another option to consider is how hard it is to convert your first stage to yoke. For my Zeagle, it's a simple matter involving an Allen wrench and a crescent wrench. No more than five minutes, including looking for my tools. When on vacation without my DIN tanks, I first try to arrange in advance to rent /use DIN tanks. It that fails, I convert my reg while packing. No biggie and no reg hitting the back of my head.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalko