Atomic B2 or Scuba Pro Mk25/600??

[Downing]

when you carefully rinse the first stage and second stage is it attached to the tank and the valve opened? whey do you need to keep the second stage not elevated higher then the first?

So water won't run down the hose from the second stage into the first.

Not a big issue.

Regarding the nitrox numbers, this matters only if you're planning on becoming a technical diver. If you're sticking to recreational diving and get your nitrox certification, chances are you'll only dive either 32 or 36% so either reg is fine.

Hopefully, what you're getting from this thread is that these are two really good regs and the bottom line is there's no right or wrong choice. Divers who have found a reg they like tend to recommend them over all others. It's only human nature. Obviously, Atomic owners (I own two) and SP owners are loyal to their brand and that's a good thing.

There's a lot of gear out there. Most of it is good and some of it is really good. Imho, both regs you're looking at belong in the latter category.

As I understand it, Atomic was started by two ScubaPro engineers who wanted to build a titanium regulator, but ScubaPro wouldn't go for it so they started their own company. I don't know if that's true but it makes for a good story. In any case, there's a fair amount of SP DNA in Atomic products.

 

[HIGHwing]

sorry but i feel pretty dumb to ask this but when you say B2 pulls ahead in both total cost of ownership are you saying B2 will cost more in the long run or vice a versa?

The Atomic B2 will cost less to own, and the Atomic B2 will not suddenly be out of warranty because you lost a piece of paper or missed a scheduled service by a month.

 

[knowone]

If I were to buy a new regulator for travel and use in all conditions except ice,
with more available parts and service options throughout the world than SP & AT
combined, it would be one of the versions of the Aqualung-Apeks Flight.

 

[reo]

when you carefully rinse the first stage and second stage is it attached to the tank and the valve opened? whey do you need to keep the second stage not elevated higher then the first?

It is off the tank and the dust cap is on. I keep the 1st stage elevated to keep water from going from the second stage into the first stage.

Ron

 

[fnfalman]

If the seat saver on the atomic means the reg really cannot be soaked unless pressurized, that would be a deal breaker for me. No offense to atomic, but that's a truly dumb design, if in fact it's true.

It's somewhat true.

If you were to leave the regulator soaked and unpressurized for, say, more than half an hour, then there is a chance of water working its way to the 1st stage via the 2nd stage.

But let's look at practical application here: what sort of cleaning a regulator would need that requires it to be soaked more than 10-minutes? Even the most salt-encrusted regulator will wash off in about 5-minutes worth of soaking.

 

[Scuba Stew]

Its my understanding that the seat saving orifice that has the chance to leak is the same piece that enables the regulator to go 2 years without service. If all I have to do is pressurize my regulators when cleaning them in order to go another year or so many dives without a service than so be it.

Not an expert by any means (14 dives) but I do love my Atomic B2, although I have never used a SP product. Only other reg I have tried was a rental reg for my checkout dives. I am betting that both the SP or Atomic blow the rental reg I was using out of the water, hands down. Atomic is also based out of Pasadena, CA - great products, local, and supporting a CA Business, Win/Win for me.

 

[halocline]

It's true that having a seat-saver will reduce wear on the seat. But that can be as simple as storing the reg with the purge slightly depressed, or the adjustment knob all the way out, or just using an air-balanced design that takes the majority of the pressure off the seat while unpressurized, but leaves the seat in contact with the orifice. The S600 does this, and those seats easily last a couple of years. I have D300s with 3-4 year old seats (I think) as well some that I've rebuilt fairly recently, and I usually can't tell them apart.

Atomic has had some nifty refinements on the SP balanced piston/barrel poppet design, but they got a little too clever for themselves with the floating orifice 2nd stage IMO. What they ought to think about, if their goal is to improve on the best of their SP heritage, is a new design 2nd stage built on the D series geometry, with a balanced spool valve and a coaxial exhaust.

I routinely soak my regs for longer than 1/2 hour. They look a lot better at rebuild time than regs I see that are not soaked for lengthy times in warm clean water.

 

[liuk3]

I personally have the MK25/S600 and have been happy with them. I don't think that you can really go wrong either way. Both companies make great regulators.

 

[DocVikingo]

As I understand it, Atomic was started by two ScubaPro engineers who wanted to build a titanium regulator, but ScubaPro wouldn't go for it so they started their own company. I don't know if that's true but it makes for a good story. In any case, there's a fair amount of SP DNA in Atomic products.

AFAIK, that is correct.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[DocVikingo]

There's a lot of gear out there. Most of it is good and some of it is really good. Imho, both regs you're looking at belong in the latter category.

How very true.

Regards,

DocVikingo