200 bar manifold vs. 300 bar

[tampausmc]

Ok so i'm assuming the amount of pressure they can handle is the big difference. However i'm wondering why my LDS is pushing me to buy the 200 bar. This will be for my first doubles setup. I already own my tanks, bands, bp/w, and i have one din regulator that i just bought and i have a yoke that i'm about to convert to din. I know the 200 comes with the adapters for the yoke first stages.....could this be the selling point? Would i be fine just diving with the 200 and never using the 300? Advice please....thanks.

 

[k_Woolfsmith]

THere are many people on here, much more experienced than I. But I will tell you the difference I see/saw in 200 BAR vs 300 Bar manifold.

300 Bar, NO inserts!!! -- these have deeper threaded valve, meaning no inserts can be used for use with YOKE regulator and your yoke will not fit over the valve stem to attach the regulator. So if you NEVER plan to have/borrow/rent or own a yoke regulator, this will do you fine, one consideration is to look at where you might fill your tanks, not every Dive shop has DIN fill stations. Here in Canada, most are YOKE fill stations, so these tanks may at times hinder you when filling!!

200 BAR WITH INSERTS --- these have shallower threaded neck, this will NOT affect your regulator in any way. It will however give you the option of filling tanks in either DIN or YOKE format. YOu must be careful with these inserts removing and replacing them, and making sure you carry them at all times!!!! Also having a YOKE adapter for your regulator means you can always attatch that reg to your tank or any tank you may rent while on vacation or for singles or for any reason!!! 200 bar is more pieces to carry around, but also a little more flexibilty!!

I am sure I missed some things but this is what I have learned in my experience. I have a 200 BAR THermo manifold on a set of tanks, and a really sweet 300 BAR manifold in a box waiting for tanks!!! HA, I know which one has already paid for itself!!
FOr those out there, please add anything I missed!!!

Karl

 

[DA Aquamaster]

300 Bar manifolds seem to be the darlings of the technical diving set, but oddly most of them also prefer low pressure steel tanks.

The 300 Bar manifold is deeper as indicated in the previous post as it uses a 7 thread connection rather than the shallower 5 thread connection of the 200 bar / 232 bar manifold. That conceivably makes it stronger and it does allow use with tanks up to 300 bar / 4350 psi.

But I prefer 232 Bar convertible DIN/K manifolds for their flexibility in both filling and use and they are fine for use on tanks up to 3442 psi.

If you go the 300 Bar route, you can get a 300 bar DIN to yoke fill adapter to enable ou to fill your tanks at a fill station that lacks a DIN fill whip or adapter, but the 200 bar insert and allen wrechn are just as easy to carry around and are a lot less expensive.

 

[PerroneFord]

Well,

From what I've seen, the difference between the 200bar and 300bar comes down to one thing. Will you be attaching old, 200bar regs to it? Yoke inserts are not a concern with doubles. You don't put yoke regs on doubles.

I have 300 bar manifolds, everyone I know uses 300bar manifolds, but we do have some old 200bar manifolds attached to some doubles at the shop. We tend to run fairly high pressure in our tanks, so the extra threads are a comfort to me.

The comment made about your fill station is a good one, but quite frankly, changing from a yoke to din fill on the fill whip takes 10 seconds.

 

[deepstops]

Would i be fine just diving with the 200 and never using the 300? Advice please....thanks.

Take a moment and read this: http://www.diveriteexpress.com/library/valves.shtml#dinfaq

 

[CompuDude]

Take a moment and read this: http://www.diveriteexpress.com/library/valves.shtml#dinfaq

Ah, you beat me to it.

 

[SparticleBrane]

For the lazy people out there--

Q: Is a 300 bar SCUBA valve outlet stronger than 200 bar?
A: No, they are equally strong. Only the first few threads in both the 200 bar and 300 bar outlet designs are doing the work, the remaining threads on the 300 bar outlet are there simply to create a deliberate incompatibility with a 200 bar connector. In fact, in practice, the 300 bar valve outlet has proven itself to be more fragile than the 200 bar valve outlet. The 300 bar valve outlet is so long that the smallest 'ding' on the edge of the opening can slightly warp the cylindrical opening, causing the regulator to become difficult or impossible to completely seat. This problem does not seem nearly as pronounced with the 200 bar valve outlets, although it remains an issue and all DIN outlets should be protected from dings.

Might I also recommend buying yourself some DIN plugs?

 

[tampausmc]

Take a moment and read this: http://www.diveriteexpress.com/library/valves.shtml#dinfaq

That was exactly what i was looking for and it answered all of my questions, thanks. I appreciate everyone's responses.

Gregg