Any pressure gauge recommendations?

[CT Sean]

Piranha Dive Mfg has a nice selection of B&G pressure gauges and you can "customize" them with choice of hose length,whether you want extra spools and include a boot or not.

http://www.piranhadivemfg.com/category/Submersible-Pressure-Gauges-106

I actually have that OMS PSI/BAR gauge and it is nice but unless you actually see the need for both on the dial, I'd just get a "generic" non-branded one and save some money. Like others said, they are all from the same manufacturer.

 

[rongoodman]

As others have mentioned, there have been reliability problems with the Miflex HP hoses, and they are about as stiff as a piece of shoe string. I like the Phantom Kevlar hoses.

 

[Jax]

Piranha Dive Mfg has a nice selection of B&G pressure gauges and you can "customize" them with choice of hose length,whether you want extra spools and include a boot or not.

Submersible Pressure Gauges

I actually have that OMS PSI/BAR gauge and it is nice but unless you actually see the need for both on the dial, I'd just get a "generic" non-branded one and save some money. Like others said, they are all from the same manufacturer.

Side note - the 'spool' is a pivot piece in the gage, also called a poppet in other industries. It's about 1/2" long and 1/8" in diameter -- go ahead and get a spare for your save-a-dive bag. Otherwise, it's a vacation killer if it goes.

 

[ajduplessis]

I use DIR Zone SPG and have nothing bad to report. They have 300 or 400bar options.

DIR Zone 52mm SPG 0-300 bar scale - Blue Orb Ltd

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have one HOG 2.5 inch white face SPG and braided 24 inch HP hose in stock now. Pm me for price. It can go in the mail tomorrow. 3yr limited warranty on the hose. I've been using the 6 inch ones on my stages for a while now with no issues. It is in your price range and shipping is on me.

 

[captain]

I do not under stand why every SPG has to have a 5000 PSI range when 99% of tanks are rated 3500 or less. I use the older 3500 psi gauges, I buy them off ebay. The older Scuba Pro 3500 PSI brass gauge is great.
The smaller range is easier to read and more accurate in the 0 to 800 psi range.

 

[Akimbo]

Captain’s recommendation is correct from the diver’s perspective, though I can see why manufacturers and shops would not want to stock two gauges or risk selling a gauge with some reasonable chance of being used on cylinders with too high a pressure by an inattentive casual diver.

The “rules of thumb” I have heard from the gauge industry, which may be “old wives tales”, is that bourdon tube pressure gauges are most accurate in the middle 2/3rds of the range and should not be normally operated to more than 80% of their range.

If this is correct, the ideal maximum range of ~125% of max working is an ideal target for accuracy and longevity. Remember that there are a lot of factors that effects “accuracy” as a diver perceives it.

• Resolution is the ability to read the gauge. This factor favors large diameters and very sharp or twisted needles.
• Repeatability or the ability to display the same every time at a given pressure
• Precision over the operating range, especially at the low end. Gauges like SPGs are usually in the +/-2½% range, full-scale and sometimes center scale. No matter how you cut it, precision is less as an absolute pressure value as the pressure range increases. As captain mentioned, the bottom part of the scale is where we are most concerned.
• Zeroing the needle to the face. Many gauges are/were made my fully automate analog machinery. Precision gauges allow the user to rotate the gauge face to calibrate or zero the gauge. Obviously this is impractical on an SPG and a practice that is well above the rated accuracy. However, you can look at the gauge and reject ones where the needle is really wide or nowhere near zero in the shop.

Fortunately the practice of installing a pin to stop the needle at zero has mostly disappeared from the industry.

 

[Splitlip]

:caveman:


You really need to read up on HP Miflex. A lot of people are complaining about them failing.

Absolutely. And as Reefhound said, entirly unnecessary. A waste of money.

I use miflex on my inflator hose because it needs to make an odd snake off my first stage and I use it on my short necklaced 2nd stage because of the sharp turn the short hose makes. I don't use it on my long hose because I don't need it. That one makes long sweeps. I've been told it chafes the back of the neck too.

 

[koozemani]

Side note - the 'spool' is a pivot piece in the gage, also called a poppet in other industries. It's about 1/2" long and 1/8" in diameter -- go ahead and get a spare for your save-a-dive bag. Otherwise, it's a vacation killer if it goes.

Thanks!

 

[keyshunter]

Side note - the 'spool' is a pivot piece in the gage, also called a poppet in other industries. It's about 1/2" long and 1/8" in diameter -- go ahead and get a spare for your save-a-dive bag. Otherwise, it's a vacation killer if it goes.

It is usually the -003 o-rings on either end of the spool that "go". While I have carried a spare spool with o-rings in place for many years, I have never used it. Just changing the o-rings on the leaking spool has always solved the problem.