Aqua Lung ACD - Is it a gimmick or is it a deal maker?

[ozziworld]

Am in the market for a new reg set and am very familiar with Conshelfs. So naturally I started looking at AL's current line up.

Was wondering about the ACD feature. Is it activated by the absence of a dust cap or by the absence of pressure?

What are the pros and cons?

It sounds like a good idea but may not be in line with my established habits in rinsing and soaking of regs.

Hoping users of ACD regs would chime in with their experince.

 

[sealark]

If you are familiar with Conshelfs why would you want anything that cant possibly work better than that. All regulators work basically the same. I have been using and rebuilding Conshelfs since they first came out. Before that the Aquamasters were the only ones the Navy was using. I had to carry two aquamasters around in my dive bag, drop it and they had a tendency to free flow. All the single hose regulators are basically copies of the first USD single hose Regs with a few added differences to make them special to the manufacturer. My opinion only, I still Dive and use the good old conshelfs I have several conshelf blocks from the 60s. Gonna go kill some Snapper this morning with one of them.

 

[ozziworld]

Sealark,

Kinda agree with you. Basically that is the reason why I asked the question in the first place. Am looking for a legitimate excuse to buy a new reg.

All I am seeing is a lot of marketing gimmicks for different price points.

I am seriously looking at the Core.

 

[Oldbear]

I have been performing several routine services on Legends with ACD and NONE of them have had any signs of water inside them...thus making the maintenance really easy. I know one young lady is doing about 300-400 dive per year on hers.

The way the ACD works is when you attached the regulator to the tank's valve it will compress the ADC's spring and open the ADC's valve to allow air/gas pass through. So to open them you have to have it attached to a tank. Pretty slick idea Aqua Lung.

 

[ozziworld]

Oldbear,

Thanks for the input.

That is interesting, so does having a dust cap on It open the ACD as if it were hooked up to a tank?

When rinsing or soaking, is it best to leave the cap on or is the ACD reliable enough that it may actually better to keep the cap off? Versus say accidentally opening the ACD with a poorly tightened cap.

 

[The Chairman]

I wonder how it affects gas delivery at depth? It might not affect it at all, but it is another restriction within the system. It depends on the smallest restriction in the system, and that might be in the valve.

 

[ozziworld]

This is a video I found on the ACD. Since it is a marketing video, it does not mention any cons.

 

[pinshootr]

had mine down to 138' so far Pete and no it does not affect gas delivery, and no Ozziworld makes no difference when the dust cap is on its closed until it is hooked to a tank. con is you can rinse/soak your reg without worrying about water getting in.

 

[ozziworld]

Pinshootr, which model reg do you have?

 

[pubert]

Oldbear,
so does having a dust cap on It open the ACD as if it were hooked up to a tank?

When rinsing or soaking, is it best to leave the cap on or is the ACD reliable enough that it may actually better to keep the cap off? Versus say accidentally opening the ACD with a poorly tightened cap.

well, there's this video:

the ACD opens when you overtighten the dust cap, but i think it's not an issue. As can be seen in the video you have to over tighten the cap to the point of severe deformation before the ACD starts to open. So, just simply don't over tighten the cap. Besides, even if you do overtighten the cap, then the rubber seals the inlet... so in either case... the first stage is sealed when soaking. Aqualung changed the cap design on the newer Legend models but seems to have retained the old design for the Core.

Personally, I like having the ACD.