Aqualung Legend LX for the beginner diver....

[cspringer]

My husband and I are in the process of getting certified for the PADI Open Water course. I feel very comfortable diving, but my husband has a bit of anxiety. He thought if he purchased his own regulator, this would help some of his anxiety. I thought it was a good idea since everyone says that using your own gear and being familiar with it was the way to go.

I purchased a Sherwood Oasis, which is good for what it is. There isn't anything fancy about it, but it does exactly what I want it to. My husband decided to buy the Aqualung Legend LX. We decided to hook it up at home and take some breaths off of it. He was very alarmed that it didn't perform the way he envisioned it to. What is happening is that there is a lot of noise coming from the regulator when he inhales and also minor noise when he exhales. This in my opinion, freaked him out. He didn't want to hear some vibrating noise after making this purchase. I tried breathing off of it and it seemed fine to me, but there was still that vibrating noise.

I decided to keep an open mind about this and tried breathing off of an Aqualung Titan (which was a rental) and also my regulator the Sherwood Oasis. As far as the Titan, it performed beautifully. Very easy to get air, especially for an anxious person trying to get air. The Oasis came next for ease of breathing. The Legend LX seemed to come in last for ease of breathing. I can see where he is coming from.

My question is, should he be sticking with this regulator? It is versatile and is a great purchase, but is it good for it to be vibrating and making noise? Too me, it's noisy and no big deal, but I can't deny that the Titan was easier to breath off of.

Is there a regulator out there that is recommended for beginners that tend to be air hogs? The impression that I got is that the Legend LX was a regulator for someone who is more experienced then myself and my husband.

To give you some perspective, my husband using a Titan, will go through his whole tank in the pool in 40 minutes. He uses an aluminum 80 tank. I use an aluminum 67 tank and when I check my gauge, I'm still at 2000 psi in 40 minutes using the Oasis. Granted, I'm a woman and he has significantly more lung capacity then I do. I know eventually his air consumption will go down, but is there a regulator that he would be more comfortable with? Or maybe the particular regulator he purchase has a defect?

What ever information I can get, would be most helpful. We'll be doing another confined dive on Wednesday. He'll be sure to bring both rigs the Titan and the Legend LX.

 

[FrankPro1]

The vibration and noise your hearing could be normal. Some regulators when brand new and out of water will make some sounds and vibrate a little. I know my mk2 r190 did when I first got mine. As far as the difference in breathing.... The Legend Lx should deliver air much better then those others. My guess is that you've either have the breathing adjustment knob closed all the way or there is something wrong with you reg and it needs to be checked out. Either way take it to your next class and have your instructor check it out. He / She will point you in the right direction

 

[leapfrog]

Totally normal. My Legend is still pretty new after having switched over from a Poseidon Xstream. I use the Legend for teaching. Totally reliable reg and yes, does all that vibrating and so on. Did he get it with the ACD?

On the question of "comfortable", I doubt you can find a more comfortable and easy to service regulator around. He shouldn't have any problems.

 

[CFDAlden]

Was the noise at the surface? Many regs make noise at the surface. When you submerge, the noises go away. I have the Titan series, and love mine. It does "honk" at the surface, though. No noises underwater, though.

 

[herman]

Honking, buzzing and other strang noises coming from a second stage are fairly common above water. The internal parts vibrate as air rushes past them, under the water the water on the outside of the diaphram (part inside the reg) damps the vibrations keeping it breathing quietly. No need to worry about the noise.

As to his air consumption, the reg has nothing to do with it. Reading your post my bet is his stress level is very high causing him to breath a lot more rapidly than normal. When is gains some comfort in the water this air comsumption will come more in line with yours. It pretty common for new divers to go through air quickly.

His Legend should breath as good or better than most regs. Try backing out on the breathing resistance control (knob on the side) to see if that helps. Be aware that it is LIKELY that the reg will freeflow if the controls on it are set to the point the reg breaths very easily. Freeflows are normal for a modern high performance regulator when the controls are set for maximum preformance. I don't want him to get concerned when he bumps the purge button and the reg starts freeflowing. Your instructor or the LDS you bought the equipment from should be happy to give you instruction on the operation of the controls.

 

[robint]

Legend LX is waaaay better than the other two, in the water you will see the difference. My first reg (8 yrs ago) was the Titan, and although it is a decent beginner reg, it breathed wet when I am upside down looking under a ledge. It also gets more resistance when deeper depth.. The Legend series are all "over balanced" which means they breathe easier the deeper you go in the water. So at 100' depth it breathes very smoothly. The Titan and Oasis will not do this.

Some people say, I will never be diving that deep so it doesn't matter. Maybe, but I want that performance every dive trip just in case. I have been on several trips where the dives started at deeper than that - just this past Dec I was in Palau, in a cave structure at 110-120' with sharks swimming around us, in the dark. Trust me, I want my reg to breathe smoothly in situations like that.... and my Legend LX does. This was just one of many dives to that depth there, but it was the one dive that I was very conscious of how well my reg performed!

you can see the video of that dive here: http://www.vimeo.com/1258756


robin

 

[TSandM]

Regs don't always come from the store properly adjusted, and an incorrectly adjusted regulator can be hard to breathe. Take the reg in and have the store check the cracking pressure. I have a friend who did several dives as a newbie on the edge of panic from CO2 retention, because her brand new regulator was set to three times the correct cracking pressure.

 

[cspringer]

Thanks for all the great advice. We were out of water when testing. I'll bring up all of this with the instructor and also check with the store to see if it has the correct cracking pressure. You are all wonderful!

 

[Couv]

Thanks for all the great advice. We were out of water when testing. I'll bring up all of this with the instructor and also check with the store to see if it has the correct cracking pressure. You are all wonderful!

Hello Cspringer,

All good advice listed above, your husband just needs a little more experience to get rid of the anxiety and his consumption rate will improve. However, we all need to be confident that our equipment is working correctly so below I will post my usual cut and paste regulator inspection advice?hopefully, soon LuisH will post the entire thing in the form of a "sticky."


Regulator inspection:

There are a few checks that everyone is capable of doing. One is the intermediate pressure check . Get a scuba regulator intermediate pressure gauge : Intermediate Pressure Gauge Plugs Into The BCD Quick Disconnect Hose from LeisurePro.com

Find out the what the IP range should be for your regulator (most are ~ 135 +/- 10 psi .)

The intermediate pressure should remain steady after stabilizing within the acceptable range. If it tends to climb (creep) that indicates there is a problem with the first stage that must be corrected.

Another check is the cracking pressure of each second stage. Partially fill your kitchen sink and immerse the regulator with the mouth piece up. Air should begin to flow before the regulator gets more than a 1 1/2 of inches deep.

Next, a water tight check is also very easy to perform and checks the integrity of the second stage housing. Hook the first stage up to a tank and without turning on the air (or if you have a good tight dust cap you can use that instead) draw a breath on the second stage until you hear the diaphragm retract. Do not draw too hard as it will collapse the exhaust valves and cause a leak. Does the regulator hold vacuum? If so, it is probably water tight.

These simple checks can be done by anyone. They should be done prior to any dive trip, not to mention when new out of the box or after shop service.

Check early, check often.

couv

 

[Yukonjoe]

Mine did the same thing brand new out of the box (at the surface). I have made many dives over 100' with it and love it, smooth as silk.