DSS Torus 26 inflator elbow hitting the first stage

[mgill]

I recently got my first BP/W DSS medium SS plate and Torus 26 wing. I really like everything about the setup but do have one small concern..

I've been trying to figure out the best vertical placement for the wing on the tank. If i place it low enough so that the inflator elbow doesn't squish under the first stage, the first stage hits my head and makes it an uncomfortable experience underwater where i cant see straight ahead without tilting my body.

To overcome the above issue, i placed the top strap as high up on the cylinder as i could, this solves the issue of first stage hitting my head, but now the inflator elbow(and top of the wing) is squished under the first stage. I didn't notice any performance issue with this while dumping air etc.

So question is:
1. Is it ok if the inflator elbow is hitting the first stage? Any risk of damaging the first stage or the wing this way, especially when the wing is fully inflated.
2. What can i do to avoid hitting the first stage on my head and the inflator elbow both?

I'm 5'8" tall, 155 lbs. Tank is Worthington Steel 100. Hog D1 DIN first stage

Thanks in advance

 

[cool_hardware52]

I recently got my first BP/W DSS medium SS plate and Torus 26 wing. I really like everything about the setup but do have one small concern..

I've been trying to figure out the best vertical placement for the wing on the tank. If i place it low enough so that the inflator elbow doesn't squish under the first stage, the first stage hits my head and makes it an uncomfortable experience underwater where i cant see straight ahead without tilting my body.

To overcome the above issue, i placed the top strap as high up on the cylinder as i could, this solves the issue of first stage hitting my head, but now the inflator elbow(and top of the wing) is squished under the first stage. I didn't notice any performance issue with this while dumping air etc.

So question is:
1. Is it ok if the inflator elbow is hitting the first stage? Any risk of damaging the first stage or the wing this way, especially when the wing is fully inflated.
2. What can i do to avoid hitting the first stage on my head and the inflator elbow both?

I'm 5'8" tall, 155 lbs. Tank is Worthington Steel 100. Hog D1 DIN first stage

Thanks in advance

You can beat on the elbow with a hammer, it's delrin.

Having said that if you are still concerned about first stage to elbow contact just turn the tank slightly…….


Tobin

 

[OtherHalf]

Loosen the shoulder straps and tighten the crotch strap. Move the whole system down your back...

 

[Oldbear]

I find mine much closer than with my ScubaPro BCD too. I bought my DSS BP/W two years ago and after a couple hundred dives it still performs magnificent. I would not worry about your wing.

 

[rhwestfall]

minor "inconvenience" with no performance or damage issue likely......

You can fiddle with things a bit, and some first stages may "tuck in" better than others.

I've been diving one for the last 4 years.

 

[tbone1004]

I have mine rotated slightly so it can tuck in a bit better. The elbows rotate around a bit if you loosen the collar.

 

[elgoog]

Rotating the tank is what we've been doing and it works well. I'll add a minor observation about that based on our experience.
I started rotating our tanks from dive #2 with our BP/Ws (what happened in dive #1 with BP/W is right after this and may also be pertinent to you). I wasn't paying much attention to which direction I rotated the tanks until wifebuddy complained about not being able to reach her tank valve on one of the dives. I noticed that I had the tank rotated so that the 1st stage was pointed towards her right shoulder - this rotated the valve further back and put it just out of her reach. What I've been doing since is rotating the tank so the 1st stage is closer to the left shoulder which brings the valve a wee bit closer to your right shoulder and is easier to reach. This may or may not be relevant to you depending on your range of motion - I tried both ways and didn't notice any issues in either one but my overall flexibility is higher than most.

Dive #1 with BP/W - tank was set up so that the 1st stage was below the inflator elbow because I thought that's how it was supposed to be. I could barely touch the valve this way much less do anything with it. And forget about trim and staying neutral (which I struggle with on the best of days). I was on my knees on the sandy bottom in 30ft of water and flopping back on my butt every time I tried to reach it.
So, moral of my rambling tale - if you lower your tank for whatever reason, make sure you can still reach the valve.

 

[mgill]

Thanks Everyone for the inputs!

Tobin - Great to know its strong enough to not worry about it , I will try to turn the tank on my next dive and see how it goes.

@OtherHalf - My shoulder straps are already kind of loose, but i never tried to pull the backplate with the crotch strap, will try that too.

AM
@tbone1004 - I already have the inflator elbow turned slightly towards my left shoulder and does help somewhat in pointing the hose away from the first stage.

@elgoog - yeah i was just thinking about that i should turn the tank so it puts the tank valve closer to me not away from me, however i have my Suunto vyper air transmitter on the valve side so would have to see if it doesn't get pushed too much by the wing contact, it does look kinda delicate.

I've also been setting up the wing on the lower holes on the BP using the rubber locators(as opposed to the DSS setup video, which i think suggests to use the upper ones) this helps a bit also in bringing the wing down about an inch or so. Anyone else tried this?

I don't own a tank(i live on a third floor apartment with no lift, hah) so will have to try this out next weekend hopefully.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

 

[divesergeant]

All the above are good pieces of advice.

I have a kydex BP with 17Lbs Torus wing and a ScubaPro MK25.

I started with the tank rotation method. Then went to the loosen shoulder straps and tighten crotch strap method which works best for me. I attach the top tank strap as high as I can and I install the MK25 with the body of it pointing down toward the tank.

Once I got the hang of how it wants to be set up, it has been a flawless BP/W setup.

 

[Hatul]

I use the LCD 30 Wing with an Atomic turret reg with the turret down and had similar question. The elbow connects to my wing in the center of the wing and can contact the hoses coming LP hoses coming off the turret.

I solved it by rotating the reg on the tank valve before pressurizing so the elbow lies in the angle between two hoses. This seems to have solved the problem. It's also helpful to rotate the tank a bit clockwise looking from above before locking the tank bands, so the elbow is not directly below the reg.