Laziness, complacency or is it just me?

[T.C.]

In Europe all the tanks are DIN. If you want to convert it to a yoke then you screw a plug into the tank valve that will fit a yoke. In destinations popular with Europeans, Egypt, for example, both types are available.

Most places that cater to Americans have yoke as their primary. I have yet to see a DIN in Costa Rica, Bonaire, or Roatan.

I'm sure they exist, but I haven't seen them. Which is a disappointment, as I recently converted to DIN.

---------- Post added April 12th, 2014 at 11:27 AM ----------

I usually carry spares, but on occasion I'm caught without them. I thought of using an adapter for my DIN regs but I'm kind of a minimalist, esp when it comes to packing one more item.

Most regs can be converted back and forth with a BIG adjustable wrench and 10 minutes. See if your manufacturer sells conversion kits.

 

[Tigerman]

Most places that cater to Americans have yoke as their primary. I have yet to see a DIN in Costa Rica, Bonaire, or Roatan.

I'm sure they exist, but I haven't seen them. Which is a disappointment, as I recently converted to DIN.

---------- Post added April 12th, 2014 at 11:27 AM ----------


Most regs can be converted back and forth with a BIG adjustable wrench and 10 minutes. See if your manufacturer sells conversion kits.

When in Mexico I just requested DIN when booking and got it all the time I was there..

 

[maniago]

Are divers just getting lazy and complacent about small things? Or is it just me being overly attentive and anal?

WRT the original question, this is kinda like the Ford Pinto - send it out to the masses and see if they have problems. If yes, then do something about it...

I came back from the Bahamas a few months ago. I was the only one on the boat asking for new orings (lots of hissing going on). I think I replaced at least half of my tanks rings, and a few on other peoples. And I was happy to do it myself. The DMs were nice about it, but after the first day, I made sure to ask before we left if they had grabbed some more. I was friendly about it, not accusatory or attitudinal, and they were the same. I put this kinda thing in the same category as analyzing your nitrox tanks - if you don't care, they don't care. If you do, then they have a fair clue that youre probably not just another "vacation" diver.....

 

[T.C.]

When in Mexico I just requested DIN when booking and got it all the time I was there..

It's not that they don't exist; but you'll have to request them. Just as if I dove at a Eurpean-centric resort, I'd probably have to ask for yoke if I wanted it.

DIN has the added advantage of being able to be quickly converted to yoke with a simple insert. I predict that many places will be offering these "pro" valves; already most tanks you order online come with them.

 

[Tigerman]

It's not that they don't exist; but you'll have to request them. Just as if I dove at a Eurpean-centric resort, I'd probably have to ask for yoke if I wanted it.

DIN has the added advantage of being able to be quickly converted to yoke with a simple insert. I predict that many places will be offering these "pro" valves; already most tanks you order online come with them.

You probably wouldn't have to ask for it as all the din tanks I've seen has come with yoke inserts
Also, they are quite easilly available and would be like carrying an extra nut in your dive kit anyways, so bringing your own would be easy peasy

 

[T.C.]

You probably wouldn't have to ask for it as all the din tanks I've seen has come with yoke inserts
Also, they are quite easilly available and would be like carrying an extra nut in your dive kit anyways, so bringing your own would be easy peasy

Yeah. I have five of these now. And only room for about three before I start needing duct tape to keep the save a dive kit closed.

 

[halocline]

When I'm on a dive boat in the caribbean, I set up my gear, pressurize the tank, then turn the valve off, and watch what happens to the SPG. If it drops quickly, that's a serious leak and something needs attention. But most of the leaks I've had are slow enough so that the SPG will drop a few hundred PSI over the length of the boat ride, with the valve off. This represents a very tiny volume of air because the air that's leaking out is coming from the very small HP chamber of the regulator.

Doing this has the added advantage of leaving your reg pressurized for a good 15-20 minutes before entering the water. If there was going to be a tank valve o-ring blow-out, it would be far more likely during that time than in the water, because each breath slightly lowers the pressure gradient across that o-ring.

I'm on vacation, unless something is really wrong I prefer to not let it upset me. In fact, I've gotten in the habit of offering to switch tanks with anyone complaining about a short fill on dive boats. I'm pretty good with air, so I don't mind starting with a little less. It's an opportunity to do something nice for someone, and it usually stops the complaining immediately. You'd be surprised how many divers don't take me up on the offer; all of a sudden they seem to not mind having 2700 PSI instead of 3K.

Regarding the danger of an o-ring blow-out at depth, here's my opinion. Every single diver on every single dive should ALWAYS dive in such a way that a catastrophic air loss is not life threatening. That's because regardless of how careful you are with your gear, or how much money you spend on fancy regulators, mechanical failures do occur. This is why all of us were taught the buddy system and staying in open water with immediate access to the surface unless trained and equipped for technical diving.

If you switch out a tank valve o-ring immediately before a dive, you are now diving on an un-tested o-ring. Statistically, that's a risk too.

However, if there is a really bad looking or leaking o-ring, I will usually change it. I carry a few valve o-rings and a pick in my save-a-dive kits. I don't mind doing it and the DMs usually have plenty of other stuff to think about.

 

[vincent54]

I can't remember, but an o ring is about a quarter. If it looks worn and leaking I will replace. It may help the next diver, pay it forward. Cheers BTW, if a dive operation doesn't think o rings are important, what else are they failing to maintain?

 

[gcarter]

I have 2 DIN regs, love them, however I have found that when traveling it is much easier to find yolks than DINs, therefore I travel with my yolk set up. When I call ahead before traveling to ask about DIN valves I usually get a "no" or "we have a few".

Egg lover, eh?

---------- Post added April 13th, 2014 at 12:44 AM ----------

I always carry a baggie of spare O-rings in the zippered pouch in my reg bag, as well as in my save a dive kit. Also in the save a dive kit are a couple of inserts for pro valves - my son uses DIN and mine are yoke, so when we grab 4 tanks from the garage I want to know we are both going to dive

He always has his DIN => yoke adapter in his reg bag.

 

[Diver0001]

Most regs can be converted back and forth with a BIG adjustable wrench and 10 minutes. See if your manufacturer sells conversion kits.

And a big allen-key.

I think part of the reason that dive-ops that cater to Americans must still be using sub-optimal gear is that people don't complain enough about it. There needs to be a grass roots movement in American scuba to eliminate the world of this horrible yoke plague.

R..