Reg Purge Cover Askew

[AccessoryToBirder]

I keep seeing people with the purge cover on their regs not quite screwed on all the way, so the purge button/logo is askew. Is this so they can disassemble underwater more easily, or is it for some other reason?

 

[lowwall]

I keep seeing people with the purge cover on their regs not quite screwed on all the way, so the purge button/logo is askew. Is this so they can disassemble underwater more easily, or is it for some other reason?

It's to annoy OCD divers.

@buddhasummer

PS. Nice usage of the underappreciated "askew".

 

[Jim Lapenta]

It may be screwed on fine. It's just the center part that is off kilter. It usually means they took the 2nd cover off to rinse the reg, fix the diaphragm, or during service the tech wasn't paying attention to the aesthetics. Doesn't affect the function at all in most cases. Some regs may have a tab to line things up but the ones I've worked on from half a dozen or more mfgs don't.

 

[AccessoryToBirder]

It may be screwed on fine. It's just the center part that is off kilter. It usually means they took the 2nd cover off to rinse the reg, fix the diaphragm, or during service the tech wasn't paying attention to the aesthetics. Doesn't affect the function at all in most cases. Some regs may have a tab to line things up but the ones I've worked on from half a dozen or more mfgs don't.

I see it mostly on XTX50s, which I don't think can be fully tightened without the purge button lining up. To be fair, mine is very tight and when I took the cover off (which was difficult with dry hands), I needed one of those neoprene jar opening grips to screw it back down to level. That's why I was wondering if it was just for ease of removal without tools.

 

[Nemrod]

Better yet, just avoid regulators with soft purge covers:



Of course the hard button could still be turned but usually it will align with some semblance of symmetry. Scubapro put little clocking "gear" teeth which sometimes resist my efforts to perfectly clock or go wonky and it matters not, I just push the purge down and twist it back more or less straight.

The real problem with soft purge covers is that, well, they go soft and get sticky or get stiff and crack. The Nylon 66 polyamide glass fiber reinforced material of the G250/G260 is probably good for several hundred years.

 

[buddhasummer]

I see it mostly on XTX50s, which I don't think can be fully tightened without the purge button lining up. To be fair, mine is very tight and when I took the cover off (which was difficult with dry hands), I needed one of those neoprene jar opening grips to screw it back down to level. That's why I was wondering if it was just for ease of removal without tools.

That's exactly why. Apeks covers, particularly XTX are notoriously difficult to undo. Cave divers tend to loosen them, leaving face plate uncentered, so they can easily undo in water if necessary.

Why Apeks make them so tight is beyond me. Ah, I know coz they're Apeks

 

[buddhasummer]

I see it mostly on XTX50s, which I don't think can be fully tightened without the purge button lining up. To be fair, mine is very tight and when I took the cover off (which was difficult with dry hands), I needed one of those neoprene jar opening grips to screw it back down to level. That's why I was wondering if it was just for ease of removal without tools.

No, fully tightened, often requiring gorilla strength or use of face plate tool, purge button will centre.

Overrated second stage IMO, manufacturing/design wise, not performance wise.

 

[happy-diver]

With some wet and dry on a lapping plate you won't stop me from screwing with my face plates fully

and the scubapor ones with the dumb pin, and the Beauchat ones and all those other ones....................

 

[Nemrod]

and the scubapor ones with the dumb pin

What pin? Ohhh, that little thing I tossed in the trash! Is that what you mean?

Some second stages, like the newer AL Core/Helix/Legend and possibly others, have a tab to center the soft cover. Scubapro G series with hard covers need none of that silliness. The G260 standarsd model has a built in slip ring, no inner retainer needed:

 

[AccessoryToBirder]

No, fully tightened, often requiring gorilla strength or use of face plate tool, purge button will centre.

Overrated second stage IMO, manufacturing/design wise, not performance wise.

If the G260 came with a wide exhaust tee, I would switch.