Tortuga68's model & series guide to Apeks regs

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Tortuga68

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I posted this recently in reponse to a thread in the Apeks forum - reposting it here for future reference, and also because I can be a little more frank since this isn't the manufacturers forum.

If someone else is interested or has done something similar for other popular brands, maybe a mod can put a sticky with a link to the individual threads?

==========

Apeks regs can be a bit confusing is that their regs are largely retailed as first and second stage pairs, referred to by the model name of the second stage. As you can see from some of the posts above, it's not clear whether people are talking about a first or second stage or a pair, and if a pair, then which first stage. Then there are the series. So let me try to make it a little clearer:

Series:

T, TX, ATX, XTX: Basically these are the evolutions over time, with the current series (XTX) starting around 2007 IIRC. Most of the below first & second stages were available in each series, some exceptions being the Flight and Tek3s which only evolved after the start of XTX. To add to the confusion you can still buy new ATX series in some models/markets; NOS I think


First stages (http://www.apeks.co.uk/products/prod...rst Stages):

US1, US4, UST - these are all nsealed (for use in warm, uncontaminated water). 1 & 4 refer to the number of Low Pressure or LP (which Apeks like to call medium Pressure or MP) ports. T means it has a swivel turret
DS1, DS4, DST - [D]rysealed for use in cold and/or contaminated water. 1 or 4 LP ports, the T has a [T]urret to allow the LP hose ports to turn
FSR, FST - Both sealed, both have 4 LP ports, no turrets. Higher end regs/better performance deep. FST has replaceable ARCAP valve seat
Tek3 - dedicated left & right handed doubles regs for better hose routing
Flight - ultra-lightweight travel reg, not suitable for cold water or extreme depth

Most of the above are available from the factory in DIN or yoke fitting and also with the useless Status gimmick and as the equally-useless (IMO) dedicated Nitrox (CE regs) models (which in the EU come with an M26 DIN thread) - with the exception of the Tek3s. Most ATX series first stages had one 1/2" LP port (which doesn't perform any better at all) with the rest of the LP ports the 'standard' 3/8" size


Second stages (Apeks Products - actually this page is a mix of seconds and pairs):

20 - basic warm water reg, has cracking pressure adjustment
40 - same as 20 but with a heat exchanger, so suitable for cold water
50/100/200 - same as 40 but with breathing resistance knob. Only other differences are cosmetic between them
Egress - low profile octo crap; just bungee an ATX40 instead
Flight - matching second stage, has proprietary tool-free hose fitting (which I don't like) so only works with Apeks hose

Again most if not all of the above are or were available in T, TX, ATX and XTX series. T/TX were big and heavy. XTX have interchangable wide/narrow exhaust Ts and you can reverse the venturi to make the hose route from the left, they also have a different purge button. 20/40/50/100/200 can all be converted to each other by swapping or retrofitting the various knobs etc

Pairings (these vary a bit from market to market eg US and EU but are typically as follows):

XTX20 - UST or US4 first stage
XTX40 - DST or DS4
XTX50 - DST
XTX100 - FST
XTX200 - FSR
Flight - Flight
Tek3 - L&R firsts come with pair of XTX50 seconds, and hoses inlcuding 7' primary, and necklace for secondary

The other firsts - DS1, US4 etc - usually come as single units. DS1/US1 are designed for drysuit inflation so no need to pair them

All clear now? Good

If anyone has any additions/corrections - I'm not very familiar with the early T/TX series - please update, thanks!
 
Due to Apeks high performance all you really need for Tech is DST's with XTX 50's. Same performance as the Tek3's plus a lot cheaper.
Also the service kits for all apeks are exactly the same.

Why pay more?
 
The service kits are not all exactly the same, there are at least 7 different kits AFAIK:

First stage part numbers: AP0227 (Status), AP0241 (Diaphragm models), AP0250 (Flight) & AP0240 (Piston models)
Second stage p/n: AP0219, AP0242, AP0243 - the latter two are for old combo/inflators I think, which I didn't list in the OP


Due to Apeks high performance all you really need for Tech is DST's with XTX 50's. Same performance as the Tek3's plus a lot cheaper... Why pay more?

The thread is about the model lineup & evolution facts, not opinion... but if that's your philosophy then why not use a pair of DS4s, plus an ATX50 & an ATX40 since that would be even cheaper. Besides which the DST turret adds 2 more o-rings = 2 more failure points. Tek3s are made to give the best hose routing, not to be cheap
 
There are 2 kits for TX/XTX/TEK3 1st and Second. That's it. And was the only regs I was referring to.

I've got XTX200's. Flashy as all hell.(however only paid wholesale :wink:) But you can get the same performance out of the DST. The TEK3 are for people who think that Tech diving is spelled TEK. The routing is average at best. Plus any damage to the ports means you're up ye old creek sans paddle as you can't just seal them off and turn the reg over.

All of this information you put up is on the apeks website anyway (Apeks Products) , what was the point of this thread?


EDIT: Forgot to mention the DST now has the option of 5th port routing

http://www.apeks.co.uk/products/product_cats_results.asp?Lan=eng&Product=5th Port&Category=First Stages

For those that like Scubapro style routing on the Twinset.
 
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There are 2 kits for TX/XTX/TEK3 1st and Second. That's it. And was the only regs I was referring to

Also the service kits for all apeks are exactly the same

No they're not


All of this information you put up is on the apeks website anyway (Apeks Products) , what was the point of this thread?

I already linked the Apeks website in the OP. Most of the information may be there (I disagree that it's all there, but then you seem to have a unique definition of that word) but it's not presented in an easy-to-follow method. That's the point of this thread
 
Basically you've copy & pasted from the Apeks site, good for you.

Why didn't you put down the ANSTI figures for the Apeks, so you get an idea of the Work of Breathing?

Other factors. Cost camparisons? The fact that the flight is pretty much the same price as an XTX200 in the UK would be important info for apeks buyers.
Then take into account that for a 'travel' reg it only breathes 'Ok' (from Divernet), needs Specific reg hoses, not standards, and seeing as everybody seems to put their regs in hand luggage anyway any weight saving is nullified.

The 'micro' adjustment on the XTX's is overtly fancy. You either need it screwed in, when not in use, or fully open when in use. Micro adjustment is just a marketing gimmick, the same as saying Nitrox ready to 40%.

If you view the extra O-ring as a problem for the DST why didn't you mention it in your first post? This I would say would be good information.

Pro's and Con's for all the Apeks Regs would be useful as well. Seeing as this is not the MFG thread.
 
Tortuga:
The Apeks web page is CONFUSING.
Your post has definitely make it easy for anyone who knows nothing of Apeks especially the nomenclature of the 1st and 2nd stages.
Well done.

I remembered several yrs ago when I was looking for a used Apeks reg and saw a ATX-100 selling in good price. So I asked the seller what was the model of the 1 stage? He did not know and said it came with the ATX-100 2nd stage originally. I managed to convince him to look up at Apeks site and confirmed it was indeed the FST 1st stage. I did not want to buy a ATX-100 comes with UST etc.
AP0243 is for the old Sentinel 2nd stage. I had it for a yr or so and then traded it with a T-20. I will not recommend the Sentinel to anyone.

There are so many o-rings in a technical set up so couple more in the DST make no difference for me.
 
+1: well done

That being said, the idea of posting ANSTI charts is an interesting one. I've got a few myself, BUT most of them are from copyrighted stuff, magazine and others. Is it OK to post only the charts and give credit to the authors?
 
+1. Thank you Tortuga68 for YOUR contribution. The questions around the diffs between different Apeks 1sts and 2nds comes up time and time again. I think this will help some people.
 
Thanks guys. I have seen and answered a lot of posts and PMs about Apeks regs, so I figured an all-in-one reference outlining the physical differences between them might be appreciated by some people


Basically you've copy & pasted from the Apeks site, good for you

My second is, if you want to see ANTSI tests, cost comparisons, opinions/pros & cons etc - other than what I already mentioned eg I DID mention the Flight proprietary hose & average breathing, try reading the OP - go ahead and do the research yourself and post them, in this thread or elsewhere I don't really care

NB If you do find and post the ANTSI tests, you'll find out that the performance of the Tek3s and DSTs isn't the same
 
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