Air/Nitrox Regulator Recommendation?

"Cisco-Wizard" <timbritt@cyber-wizard.com> wrote in message
news:de0d25282e4f309fa918fce5628bf65c@free.teranew s.com...

> I will be diving about 6 to 8 times a year, so what is the "best value"
> air/nitrox regulator what will permit me to breath easy with both gases?

Who is filling your head with this crap?

> I've done 150' decompression dives with several different ScubaPro
> regulators and not had a problem with difficult breathing and I am
> planning to become nitrox-certified, and the dive shops I've gone to all
> tell me I need to have two different regulators for air and nitrox and
> I'm not sure I believe them on this.

You dont know about the fact they are bullshitting you, and you are doing
150' deco dives?

> The $250 was just a target as you can buy a pretty good air regulator
> for this price but I'm not bound to this price. I'll be diving less
> than once a month and I'm looking for a recommendation on non-gold
> plated regulator that will handle both air and nitrox that will be easy
> breathing with air down to about 60' and one that will be easy breathing
> with nitrox from about 60' to as deep as 180'.

You are going to get hurt diving the profiles you post here, with the
knowledge you don't have.

I am not trying to insult you, just state fact. Stop what you're doing, stop
listening to whomever you have been listening to,
and seek another instructor/shop.

Scott

On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 21:32:01 GMT, Cisco-Wizard
<timbritt@cyber-wizard.com> wrote:

>I've made some initial inquires at some dive shops and they've all told
>me I need a separate regulator just for nitrox

Of course they do. They're in business to sell regulators.

>because of the different density of the gases and

LOL! I've gotta' remember that one. Trimix density differs from
nitrox, but guess what... as you go deeper, ANY gas becomes more
dense. Nitrox is no more dense than air. If you start diving with
helium, you may need to make a SLIGHT adjustment to your second stage
to prevent freeflows, but for nitrox? Nahh.

Up to 40% Nitrox and you don't need to do anything special to your
regulator. For a decompression reg that will see 80-100% Oxygen it
would be a good idea to have it O2 cleaned.

>equipment (or anything else for that matter) and I figured I could get
>an unbiased opinion in this NG.

LOL! Unbiased is the LAST thing you'll get here.

The difference is, we aren't trying to sell you something :)




--- Rich
http://richlockyer.tripod.com/

Cisco-Wizard <timbritt@cyber-wizard.com> wrote in
news:de0d25282e4f309fa918fce5628bf65c@free.teranew s.com:

> Randy,
>
> I'm not a "techie" so your points are well taken. My definition of a
> regulator is a single hose first/second stage and I don't mind using
> two different brands on each stage if this is realistic.
>
> So let me rephrase my question.
>
> I will be diving about 6 to 8 times a year, so what is the "best
> value" air/nitrox regulator what will permit me to breath easy with
> both gases?

You'll only dive 6 to 8 times a year, but will go down to 180'!?
180' is far from your average rec dive depth and certainly not the place
to be for inexperienced divers.

>
> I've done 150' decompression dives with several different ScubaPro
> regulators and not had a problem with difficult breathing and I am
> planning to become nitrox-certified, and the dive shops I've gone to
> all tell me I need to have two different regulators for air and nitrox
> and I'm not sure I believe them on this.

Good on you. It's only sales talk from their side. You can use whatever
modern regulator for air and nitrox (certainly up to 40%), deco gasses
can be a different story.

Just follow Scott's advice and get yourself an Apeks ATX40: good, sturdy
and reliable (also at depth).

> The $250 was just a target as you can buy a pretty good air regulator
> for this price but I'm not bound to this price. I'll be diving less
> than once a month and I'm looking for a recommendation on non-gold
> plated regulator that will handle both air and nitrox that will be
> easy breathing with air down to about 60' and one that will be easy
> breathing with nitrox from about 60' to as deep as 180'.

You can't do nitrox at 180' (or it must be indeed EAN21). Nitrox is
normally used for depths up to 100' and not more. Just follow the course
and you'll learn all about the how and why.


--
Michael Wolf

-----

Cthulhu For President.
Why settle for the lesser evil?

remove stopspam to reply

"Scott" <busted@yahoo.com> wrote:

> "Cisco-Wizard" <timbritt@cyber-wizard.com> wrote:
>
>
> > I've made some initial inquires at some dive shops and
> > they've all told me I need a separate regulator just for
> > nitrox because of the different density of the gases...

The change in "density" due to the changes in gas mixture is negligible
when we remember that we don't all dive to the same depth.



> ...If these people are telling you
> that you need a different reg because of gas density issues,
> they are ignorant, idiots, bald faced lairs or all of the above.

Agreed, although at a given pressure, the Reynolds Number of Nitrox
should probably be slightly higher. In any event, any difference is far
overshadowed by the changes in ambient pressure (diving depth).

Reference - Reynolds number: a dimensionless number used to describe
the type of flow. For air, <2000 indicates laminar flow, between
2000-3000 is transitinal flow, and >3000 indicates turbulent flow.


What I'd also suggest is to go back to them and ask them for the
Reynold's Number values for Air, EAN32 and EAN36. Afterall, if they run
a Nitrox fill station, their Quality Control Charts should be tracking
these very important values...right? <big evil grin>



Overall, the diving community would be served if you would name the shop
who is spreading this bad information.



-hh

Alan left this mess on Sat, 05 Jul 2003 06:25:51 GMT for The Way to clean up:
>
>In article <be5p28$b2c$0@216.39.146.232>, Jammer Six
><jammer@invalid.oz.net> wrote:
>
>€In article <bd634034cdf68f15fad1312385bc7b0a@free.teranews.co m>,
>€Cisco-Wizard <timbritt@cyber-wizard.com> wrote:
>€
>€€ Anyone have a recommendation for a regulator that will handle both
>€€ regular air and nitrox for a street price of under $250?
>€€
>€€ I won't be diving below 180' and don't do cold water dives.
>€
>€Any regulator you want.
>€
>€What sort of nitrox do you use for 180?
>
>EAN21?

Rats. Beat me to the joke.

Tao te Carl

"Jesus, just because it's a newsgroup doesn't mean you have to act like
adolescents." - Jon C.