Wanted: a regulator class

[smike]

I want a shop to give a class that really teaches me about regulators. Shows what the options are. How many are on the market today? What are the advantages to the way this one works, versus the way this one works? And let me try out a bunch of them for fit and feel. Show me that I can replace the mouth piece ( I know, but this should be in the class), tell me what I should be able to adjust, as an informed consumer. Take some apart and show me how they work.

As part of the class, I want a reference guide that shows at least the major manufacturers, technology used, major uses (warm water, cold water, technical, octo (secondary), suggested depth ratings, suggested temperature ratings, What primaries work well with what secondaries (intermediate pressure range?), hose connection sizes, bench tech ratings, ruggedness, DIN/Yoke, conversion capable, relative maintenance costs, likely support lifetime (how long do we expect there will be parts available for this?), links to manufacturer product page.

This is just a little start: http://www.scubamage.com/files/Choosing ... ulator.pdf

I understand that the market changes, but imagine the website that at least has a snapshot of this info today. I am probably asking too much. It is what I want though. I want to make an informed decision on my next reg set. I don't want to go to a shop and just see what they offer. Maybe nothing they have is the best thing for me.

I hate that you look at the product catalog, for just one brand, and there are 5 - 10 regulators for sale, with sales terms that mean nothing to me. "Breathes easier". (easier than what? How easy? Are the others in the catalog hard to breath from?) "depth rated" (How deep? Why? Are the others in the catalog gonna kill me if I take it to 130' (I'm not going that deep, but I want to know)?)

Gimme knowledge!

Mike

[nwbobber]

Me too! It seems like marketing people should be able to quantify ease of breathing in physical quantities. They should also be able to tell you how much heat transfer the different stages are capable of in a give water temp. If they don't want you comparing to their competitors, one has to ask, why not?

[Octoloco]

Hope I'm not but I'd also like to watch a tech take my reg apart so I can see why and how the thing works. I'm a hands on type person (TWSS).

[Gooch]

I took a equipment class at my LDS (7C's-Vancouver) and they went over a lot of gear and part of the presentation included regs, differences in operation, and we took apart one to see how they work (which was pretty cool- we got to see the difference between the balanced and unbalanced piston regs).

None of it was in the detail of what you were mentioning and I think your idea would be a great thought for a class or seminar. You could expand it to other areas (BCD/wings, fins, masks--just more detail than the one I attended).

There are some hard numbers you can assign to regs for flows, cracking pressures, other things. It would be cool to see some popular regs compared to each other.

[fmerkel]

Rodale's has been doing reg tests with objective data for years. Not everything is included and some people and manufacturers aren't happy with the results but it is at least something to go by.

An important component should be, can I get it serviced, and likely for how long? Some brands are not widely distributed and some manufacturers tend to change the things every year even if they don't need it and then convince us we're gonna be a sorry diver if we don't upgrade. A really good reg of 10 years ago is still a really good reg.

A class of the scope you are talking would likely set you back a week and $500-1000, if you could get it. I did a 2 day/$200 class through UWS a dozen years ago. It barely scratched the surface really but was way better than these half day equipment classes offered. It was enough to get me over the 'hump' and start servicing my own stuff but the onus is on you to do the research and the work.

You might visit this site: http://www.scubatools.com/ and consider buying one of their manuals. Great source for tools.
Airspeed Press is also a known good reference: http://www.airspeedpress.com/

Get an old beater reg. Take it apart. Figure out how it works. They really aren't too hard to come by if you look around. There can be some fiddly little parts but the basic layout and function of the major types is the same.