environmentally sealed or not?

[Trashman]

Hello all,

My apologies if this question/topic has already been discussed, but I was wondering if anyone would care to share their thoughts/advice on regulators being environmentally sealed vs. not for use in our pacific nw diving conditions? I welcome all input, particularly from those of you who have experienced any issues in either case.

thanks

trashman

[CaptnJack]

"Sealed" is redicuously overhyped in marketing but really unimportant. My non-sealed regs work as good or better locally than my sealed ones.

[defied]

Sealed are nice for not getting salt in places, but it doesn't really matter, as far as I can tell. I like them, though.

D

[Johnbhutch]

Sealed are the way to go. I have overhauled a lot of regs and the sealed ones hold up better in the long run. They stay much cleaner on the inside and they require less in the way of replacement parts due to less corrosion. Lets face it anytime you can keep the dirt and salt out of a piece of gear the better off you will be.

[kitsapdiver]

For divers who are diligent about fresh water rinsing and are active locally I tend to agree with RJ it's over-hyped! However from a different perspective while we consider the NW cold water diving the guys in lake and quarries where it's 38 at the bottom year round and the water is Sans-salt (raising the freezing point) the environmentally sealed regs are helpful! However with 48 degree salt-water that isn't much of a concern to begin with!

[kdupreez]

Yeah, its pretty much a wash nowadays, unless you plan to do serious ice diving and fear your piston regs might freeze..

I have like 6 of each sealed and piston type regs and I can not tell the difference in performance between the two. If your second stage is decent quality, you wont even know the difference.

I rinse my regs after every dive and have yet to notice any worse for wear parts on the piston regs vs. sealed diaphragm regs.

In my opinion the sealed regs are harder to service and at least for scubapro/halcyon regs, the service kits for the diaphragm sealed stages are quite a bit more expensive.

Also, sealed regs tend not to be allowed for "oxygen service", meaning manufacturers dont like you using them for 100% oxygen..

Depending on brand, the sealed regs are sometimes a pain in the ass to hose route for doubles since there is no swivel turret, but they are usually smaller and do travel well!

Piston regs on other hand more prone to freezing in super cold temps, usually shorter service intervals and the swivel turret, it has a tendency to come loose.. they are heavier so dont travel as nice as sealed.

if you are going to dive in very very sandy conditions or environmentally unfriendly places, the sealed stages will keep sand out of the first stage.

So - Pro's and cons for both and very much depend on you primary intent for use.