Decompression setup..

[wilbo]

Hi all,

I dive a twinset (and dare I say it - an upside down one.. tut tut ;-) ). I am starting to do more and more Deco diving and having to borrow kit is a pain for both parties involved.. so.

I am looking to set myself up. Currently eyeing up the following: 7 litre O2 clean 232 faber with a Nitrox compatible (which I read as 40% plus O2) Apeks ATX40 and DS4. The only O2 SPG I can seem to find is the Apeks one (the one thats rated to 450 bar). I'll sling this under my left arm off some parachute cord and some bolt snaps..

So. £95 for the cylinder, £184 for the Regs and £55 for the SPG..

Does this sound OK both for setup and for prices?

Thanks as always..

[beanie]

you can always get a mini gauge £25 O2 clean as they are
thats how I ran it I didn't need to know exactly how much gas I had just the there was gas there full / half / quarter / o poo empty
you can read them underwater if you put then on the HP port that ends up on top of the cylinder

[beanie]

otherwise sounds like a resonable price

[And]

Hi

SDS do an Apeks TX40 and DS4 for £125. If you want the o2 clean one then it is £150. You can just use a standard gauge. I use the Suunto SM36 I think which is a small plastic one and they sell them with a 6inch hose for £36 ish.

Personally I would use a Luxfer ali 7Ltr but they are a bit more expensive than the Faber, but SDS do them as well and may be able to come up with a deal.

Andy

PS Sorry, forgot to mention that the reg hose supplied is 42" which is ideal.

[wilbo]

Andy,

you use a 'normal' - i.e. non O2 Clean - spg/gauge with mixes of 80% and the like..? I thought everything that comes into contact with these rich mixes needed to be O2 clean, i.e. degreased, different O rings etc..

[Andy Phillips]

It is supposed to be clean, but to be honest no one really worries, just make sure the tank is clean I have an O2 specific reg. for my rich mix, my occaisional buddy uses a TX40 ourt of the box. No probs. either way.
Forget the button guages they are a waste of not much space, there is something comforting about being able to see how much gas is left.

The vast majority of divers in the UK use the fabre light weight steel 7's for deco tanks. Myself included, that is when I actually get to dive (he said bitterly)

Take care,

Andrew

[Mark Chase]

I have one dedicatecd 02 clean reg for my rich 80%+ deco mix.All my other regs are standard Apex and one Oceianic.

UK spec Light weight steel 7ltr tanks are very light in the water and slightly positive when empty and make very good stages. I use a button gauge on my rich deco and a full gauge on my mid range deco. This is because the Mid range deco is sometimes used to fill SMBs or Lift bags so the amount of remaining gas can be critical. That said if you gas plan the dive properly there is no reel need for a guage I never check my ones during a dive only before and after for SAC calcs.

ATB

Mark Chase

[Dr Stevil]

How light are these lightweight Faber 7s? Are these 200bar tanks? I bought one a while back but didn't stipulate a lightweight 7l so I'm imagining it's just a standard 232 weight one.

[shades]

You may find this little calculator useful for cylinders.

http://www.subaqua.co.uk/cgi-bin/cylinder-buoyancy.cgi

[Garf]

Originally Posted by Andy Phillips

Forget the button guages they are a waste of not much space, there is something comforting about being able to see how much gas is left.

This is very subjective. I use a button guage on my stage as I am not fussed about seeing how much gas there is in it. I know it was full at the beginning of the dive, and I know it needs refilling at the end. The bit in the middle is down to knowing your sac and following the plan. If I had borked the plan and didnt't have enough deco gas, then watching a guage drop down would increase my sac, not bring me comfort. The purpose of the guage on the stage to me is simply a pre-dive check to ensure I am clipping on a full stage.

Again, this is purely subjective, and MHO only.