Calling Broady - gas switch info.

[Finless]

Graham,

The Ocean Reef dual tank valve is available. The suggested retail price is £149.95 as pictured in the attachment.

Rgds
Bryan

Rats - too much stuff in my piccie space on YD. I'll have to get rid of some stuff and add the piccie in a mo.

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I have added a QR hose and fitting so that one first stage may be separated - it's easier when putting the rig together.

As I'm sure you are aware, it is absolutely essential that you can find and operate the switch under any circumstance. Well ......... almost any circumstance ............ including thick gloves, no mask and pitch black etc etc. That means the switch really needs to be firmly attached to something.

The first switch that I got from OR was pictured as being fixed to the reg. This newer switch is more substantial and heavier ............................

[broady]

Thanks Bryan - you're a star mate !! Presumably it is a simple internal sliding gate mechanism and I can remove the plastic retainer cap and push down or up to swap to / fro on cylinders?

Did you have hoses custom made i.e. different lengths / fittings ?

Thanks matey

Graham

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Originally Posted by broady

Presumably it is a simple internal sliding gate mechanism and I can remove the plastic retainer cap and push down or up to swap to / fro on cylinders?

Correct. You leave the plastic collar in place to ensure you don't breathe the wrong mix on the bottom and take the collar out and switch to the deco mix. In your case (using indies with the same mix) you won't need to bother with the collar - just be aware that in the middle position there isn't much gas getting through! That happened to me and I was quite surprised to find a lack of gas availability ..... I was sucking so hard I think it's the sort of thing that would give Dale Winton wet dreams?

Did you have hoses custom made i.e. different lengths / fittings ?

No, I've managed with standard hoses so far .......... over the years I've collected a few extras and there appears to be some slight differences in length of some hoses. It is something that will really tidy things up and I am looking into. I run both the 'down to switch hoses' under bungie (tyre inner tube) on my cylinders to keep things as tight as poss.

[broady]

Great - thanks for the info Bryan

Just to give me something to mull over can you give me a quick breakdown of how you have configured your kit as I would like to give the manifolded route further consieration i.e.

Left post: Blah, blah

Right post: .........etc.....

Thanks again mate - you've been a real help with all this, I am aware that I owe you a drink when we eventually meet

Graham

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My reasoning .......... hmmmm, few people follow my logic and if you have any real worries about failure points then don't go down this route.

For diving with just my twin 12s I use two Scubapro MK20 1st stages (upside down).

Left post I have a hose going to the gas switch - runs along the manifold and down to my right). An SPG, LP feed to my wing and a bail out reg on a long hose.

Right post I have a hose to my gas switch, SPG, LP dry suit hose and a bail out reg on a long hose.

If I use a deco mix the first stage from my left cylinder goes onto the deco bottle (held in the Toblerone config) and I stick an old A Clamp first stage with a reg and an SPG on it onto the left post.

My aim was to cancel any need for hose removal when changing from two to three cylinders. The only way to do that is to have both the LP wing and suit inflaters come off my right cylinder ......... which is less than ideal.

Lastly, I now always use a necklaced reg. A Hog loop doesn't work to well because of the hose coming up from the switch to the mask. I suppose I could drop one SPG and one of the bail out regs but ..... well ..... I've got them and if the shit really hit the fan (like in a DIR drill) I, and someone else, will be glad I took two bailout regs with me. Mind you .......... as I dive solo quite a bit ..........

If I can get at my kit again AND don't fall asleep again I'll try and get a piccie. It won't hurt for me to have another review of my own set up.

[broady]

Interesting - I was coming to some similar conclusions re: twin bail out regs. I guess it's one of those things if you want access to each tank when your main reg is part of a FFM.

The only alternative way I can see is to lose one bail out and/or one spg to tidy things up but it seems to become a bit of an unwelcome compromise really. Do 2 extra potential failure points outweigh the benefits of those items if the doo-doo hits the fan - I am not experienced enough to really make an informed decision.

The gas switch could go too (on a standard twinset - no deco gas dive) I suppose but as much as I practice bail out drills I really wouldn't want the task loading of removing the FFM in a 'situation'. Far better to flick the switch in that instance.

Hmmm....


Graham

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Originally Posted by broady

Interesting - I was coming to some similar conclusions re: twin bail out regs. I guess it's one of those things if you want access to each tank when your main reg is part of a FFM.

The only alternative way I can see is to lose one bail out and/or one spg to tidy things up but it seems to become a bit of an unwelcome compromise really. Do 2 extra potential failure points outweigh the benefits of those items if the doo-doo hits the fan - I am not experienced enough to really make an informed decision.

The gas switch could go too (on a standard twinset - no deco gas dive) I suppose but as much as I practice bail out drills I really wouldn't want the task loading of removing the FFM in a 'situation'. Far better to flick the switch in that instance.

Hmmm....


Graham

The only problem I've had with this set up during a dive was caused by me and my stupidity and had nothing to do with kit failure.

Kit failure does happen occasionally during a dive. I imagine one FFM and one spare reg is enough if you are buddy diving. You'd need to be VERY unlucky for you both to suffer failures and, needs be, you could buddy breathe.

I personally don't see an extra couple of failure points as that big a deal but don't tell any DIR divers that!

I do not like continually changing hoses around as I do see this as an avenue that can lead to mistakes and failures so I have tried to use one format for all dives.

You do tend to feel a bit more remote from the dive in an FFM and I quite enjoyed the few weeks when I used a normal ½ mask when my old switch was broken.

The one thing I would say is to adopt a predive regime of religiously checking all is as it should be and that you know off by heart which side each hose comes from and what happens when you turn one side off. Having once descended the incident pit once and having crashed through the bottom into blind panic I won't be going through that again if I can avoid it. Once in the water (at about 6 to 10 mtrs) do a quick once over the kit - all bailout regs still where they should be!