argon bottle part 2

[west coast diver]

Ok,
so I have just purchased a second hand Argon bottle and mounted it on my wing backplate with the supplied Halcyon straps.

However, I have committed the heinous crime of mounting it upright i.e. top handle valve facing upwards because I find the hose routing much simpler (I can bungee my spg hose onto it and it sits neatly within my field of vision) and it also unclutters my bottom left stage clip.

In use it performs flawlessly, and I wouldn't even know it was there apart from the fact it fills a little slower than from my twinset (no biggie).


Unfortunately this comes at a price, in that I can no longer easily reach the valve (in use).

My reasoning here is that if the first stage were to freeflow, the overpresure valve would kick in and give me time to disconnect from my suit valve at which point I would simply switch to my backup (on my lean stage) and continue the dive (I have fitted a top hat to my suit inflator hoses to assist in this scenario).

Obviously this means the tank would empty, but is that such a problem?
it is only a 1 litre tank so I wouldn't expect it to be freeflowing for long nor would I think that it would drastically affect my buoyancy

I would be more concerned that I may have some form of water ingress into the Argon bottle as it would now be empty.

So I guess what I'm asking is this-

1.how many people who mount their Argon bottle the correct way :>) (i.e. upside down) can actually hand on heart say that they can reach it first time every time AND have it mounted in such a way that it does not interfere with their stage clips?

2.Have I missed anything ?

Looking forward to your responses.

W.C.D.

P.S.

I am non dir and already know that I am going to hell so no need to point that out :>)

Cheers

[Twinsetmad]

Mines valve down... yes I can reach it no problem.... but I do have a top handle valve on it. And no your not missing anything. You do whats rights for you chap.... if its right for you, nobody can tell you its wrong.

[west coast diver]

Thanks for that,


If no-one can provide any strong argument to the contrary then that's exactly what I'll do :>)

cheers

W.C.D.

Mines valve down... yes I can reach it no problem.... but I do have a top handle valve on it. And no your not missing anything. You do whats rights for you chap.... if its right for you, nobody can tell you its wrong.

[Sonicthediver]

Mines inverted (valve down) on a clamp on my LYBoD with the knob pointing forwards and yes I can reach it easily, but this is incase I forget to turn it on rather than to shut it off if it leaks or the OP valve let's go.

As you say it may fill with water, so it will need to be cleaned and dryed, but as you have a fault with it anyway, so you won't be using it until the problems dealt with.

You should do whats right for you, not what everyone else says you should do (as long as what your doing isn't dangerous)

[Leg Of Salmon]

I like being able to touch my knob.

[Sonicthediver]

I like being able to touch my knob.

I like wimmin touching mine

[Leg Of Salmon]

Yes, but sometime there isn't a wimmin around.

[pauldiving]

valve down knob out, look like a feckin knober when you have to ask someone to turn the gas on when your kitted up ....

[west coast diver]

Ok,
so it sounds like this is more a problem of turning it on rather than turning it off in a hurry.

I guess the secret would be getting into the habit of turning it on at the same time as my tank valves.

Either way it wont make much difference what way up the valve is.

Thanks for all the comments so far.

W.C.D.

valve down knob out, look like a feckin knober when you have to ask someone to turn the gas on when your kitted up ....

[don]

valve down knob out, look like a feckin knober when you have to ask someone to turn the gas on when your kitted up ....

Not half as much as jumping in with it empty! (No names - no pack drill!)