[Mark Davies]

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<font color='#000080'>Now got my new H-valves on my tanks and with my new Transpac harness I find I can get to my valves in the upright position. Slowly getting there!

I've got a long hose on my main DV and that's fine. However, I've noticed that one or two of my other hoses are looping out over my shoulder which seem to present a hazard of getting caught in confined spaces.

I've noticed on other rigs that you can get a fitting to go on the hoses where they connect to the first stage. These turn the hose through 90 degrees so that they run down and alongside the first stage, rather than out and perpendicular to it. These would solve my problem.

Does anyone know where I can get them, what do they cost, and can you get one for a high pressure hose?

Thanks in anticipation of wise and knowledgable advice.

 

[Mark]

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<font color='#000080'>What regs have you got?

 

[Mark Davies]

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<font color='#000080'>Both Oceanic Omega II second stages on Apex DS4 first stages. Does it make any difference?

 

[Dominic]

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SAP sell them.

Or could you get away with just shortening the hoses?

 

[Mark Davies]

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<font color='#000080'>Thanks for the link Dom. Somehow I just knew you'd come up with the goods!

It's not the hose length that's the problem, more the positioning of the first stages. The pillars on my H-valves are too close together to have the first stages horizontal with the diaphragms pointing inwards; so they need to be upright, upside down, pointing out or somewhere in between.

They are Apex DS4's, which only have one HP port. With them positioned diaphragm down the port comes out to the left. On the right port I have my main DV on long hose and wing inflator hose. On the left port my secondary DV, suit inflator and contents guage.

As the right port is the one most likely to be shut down I decided to put the wing on this, as that could be inflated orally if needs be. That means it has to cross over to my left shoulder, and so the suit inflator crosses over to go under my right arm.

So these hoses route well past each other the first stages need to be toed-out at an angle. This then means that the other hoses, coming from the outside of the first stages,  automatically route up and out. This creates loops of hose just above my shoulders. I could use other ports for my regulator hoses, but with only one HP port I have no choice with my contents guage.

If I swapped my two inflation hoses the first stages could sit upright, but I think this would be a compromise and not the ideal configuration.

So I thought I'd try and use a bit of plumbing to send the hoses straight down rather than up and out. Have you used any of these connectors? Are they reliable?

 

[Dominic]

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That's the same hose config I use, except I run the drysuit under my left arm instead of behind my neck..

Purists say that they add failure points because it means an extra O-ring. In practice, because they're static (unlike those swivel-connectors you sometimes see on DVs) they're as reliable as any other regulator connector. After all, blanking plugs add failure points according to that way of thinking

I did consider using them myself a while ago, but I managed to sort it out by altering my 1st stage configs - there's a thread somewhere about it, you might be able to find by searching..

 

[Finless]

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Quote[/b] (Mark Davies @ Sep. 08 2003,23:18)]I've noticed on other rigs that you can get a fitting to go on the hoses where they connect to the first stage. These turn the hose through 90 degrees so that they run down and alongside the first stage, rather than out and perpendicular to it. These would solve my problem.

Does anyone know where I can get them, what do they cost, and can you get one for a high pressure hose?

Thanks in anticipation of wise and knowledgable advice.

I call them 90 degree elbows and I use four on my twin set "set up". Any dive store will be able to order them for you and I believe they are abt £12 each.

The only person I know that used the HP elbow got rid of it because it kept blowing the O ring - well twice and then he got rid of it - I don't know about price for one of those.

If you can't find any info locally then PM me and I will check out who the reseller is. I bought mine from a dive shop sell off @ £5 each.  

 

[Mark Davies]

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<font color='#000080'>Finless,

Thanks for the warning about the blow-out on the HP hose. That was the one that was the biggest problem and the only one I couldn't relocate.

As a result we've had a bit of a re-jig. I can just about get both first stages sat horizontally, with the diaphragms pointing to the right. There is very little clearance between the two (about 3mm) so I was worried that the left hand diaphragm would get fouled by the top of the right hand first stage. I've taken the rig to my local shop for them to look at and they assure me that it shouldn't be a problem. So now I'm able to route all my hoses downwards, and it's very tidy.

I'll give it a go first before I buy any elbows and see if there are any problems.

Thanks all for your input.