Talk:Diving regulator

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[edit] TMI

At first glance, this article suffers from TMI -- Too Much Information. It is poorly laid out and goes into irrelevant detail.

  • It should be rewritten, starting with the most general information first, then branching out into details.
  • The information on the history of diving regulators is weak and needs to be pulled together. Much of it revolves around Cousteau's modern development of the Aqualung, but an uninformed reader would have difficulty pulling this thread out of the article.

--QuicksilverT @ 20:08, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

  • It may be that the DIN type connection is so called because it is very high-pressure, and thus if someone cracks the valve it makes a big din "SSSSSSSSSSS". ? :-) Anthony Appleyard 08:48, 26 March 2006 (UTC)
  • I describe the parts in downstream order as following the air through from the cylinder to the outside. Anthony Appleyard 22:08, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A-type tank connector

The A-type connector is also called Yoke. This should be mentioned in the article.Michagal 12:45, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Not TMI

It does not have too much information! I am taking an intro SCUBA class where there is no organized technical discussion of equipment, and first stages aren't discussed at all. This technical description is just what I was looking for. David Quinn davidquinn_1@yahoo.com

[edit] Unbalanced, Balanced and Overbalanced first stages

"Overbalanced" - It seems that different manufacturers use this term to describe different effects. Scubapro uses it to mean boosting the IP (intermediate pressure) as the tank pressure falls.[1] Whereas Apeks uses it to mean boosting the IP by an amount greater than the increase of water pressure, as depth increases. [2] While both of these are desirable refinements, I'm not sure that it aids clarity in the article briefly to define it as making it "easier to breathe at depth".

There are two design objectives for first stages - to make the breathing effort consistent independent of cylinder pressure and to make it consistent independent of depth.

That brings me to the question of what "Unbalanced" and "Balanced" mean?

My memory suggests that the oldest "unbalanced" regs had the characteristic of increased effort as tank pressure dropped, so that may have been the original issue that "balancing" addressed. I'd need someone who was diving in the 1970's and earlier or some reference from that era to be sure. This issue was addressed by designing so that cylinder pressure neither reinforces nor opposes the opening of the first stage valve. The idea of allowing water to exert pressure inside the valve to reinforce the IP is a different issue as it is meant to ensure that the IP remains about 9 bar above ambient at all depths (so that the second stage always has the same pressure differential across it).

Bearing in mind the TMI comment above, I don't think I can adequately explain of this concisely enough to suit. What's the solution? RexxS (talk) 00:45, 9 January 2008 (UTC)