New Poseidon Regs

[Chris H]

I've never had a problem with one other than mentioned in my original reply to your question. I have used an Odin, Thor, or Xstream on about 385 dives without ever having a regulator problem.

That said, there is a strong anti-Poseidon contingency that usually starts in a DIR forum someplace. There has been some talk of them failing closed, which is bad for obvious reasons. They also get slammed for using non-standard hoses. This means that instead of a hose costing $20 they are $50 and if you want to breathe the long hose(7ft), they are closer to $100 for the hose compared to $40 for a standard regulator hose. Depending on your location, parts and service may become an issue. Reading some of the other forums out there, this was a big reason for many people switching. Bob, at Divepoint in Stevens Point, is a good, Poseidon friendly, service guy. Abyss Diving Systems was also running a great regulator rebuild service. For $39.99 they would O2 clean and service a reg. They use Poseidon 1st stages on their regs so they naturally service Poseidon. Abyss is closed and will re-open in January, so I don't know the status of that service right now.

Despite the rumors, it is possible to properly route hoses on doubles using Poseidon regulators.

In a nutshell, I think there are a lot of people who still dive them, but they just keep quiet on the forums so they don't have to hear all of the crap.

[Omicron]

One of the big reasons peole speak out against Poseidons, is that you are not able to disassemble them without tools underwater.

Personally, I think that's a solution looking for a problem. If you take such poor care of your regulators that you need to do an emergency cleaning underwater....well...you need to take better care of your regs.

[Chris H]

I think this is more of an issue if you get debris in your diaphram (that doesn't sound good) and you are 4,000ft back in a cave. With a standard style regulator you can unscrew the faceplate and clear whatever is in the reg, the Odins need a small screwdriver to get at the diaphram. The Xtream is tool less, but not the easiest to get snapped back in place. Yesterday while I was divng, I thought about trying to dissassemble my G250 under water with my drygloves on to see how well it worked or didn't. I didn't try it so I don't know.

[Vtach]

My first Poseidon was the Triton. I never had a problem with it in any conditions. Poseidon then discontinued support for those reg's so I had to switch to the Cyklon. I had my Cyklon fail to deliver air twice. Once was in the Wolf River in December and the second time was in Lake Michigan on the Milwaukee in February. Both times I could not get a full breath out of the reg. It was a relatively gradual onset. Breathing normally at the beginning of the dive, start to get a bit of restriction and then 5-6 breaths later it was like sucking air from a straw. I switched to my backup and tried the purge the damn thing and all I got was a trickle of bubbles.

Those 2 failures and the fact that I never really liked the side exhaust of most Poseidon regulators, sent me looking for something else. I am diving Apeks now and no failures (knock on wood). I still have my Cyklon but it is used primarily for a stage reg now.

To each his own....but there is something to be said for universal hose sizes, easy break down and cleaning, swappable second stages, environmentally sealed first stages....

[Omicron]

C'mon now Todd - you don't have to take FreeDive's place He called you, didn't he????

Hehe. Seriously though divegeek - see how partial everyone is to their regulators??? Once you get set on something, you don't ever want to change!

[Vtach]

Freedive did not have to call me, the vision of him sitting in front of a blank screen, tapping the ctrl-alt-delete buttons, looking all sweaty and pale, was enough for me. Something had to be done..... ;D

[divegeek]

Thanks again to everyone. This info really helps. I'm especially thankful for the intelligent, insightful, and non-flaming aspects of this particular discussion. It makes getting information lots easier when someone isn't spouting chapter-and-verse trying to make converts of the "great unwashed" so to speak.

Omicron, you hit the nail right on the head....why the need to take apart your reg under water if you have it professionally serviced, and take care of it? Deep Blue, I see your point about doing some minor maintenance things right at the dive site...makes sense.

I've had these same discussions with the guy at a local shop, and he tells me the same things. He's also a Poseidon dealer, but I think it's time to make the move to an Apeks. He tells me there's a rebate going on now for some of the Apeks line.

Thanks again everyone.

[FreediveWI]

I'll have to keep this short since I am on my father-in-law's computer.

Actually, he and I both used to use Posidens. We have both switched to Apeks. I switched after mine froze up on me and started spitting ice chunks down my throat one cold winter's day while I was doing a slavage job on the Summerfest Island under 4' of pack ice with 6" of vis. Not the best time to be sucking down air that had the consistancy of a blended maragarita! >

Another instructor/boat captain freind of mine dumped his after a winter charter out to the Willey when his froze up solid on him and stopped giving him air. We didn't get rid of our regs because we read about a problem on an internet news board, since they weren't around back then, but rather becasue they failed on us when we needed them.

Gert has covered many of the other main topics. The one thing he didn't cover was how they got such a good reputation to begin with. If you go back to the first big Navy tests, in 1987, Posidens had the best test ratings. Only 1 Scubapro made it, the G250, and only a couple of Aqualungs- the Conshelf SE and the Supreme first stage attached to the AGA second stage. All total there were 7 regs, 3 of them Posiden.

Of course, since that time ALL of the other regulator comapnies have caught up, and even surpased, with better regs that use standard parts and cost a LOT less money.

IF you use enough Helium in your mix you can even make a Sherwood Brut breath nice, and keep a Scubapro from freeflowing.

Jon

[dfreeman]

It is important to remember that all regulators can have problems. I remember one weekend last summer at Lake Wazee where 8 different Apeks regulators freeflowed on their users. Three of them right before my eyes. The key is to be prepared for problems and know how to deal with them. In these cases the individuals handled the situation and walked away. It was not always pretty, but they handled it.

Keep your equipment in good condition, use good equipment, have redundency when appropriate, know emergency procedures and be prepared.

Doug

[Omicron]

And, as Douglas Adams always says..."Don't Panic" ;D