| Ich hebe diesen
Diskussionsbeitrag von Luis, einem technisch sehr erfahrenen amerikanischen alten Taucher,
hier mal hervor, nicht, weil ich unbedingt der gleichen Meinung bin ;-)), sondern
weil er gut darstellt, welche Punkte man beachten sollte, wenn man sich heute einen
Kompaktregler beschafft, um mit ihm zu tauchen: The
Best Double Hose Regulator (hier kann man die komplette Diskussion lesen)
Luis
said in the Vintage Scuba Supply Community Forum, Apr 8, 2008:
 IMHO the Royal Aqua Master is the most versatile and over all best double hose for
diving.
Most of the new Aqua Lung regulators use the same
first stage parts as the RAM and the second
stage in the RAM is a basic down stream design that also shares the soft seat with many
single hose second stages.
Therefore, replacement parts for the regulator itself will be available as long as Aqua
Lung is in business and they are available most anywhere in the world, since Aqua Lung has
one of the largest dealer net works.
With a hookah adapter it is also very easy to adjust
the IP and low pressure accessories can be used
such as dry suit inflator, etc. Some accessories (like the dry suit inflator) may not be
vintage, but are real life needs for some of us.
Also the Royal Aqua Master with its balanced first stage can be used with any tank pressure and the only limit would be some of the yokes with tanks over 3000 psi.
Rental aluminum tanks with 3000 psi are never a problem.
The Mistral is a great simple regulator and we can obtain reproduction seats from
VDH, but being an upstream single stage regulator
it only likes low pressure tanks, 2475 psi or
less. The lower the pressure the better it breaths and higher pressures puts undesirable
wear on the seat.
The Mistral is a fun regulator, but it has limitations in everyday diving if there is
a need for low pressure for dry suit, etc. It
doesn't have any intermediate pressure since it
is only a single stage.
The Aqua Master is also a great regulator. The second stage, main body, and cans are the
same as the Royal Aqua Master. The only difference is the first stage in an Aqua Master is not balanced.
Its IP is affected by tank pressure. It breaths harder with high tank pressure (it is the
opposite as an unbalanced piston regulators). It can be used with tanks up to 3000 psi but
it performs better with lower pressures.
New reproduction first stage seats for the Aqua Master are not available.
Some NOS are around and many of us have resurface an old seat, but there is a limit as to
how many times you can polish a seat back to being flat and still have material left.
An Aqua Master can be converted to a Royal
Aqua Master by replacing the first stage
assembly. First stage nozzles/ bodies for RAM are hard to find, but it can also be converted with a Phoenix nozzle.
The Phoenix nozzle will convert any Aqua Master (or regular RAM) into what we call a Phoenix Royal Aqua Master. It is
mechanically the same as a RAM, but it has low and high pressure ports for pressure gauge
and any other accessories. It makes it compatible
with modern gear and therefore acceptable on charter boats and other places that require the use of a pressure gauge, BC, octopus,
etc. (BTW, Luis ist der Entwickler des Phoenix
Nozzle ;-))
The Phoenix RAM can also be used with any pressure tank that allows a yoke (or even a DIN
at least in theory). One of my buddies uses his with 3442 psi tanks all the time with no
issues.
It could said that I am biased towards the Phoenix
Royal Aqua Master since I designed the modified
first stage, but my preference for any RAM dates back to the very early 70's. |
