Better to just get rid of the "buddy" and go solo 😉

Thank you for the simple and clear explanations of the dos and don'ts of setting the IP on one's regulator first stage. These tech tips are some of the best scuba tube content.

👍😎🤿🇵🇭!

I want to thank you so much for your honest tech tips. I am relatively new to diving and still have lots to learn. You have been my number 1 go-to for anything scuba. You are a life saver - literally. I bought my first regulator, about 6 years ago, based solely on advise I learned from watching your videos. I chose the standard piston for cost savings. I think I paid about $350 for the reg and second stage. I have 100 dives with it. It's been in temps from 92f to 53f, and depths to 118' with zero issues. My LDS was selling a discontinued balanced diaphragm compact reg and second stage for $299. I could not pass this up. Anyway, again thank you for everything you do. You are the best!

You’re explanation about letting the air out of the tank from high pressure to a lower pressure is the air conditioning principle 😊

Alec, a better experiment for an adibiatic phenomenon is much simpler. With an open mouth, gently blow air on the back of your hand. It'll feel warm. Now try it with pursed lips and slightly more pressure. It'll feel much cooler. Air is the same temperature and coming from the same place.... But a drop in pressure is a drop in temperature.

fins is a technique to increase the surface of contact between a solid body and heat transfert fluid. This is used specially when the heat transfert capacity by surface unit of the transfert fluid is the limiting factor, so the contact surface is increased by adding fins. This is very often used when a metallic body have to be cooled by surrounding air and a very common application is to cooling cylinters and heads on an air cooled engine. when a heat receptive media as water is involved, fins are not required and even can become a nuisance to efficient cooling as the surfaces corrodes. excellent topic excellent video.

2:44 i think it's pronounced ah-dee-ah-bah-tic

Water can indeed go below 32F; impurites such as the salt in sea water depress the freezing point to around 28F, which is why they salt the roads. But a free flowing reg can get down to below 20 pretty easily and the best way to avoid freezing is to use a sealed first stage reg that doesn't let water get into the working parts. Then the second stage is the vulnerable part, so we just avoid purging when not in the water, especially as in winter the air can be a lot colder than the water. I agree, fins are mainly for style.

but but but my 45 year old Dacor Pacer 900's from 1979 have never ever frozen up while diving in the winters and still work like brand new and they don't have those fancy fins ! Ha Ha Ha

Interesting concept! I just noticed that my G260 has the same fins on it. Good to know they don’t really do anything lol. Paired with the MK 17 Evo, I dive exclusively cold water here in Alaska and have not had a free flow yet. Thanks for the video Alex. Just. Go. Diving.

Buy the "rental" regulator model from the brand you like, or the one just above it; these will breathe easy, be tough, and cheap and easy to service. Anything more is a waste of money.

If that was a Scubapro medium tensile "polymer cleaning tool," it would cost $25 and only be available at authorized dealers 😂 😂 😂

Saved a dive by cutting a "new" gasket out of my silicone smartphone case using only my Leatherman. Worked perfectly! 😎

So timely. I was using my lift bag this weekend and the dump valve was leaking. I had to keep putting air in. Turns out the rubber seat is gone. Now I know how to fix it.

$5 - $10 bucks.............yeah right.

My Cressi AC2 reg needs a spanner wrench to remove the end cap. Do you know of a way to remove the cap without having a spanner?

I am new to diving and am taking my open water this coming Sat. My question is should I use their rental Dive Regulator or should I buy one. I did notice that during my 3 pool classes, some Dive Regulator seemed to be easier to breath.

All the manual service interval language is just company lawyer CYA (the company's) talk.

Hello Alec I just found your KZbin channel yesterday and wanted to say thank you. Your videos and Tech tips series are so helpful if I need some questions answered I am sure I find something here a answer with decades of experience so just thank you. I as well wanted to ask you if you could check out the decathlon diving gear called subea I would appreciate if you give your opinion on it it’s very cheap but looks good and also gets sold in Germany so it must have the same standards doesn’t it ? All the best Finn

Nice tip sir alec❤❤❤❤

When pulling material, try to use pads of fingers, to avoid poking semi-circular holes in neoprene with fingernails. Keep nails clipped short during diving season.

That's a cool little trick with the silicone spray; another is to build your own plate & wing BCD out of generic parts bought offline. I have built several of my own for about $300-$350 each. If I ever need to replace a generic "k" inflator valve, it costs $15-$20 vs. $70 or more for the valve used in brand name BCD makers.

Thank you for sharing and recognizing the beautiful art of John Steel. He's one of my favorite artists. His work (including his military and Christian art) has inspired me to paint oceanic and Christian themed paintings. He was a very gifted man indeed. Blessings to you sir.

I go with a brass head because my SPG dives naked 😊

this part of equipment is very simple design and many parts can be found on the net including repair flanges, complete inflators and so on good topic excellent video.

👍😎🤿🇵🇭! Yeah way to go!

Hi Alec. I have done this a few times when the cord gets frayed, had to buy 500 ft of kevlar 400 pound rope to get the right diameter cord. One tip I will suggest is a dab of silicone on the knot to keep it from coming loose, the cord material is slippery without a big tail. take care Owen m

How often should I rinse out my BCD? I bought one of the Garden Hose to LPI Adapters. And a bottle of cleaning solution. I'm guessing I should put a small amount inside the Adapter. Attach to the garden hose and LPI. Low water pressure to fill it

Great tip Alec, thank you. My wife gets sea water inside her BC which gets flushed with fresh water when we get home. Should the interior of the BC be dried somehow before storage or not? Thank you again.

If someone needs explanation about fixing a dump valve 😮 it might need a dum valve 😊

Incredibly overweight divers - doesn't look healthy or inspiring.

Doing a Scuba Gear Maintenance 101 class of many of your old videos 😉

I disagree. The long hose setup is safer and easier and should become the industry standard, but I respect your opinion even if we differ.

Not etiquette, but safety (big time!); I ALWAYS carry a small clip-on bell which was given to me as a gift around 10 years ago. Second time out that thing possibly saved my life on a wreck dive. My buddy (resort dive master) was leading me through the wreck and he turned a 90-degree corner - the companionway he was in was only wide enough for one person, so he immediately disappeared from sight. The instant he turned the corner I was floating up to the top of the compartment because my rental plastic belt buckle had sheared clean off and my weights headed south pronto, way out of reach. I was pinned to the roof and panicking big time, but I remembered my bell. I took the top off and started ringing like crazy - he heard it and realised I wasn't behind him any more so turned around and found me high above. Anyway I got my weights back and managed to squeeze them into my BCD pockets and we carried on. So I always carry my bell, and I ONLY use steel belt buckles, period.

Hi Alec, I love the scuba tech tips and watched a lot of then. Till now I use only one first stage. But because redundancy is nice and I want to start with ice diving, I think about buying a second reg (1. + 2. stage). In your clips I could find hints what a reg could have (e.g. sealed is not a bad idea) but no requirements or no goes. Maybe any recommendations about some regs, which work for ice diving not to bad? Thanks

Super informative and valuable information on valves and tanks 👍👍👍

Hello Sir, I want to ask for transmitter mares LED TANK MODULE NFC WHAT’s theO-ring size we can use it ?? thank you

Thanks Alec, really helpful. Ive just received a set of new mares regs, and the 2nd stage / octopus around the opposite way. Not my first choice, but it should still work ok

There was one scuba shop in town I dived with. I think they closed. They wanted to charge me $150 for regulator service. For that price I can buy a new second stage on the internet. Is there someone who does service by mail?

Reg service with OEM kit every two to three years or 200-300 dives is fine.

Alec, Could you please do a full face mask video? I’m curious to hear your thoughts and opinions. I started using the ots guardian and absolutely love it. Biggest pros are your face stays warm, no jaw fatigue, leak free, you can breathe through your nose and no fogging! Thank you.

My divesstore returns them as well, to prevent misuse they destroy each o-ring so it becomes unusable to re-use.

👍😎🤿🇵🇭Absolutely right !

agree with the old and the new valves and how they work, however the 1/4 turn back is still very relevant but for different reasons. AND this is why. in my experience, when i have fully opened the valve, and helpers on the boat or even on shore double check that valves are opened have in some instances tried opening and already open valve, and ended up stripping the valve because it felt like it was closed, if the valve was 1/4 turned back, they would have felt the difference and would not have forced the open valve to the point of stripping the valve, so not bad practice to be honest.

well sad to say BUT there is only one Scuba Tech in the World that I trust to service my regs . and that is Mr P and he lives in Ontario Canada !

My shop does that service with the bag of used parts sent back

Hey Alec, what other company's 2nd stage is featuring a Fine Tuning option? Are there any right now Or were? Because I've only heard the PACER* Is the one with this feature. Other companies only says to adjust the Seat Puppet and thats it. If they are, are they also mentioned in the schematics or are hidden? Thanks

Last Sept(2023) I purchased a set of Genesis Prana Regs. Used them for the First time on April 27 during a Lake Cleanup in 55F Water. Rinsed them off in the bathtub when I got home.

Hey Alec, Fantastic video as always! I was wondering if you could do a video on the DACOR Pacer. I've heard it stands out globally for its unique 5 features, these are the Venturamatic to prevent free-flow on air demand when venturi is active, the Anti-Free Flow Device, the Dual Exhaust System, tool-free valve seat adjustability, and fine-tuning for easy breathing. And its super simplicity when serving it with only 4 parts inside instead of 8 or more. These features still make it one of the best regulators ever made and tops todays regulators. Very innovative. Oh and its still usable today!. It takes Sherwood L.P seats. Thanks H-