Why DIN Valves?

[shcubasteve]

Alright techies, I’ve got a question…I am a very active recreational diver who likes to listen to technical discussions about diving safer … I am about to get a new regulator and am debating DIN fittings VS traditional yoke…. I am under the impression that DIN valves are more failsafe, and therefore more reliable then a standard yoke valve. Is this a correct assumption?? I know they can handle higher pressures and are better for HP cylinders, but are they safer to use then yoke???

Thanks all and Dive safe…

Steve W

[diverlen]

Alright techies, I’ve got a question…I am a very active recreational diver who likes to listen to technical discussions about diving safer … I am about to get a new regulator and am debating DIN fittings VS traditional yoke…. I am under the impression that DIN valves are more failsafe, and therefore more reliable then a standard yoke valve. Is this a correct assumption?? I know they can handle higher pressures and are better for HP cylinders, but are they safer to use then yoke???

Thanks all and Dive safe…

Steve W

Steve, you might want to go to the following site to get more info. Hope this helps.

http://www.diveriteexpress.com/library/valves.shtml

[Fis_Hunter]

Alright techies, I’ve got a question…I am a very active recreational diver who likes to listen to technical discussions about diving safer … I am about to get a new regulator and am debating DIN fittings VS traditional yoke…. I am under the impression that DIN valves are more failsafe, and therefore more reliable then a standard yoke valve. Is this a correct assumption?? I know they can handle higher pressures and are better for HP cylinders, but are they safer to use then yoke???

Thanks all and Dive safe…

Steve W

I got a DIN fitting installed so I could use HP 120 while in hawaii. I have an adapter which I use if I want to dive with LP tanks which have a standard yoke. It just gives me more options.

[Teh Wicked]

You can buy DIN conversion kits for just about any regulator on the market now days for around $50. I have all DIN fittings just for the safety factor and piece of mind...I dont have alot of tanks yet so sometimes im forced to rent a few tanks and most of the time they are yoke only so a yoke adaptor really come in handy.

[SpearMax]

I am under the impression that DIN valves are more failsafe, and therefore more reliable then a standard yoke valve. Is this a correct assumption?? I know they can handle higher pressures and are better for HP cylinders, but are they safer to use then yoke???

Absolutely Steve. They are safer. All the tech agencies preach the use of DIN valves in every tech course I have taken all the way up to Advanced Trimix. All of my regs and tanks are DIN.

[wookie]

To go a little farther, DIN is considered safer for a couple of reasons. The first and major one is that the o-ring is "captured", that is, it is on the inside of the DIN fitting (between the base of the fitting and the back of the tank valve), which makes it much harder to blow out. Secondly, a DIN fitting can support much higher pressures. I have a pair of Beauchat steel 140's 300 BAR cylinders. They are european, and designed for 300 BAR, OR 4500 psi. Of course, being european, that are not legal to transport in the US, so unless you happen to have your own 4500 psi fill station, they are worthless. It is interesting that my hydro facility has no problem with hydroing them, and I do have my own fill station. With that said, I've never dived them. It would take about 80 pounds of lift to get them and me off the bottom with a flooded drysuit. I'm just not man enough for that kind of diving, and would only get in trouble with that mush gas. If I were buying new regs, I would always buy the DIN option, and order a DIN to yoke converter for those trips when DIN tanks are not available.

[Catalyst]

I think it is interesting that everyone "knows" or at least thinks DIN is better but DIN valves and regs are still in the minority.
I happened into the DIN world after getting a really good deal on 4 Genesis HP 100's with 3500 psi DIN valves. After doing some research and converting my regs I am very happy with using DIN and adapting to yoke when necessary.
Not getting the flag line tangled on the yoke knob is just a bonus.

The only real issue I have is that most of my dive buddies still use yokes and aluminum 80's. :confused:

[Lv2divdeep]

First and foremost yoke fittings have a 3000PSI Rating. Most high performance regs have both DIN and yoke fittings options, so you don't really have to choose between the two, just buy the other fitting so you can use either.

DIN is a "higher" pressure fitting with a sealed "O" ring and deep threading to handle high pressures.
Regulator DIN fittings 200 or 300 BAR are much easier to damage in handling (before screwing them into the tank) because of the exposed threads. Yokes are much quicker to deal with in a fill station.

DIN adapters are popular with cave\wreck penetration divers because once screwed into the tank, they reduce the risk of failure from collision with the cave wall or wreck as opposed to a standard yoke.

It's relative to the type of diving your doing and reduction of risk in possible failure. We used to dive double 80's with air on the Adrea Doria 265FSW water temp relative to time of year (Always DRY SUIT) and now everyone has DIN and 100, 120, 131, 160 , 190 size tanks...

[Keysdivers]

Not only are DIN valves much safer, they are the standard outside the USA.
Just like imperial measure vs. metric - we are in the minority around the world.

[Chad Carney]

I've been using DIN since 1988 when Genesis HP tanks first hit the US market, and it's absolutely superior. DIN probably never will catch up in the US now that they made steel tanks with yoke inserts. Most manufacturers sell over 90% yoke regulators... cause its cheaper and that's what the majority of shops rent and sell.

I can't recall how many yoke oring extrusions I've witnessed... but the number is huge.

I didn't think you could extrude a DIN oring, but I finally witnessed it happen to a diver once. The DIN wheel did not get screwed all the way down, due to salt build up on the threads. The valve held but then extruded the oring after a few minutes while still on the surface. Be sure to clean the threads of a DIN valve and wheel with white vinegar from time to time and snug it down properly.

I've seen a diver tighten down his DIN fitting when it hissed a little bit. Later he discovered that he dove the entire dive without an oring, just a brass to brass seal!

BTW, I can feel the restriction of breathing when moving from a DIN to a standard yoke valve. Look at the diameter of the orifice in the valve... big difference on many DINs.

Chad

[Teh Wicked]

My pony set-up is even a DIN fitting...Im not playing any games...

[UaVaj]

As soon as I get my own compressor. I too will switch to DIN. Yoke is so much more convenient when filling tanks with LDS.

[Keysdivers]

Absolutely false. Any LDS fills DIN tanks, same as yoke.