How do SCUBA regulators work? | SCUBA 101
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- In this short demonstration, Jonathan explains and illustrates how a scuba regulator works. You might be surprised just how simple it is!
In the SCUBA 101 series, Jonathan (and sometimes Todd) discuss the technology, physiology and equipment of scuba diving. These videos are designed for entertainment purposes only. They should not be considered a replacement or substitute for professional scuba training.
#scuba #scubadiving #scuba101 #regulators
JONATHAN BIRD'S BLUE WORLD is an Emmy Award-winning underwater science/adventure series featuring underwater cinematographer/naturalist Jonathan Bird.
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A non-diver once asked me "Why do do you have to buy air? If the tank is empty, why can't you just open the valve and let air flow in?"
🤣
"Well," I would tell him, "I could do that, but it would be moisture-laden, dusty air, and it would only be enough air for a few breaths at the surface, and no breaths underwater because the water pressure squeezing my chest would be stronger than the air pressure coming from the tank."
This is not even a case of diving or not, this is essential knowledge in physics.
I think it's not so nice to laugh at people their lack of knowledge. It makes the person laughing look more stupid than the person asking the question.
When I got scuba certified, I was very surprised to find the regulator to be super simple and basic. Even the tank and the first stage are relatively simple. Great vid!
I am here to learn why they cost $2000 😆🤷🏻♂️ still a mystery
@@VladOnEarth because they are simple they can be made with very good tools and tolerances and also more exotic materials like titanium
Simple is good!
A new Jonathan upload during breakfast? Yes please
That's blowing my mind how simple the mechanism is, considering how vital it is for survival. I just assumed it was intricate gears and gadgets in there. Thanks for sharing.
Bravo! This is the best possible video on this topic. Thank you so much!
You're very welcome!
That's awesome! One little thing i would have liked to hear is the actual part that ensures the air pressure is the same as the environmental pressure, rather than the 10 bars.
As soon as the lever gets pulled, the 10 bar air flows inside the second stage. That air presses the diaphram away from the lever. As soon as the pressure inside the second stage is the same as the environemntal pressure, the diaphram is pushed so far out, that it is in its initial state and is no longer holding the lever down, airflow stops, and thus the pressure won't increase any further.
Good point.
Thank you...I was looking for how to inhale and exhale and couldn't find info until I stumbled on this video...thanks a lot
Thank you so much!! Now I got it!
And this is also the first time I saw the inside structure of that equipment.
That's just amazing! You are the the best!!!
Just what I needed to know, simple, short, technically, with showing smal parts and everything important. Thank U!
Great video...enjoyed very much nice job! Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
Awesome well explained video! thanks guys!
Thanks!
Awesome video! About a year and a half ago I got my own regulator set, and it’s been a game changer. We had a few bad experiences with rental regulators, so we decided to get our own!
It's super right decision.👍🏻
It's always better to own your own regulator.
It can really make you question diving at all and I'm going to the same. Money well spent.
It's time for class with Mr.B!
Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks for watching!
Always happy to see you upload!
Thank you Jon for taking your reg apart and do the explaining. Job well done!
That is the best explanation of how a reg works that I have seen yet. Thank you!!
Perfect explanation. Thanks!
Thanks a lot
Some things are best kept simple, with as few parts as possible. Fewer parts = fewer things which could go wrong. Also, being able to take it apart like that must help, so it can be cleaned & worn parts replaced easily.
PS: awesome ray tshirt!!!
Thats literally rocket science. Like actually a principle in rocket engineering
best, most simple, explanation I've ever seen. thanks!
When you walked away from the tank (stepped out of the frame), I felt it in my gut and instictively tried to jump to hold the tank. I'm trained to pretty much treat tanks like potential bombs.
Nice explanation of the regulators, this is a video I can refer my students to if they ask about it.
Newer/'high end' models also have a venturi system built into them, but I've never been able to tell the difference when breathing. Then again, the adjustable breathing resistance knobs never feel like they do anything for me either, so I guess I'm just really not picky with regulators. I do notice that they free flow really easily when sensitive, so there's that.
Yes there are all kind of small things they do to enhance the performance, but fundamentally all regulators work like this.
very nice and cool demonstration! can't wait for your next dive!
Great job describing the system Jonathan.
Thanks to share it sit. Is amazing how scuba dive came so far, the first scuba divers when through so much in order to enjoy this beautiful underwater world.Jacques Cousteau my favorite scuba diver make it possible for us. Now we have scuba gear make it so much easier for us! Knowledge is power! Thanks again sir and I wish I can scuba dive one day with you and your crew.
you are legend, wonderfully illustrated thanks
Like a heart valve. Very simple. Thanks for sharing.
i love the way this is taught. keep it up and thanks for the detailed information.
Fascinating video. Thanks very much.
Very clear, systematic, and simple information, nice sir! Thank you
What a simple and yet very interesting and captivating explanation! Great delivery. Thanks
Glad you liked it!
YOU EXPLAINED THAT PERFECTLY! I watched other videos before I came across this one, and I didn't quite understand until You Not Only Explained but ALSO Demonstrated Beautifully! THANK YOU! Sending Good Vibes your Way! :D
yay! I've been waiting for someone to do a good video on this!
you explained it so damn easilly ! thanks ! I'm having my diving lesson next week in Krabi Thailand!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Interesting. Thank you for the video!
Great video explaining everything
you are a natural teacher.....you would make an excellent teacher/professor. very clear well thought out presentation and excellent understanding of the subject...well done...wish you were my chemistry teacher in high school...even though this wasnt a chemistry lesson i have a feeling you might be good at it. :). and i failed it :(
Thank you for the kind words. Teachers make a big difference. I had a tough time with chemistry too because I didn't have a very engaging teacher.
Cool shirt Jonathan bird!
Thanks for like talking about safety measures and equipment famileerization.
hey Jonathan bird ,
what kind of of camera style do you suggest using underwater?
what kind do you use?
I know we need it to be clear viewable.
thank you for going through all those work details to know what it can mean?
When it comes to mechanical design of equipment that represents life or death, the simpler mechanical operation the better. I wouldn't want a regulator designed by BMW if you know what I mean.
Great video. Thanks!
You're welcome!
Can you do a full demonstration like this but with a kirby morgan helmet?
Wow. Couldn't believe it was a 8min video. Great explanation.
That’s a great video. Don’t forget if you turn the regular upside down so the exhaust valve is facing upwards then the water will flow in.
This guy makes me want to dive more. Great videos.
Thanks!
Thanks for the video! Two questions - 1) Why are there no diffusers that fit on the regulator exhaust to break up and quiet the bubbles?
2) Where did you get that awesome shirt? It's really nice looking.
To your 'diffuser' question, a few manufacturers have actually tried this by incorporating a somewhat honeycombed set of plastic openings where the bubbles come out of the exhaust tee. It does seem to help with shrinking the size of the bubbles, & lessening the associated noise as well. I think it's a great idea, and it disappoints me that so many modern manufacturers resist progressing with ideas like this... (but reliability has seen improvements, with even cheap regulators being surprisingly good these days)
Your engineering diploma sure helps with understanding those things, huh ?
Super interesting, I didn't know how it worked !
You really do know how to explain something 👏👏
Thanks!
Nice!!!!
I wish this video had been played when I got certified. Always wondered how they work, but never took one apart to see
Yeah, I'm kind of surprised that scuba instructors don't show students stuff like this to de-mystify the gear and how it works. I think that having a basic understanding of how things work will make people less afraid of it, and more able to troubleshoot issues, rather than panic. Regulators are quite simple and reliable. Issues are pretty easy to diagnose.
Fun fact paintball tanks can be filled up with scuba tanks and some paintball tanks can hold 4500 psi
Another number to help wrap your head around how compressed that air is atmospheric pressure that you feel just watching this video is 14.1 psi.
At sea level, technically it's 14.7 PSI which is what we consider 1 atmosphere.
Nice informations for beginners like me :)))
05:50 ...what no Star Wars reference?!
Grate video by the way!
Great video. I thought there was a lot more to those things haha.
Well explained sir,Especially my confusion about exhaling process and flapper valve working.the flapper valve is same as purge valve in snorkel !!!.thanks for simplified explanation.
Yes, same basic valve. They sometimes call them mushroom valves, or just one-way valves.
My man jonathan got us covered with all the diving questions, gotta love the lad
It would be interesting how does the first stage of regulators work? In my opinion it's much more complex.
It's a little more complex, but mostly it's a lot harder to show how it works.
That's given me an idea to improve my gear testing. Try to inhale when the tank is off to see if you get the deadmans suck. If not you'll have a dodgy seated/ ripped mushroom valve or diaphragm.
Yes, that's a valid test. The other thing you get with a dodgy mushroom valve is water seepage when you inhale underwater. So if you are getting a "wet breathing" reg, that's the first culprit to check. Very often there is nothing actually wrong with the valve, it just has some mold or something growing on it that prevents it from making a good seal.
More simple than I thought
I miss you adventures and etc♥️
Bike tires are about 40 to 50 psi
Hey jonathan awesome video. And even more what an awesome T-shirt where can i get it?
That is my Scubalife Cozumel shirt. Remember the Blue World episode about the sleeping sharks in caves of Cozumel? I got it from the dive shop we worked with there. Great shirt!
Thankyou for your demo on how it work so that I can do in DIY only because I don't have enough money buy a regulator
A used regulator from someone on craigslist is certainly easier and cheaper than trying to build one!
I don't dive, but I'm a big fan of your videos. Slightly off topic @2:24 "the real question is.." Is that a south bend lathe? Do you ever make your own parts for your camera gear or scuba support projects? Would love to hear more about how the "fabricator" side of your life, can help out in your field adventures
Yes I have a small lathe (it's an old Craftsman made by Atlas that I inherited from my grandfather). And I have a milling machine, a metal-cutting band saw, a MIG welder and a few other things. We have done at lease one video were I made a small part for a camera system.
czcams.com/video/s1mhAKHxm_o/video.html
@@BlueWorldplus That is amazing! Those ATLAS are beautiful pieces of history and it's great to hear you are keeping the family tinkering tradition alive. I'll go look through your other Blueworld_Plus vids for more gems I'd missed
If second stage regulators are so simple, what causes the crazy price differences from $50 all the way up to $1,000?
That's a good question.
Excellent video, I am new at learning scuba diving...question, using a hookah regulator how do you know when your adjustment screw is at ideal setting? My pump system only gets around 20 psi...but many guys are able to breath well at a depth of 15 feet when regulator is adjusted correctly for them using exact setup as I have...can you adjust regulator screw correctly without having to use in water first? Or is it trial and error..? Thanks for your information
I know nothing about a hookah rig sorry!
Awesome video thanks😃👍
But I'm still trying to understand how the regulator "regulates" the pressure to the correct atmosphere🤔
How does the 140 psi get dropped to the correct pressure to breathe?
Because the pressure on the other side of the diaphram (the air going into your lungs, is at ambient pressure.
A lot simpler than I thought
REGULATORS! mount up…
Cool.
Does much water come back in the exhale valve when it goes from open to closed?
(A video on rebreathers would be awesome!)
No, none. The only time that happens is if the mushroom valve has some dirt in it or damage so it doesn't make a good seal.
Also....video on rebreathers is coming!
@@BlueWorldplus Awesome.
I'll be keeping an eye out for that one 👌
@@BlueWorldplus good to know.
(I would love to try in shallow waters sometime)
Thank you
5:16
😆
What’s the difference between a regulator like that, and the overhead one that you usually wear?
I join this question 👍🏻
I'll explain that one next.
I'm not an expert on the subject so please mind my question: What happens if the regulator fails during a dive?
Is there a protocol to follow or a safety measure in place in order to avoid tragic incidents?
backup regulator.
The design of regulators is that if they fail, they usually fail by leaking--meaning air comes out when it's not supposed to. And that kind of failure might be annoying but it does not result in a failure to breathe. In 30 years of diving, I have never seen a regulator fail in such a way that you can't continue to use it to get to the surface. People do carry an additional second stage regulator (commonly referred to as an octopus, for reasons I have never understood). Generally however, this redundant second stage would be used for a buddy who ran out of air.
Interesting! Thanks Jonathan 👍
Ok, easy! So where the pressure is controlled to the depth pressure?
In your body.
Are those flapper valves prone to leaking? Do you sometimes suck water into your lungs because of a leaky valve?
When they get clogged with barf or something, they will leak. But generally not. They are pretty reliable. If they are really old and crusty, sometimes they let a little mist of water through, but only enough to be annoying, not dangerous.
Why regulator starts to free flow in mouthpiece up position. I dont understand. Is water pressure somehow press this lever button in this position?
Yes, exactly. The water pressure below the diaphragm is higher than above it, and it pushes it enough to make it flow. Then the bubbles rising up create a little bit of a vacuum and pull it up more, so it goes crazy.
But how does the first stage keep a consrant 140?
Spring pressure balanced against air pressure basically.
What do you do if some water gets in there?
Just blow it out. You can take the reg out of your mouth underwater. It fills with water. You just put it back in and blow the water out through the one-way valves and off you go. Very simple.
Dude, your a gear head?! Saw the stickers on your tool box. What do you have?
Yes, I'm a bit of a car nut.
When exhailing on cave dives isn't it a problem whith the bubbels hiting the extremely fragile cave formations and damaging?
Believe it or not, as a general rule the bubbles don't break ceiling formations. Because they are pointy and hanging down, the bubbles kinda just get funneled between the formations without hurting them.
@@BlueWorldplusthere is one famous case where this did happen. Pretty recent analysis by I think a University of Florida paper. And this was even with the reduced amount of bubbles you get when using rebreathers. But yeah only applicable to very specific cave situations.
I wonder what it would take to make a tank that could hold 10k PSI, probably would be pretty thick metal. Im sure it would be nice if you could do that tho ha.
Carbon fiber!
Mr.,i want to ask
they are so simple companies just throw fancy colors om them to make you pay more when they are exactly the same as the 20 dollar you find on amazon
I don't know about that. There is significant liability in a product like this.
@@BlueWorldplus i cant speak for everyone but we have 4x 20 dollar regulators and each have atleast 700h useage (compressor diving) never fails except once and apperently we had accidentally dropped it on a sea urchin which spike went throught the membrane haha.
its just a metal arm which closes the intake by the pressure.
when u breath in the membrane push the arm inwards which open the intake.
when u breath out the membrane pushes outward to let the air out and the pressure from the ocean closes it again (and the natural shape of it)
litterly nothing that can go wrong.
I think I just found the Scotty Kilmer of SCUBA.
OK, I'll take that.
What happens if your regulator has water go in
You just blow it out. Easy.
which reg is this ?
Just an old Sherwood which is easy to take apart.
@@BlueWorldplus yes the old ones and some of the newer have this feature i think deep6 you could still take apart even under water if you soak water and want to make the diaphragm fit and clean out some plants or whatever might came in it. Just tecdivers do this i think no regs fails in cause of this on recdives i think.
Shorter exhaust valves dont matter if you're in trim!
Unfortunately, being in perfect trim and shooting video do not always go together.
Who do you have service your double hose reg? Or do you just roll the dice? Haha. :)
I service it myself. I bought the proper tools and got some tips and tricks from the engineer who designed it. I have been rebuilding my own regs for 20 years. You can take a class on it. Not very difficult. But not something you should do without training as it is life support equipment.
@BlueWorld_plus Thanks, Jonathan! It's a shame no one makes a modern double hose reg. Would be nice for us u/w photographers. Perhaps I just need to take the...plunge....on a CCR. 🙂
What kind of regulator is the one you use in this video? Looks like the bubbles come out behind you. czcams.com/video/i1Wk1uddPko/video.html
That is a doublehose regulator.
czcams.com/video/SsWb9UaRQKw/video.html
Works the same way, but the first and second stages are in one assembly and the diaphragm is behind my head.
@@BlueWorldplus Thanks. Very helpful. Keep up the great work and congrats on 1 million subs!
Ohhhhh, that's why regulators can handle vomit. 🤣 It seemed like magic (where did it all go?) that if you get sick after you've entered the water, you don't have to surface and can feed the fish at the same time. 😝 eeew
Thank you, educational and pretty neat. 🙂
Gross, but handy!
Thanks for not covering the first state mechanical operation.
So simple... SO WHAT THE HELL DO WE PAY ALL THAT MONEY FOR??
🤣