Titanium regulators

[nauifins73]

I was reading this subject on the other board and thought I would bring this question to a group I trust.

The question was about titanium regulators and it was mentioned that there is a problem with Ti regs and higher O2 mixes - is this the case? How high a mix creates a problem and what is your feeling about O2 cleaning of regs. Yes I just got a new titanium regulator.

Thanks

[Laser]

It's my understanding that they aren't to be used with mixtures with O2 higher than 50%. It should be fine for nitrox. What's the manual say?

As for my feeling on O2 cleaning of regs -- mixtures over 50% get a dedicated O2 clean reg. Everything else is interchangeable.

[Atlaua]

It's also my understanding that they float, so better practice your recovery going over your head.

[theskull]

It's my understanding that they aren't to be used with mixtures with O2 higher than 50%. It should be fine for nitrox. What's the manual say?

As for my feeling on O2 cleaning of regs -- mixtures over 50% get a dedicated O2 clean reg. Everything else is interchangeable.

My understanding concurs with everything Laser said.

theskull

[SLIM]

I have a TI reg and use it all the time but only as a Primary on my right post. Most are ready out of the box for up to 40% and some to 50% per manufactures specifications.

Have so many regs that there is no telling wich one I WILL put on my O2 bottle but then all my stages are treated the same so I guess no big deal.

SLIM

[CaptnDale]

Titanium offers no advantage over brass except for lighter weight. In my mind that small advantage is not nearly enough to justify the additional cost. As for use with nitrox, titanium is one of the easier metals to ignite and burn. It is especially easy to burn when exposed to oxygen mixtures over 40%. At least one diver has been reported to have received serious burns when his titanium regulator ignited as he turned his tank valve on. His tank contained a high oxygen content mix at the time.

[nauifins73]

Thanks for the info - I will probably be using it with 40% Nitrox at the most - sounds like I should be ok

[reefraff]

I never saw any advantage to a Ti regulator - other than to evaluate whether or not someone is profligate with their cash. I don't know of any divers for whom the weight "advantage" of Ti is worth anything - you save a pound or two and most folks just end up transfering any savings they realize to their weightbelt. Personally, most of my diving is done without a weightbelt and I find myself trending toward head-heavy and I still don't own any Ti regulators.

Saltwater divers find benefit in Ti's resistance to corrosion but that doesn't mean that it doesn't oxidize easily - it does. The solid metal will self-ignite in air at 1200C, in particulate form it can self-ignite at 480C, in a high oxygen/high pressure environment the combustion point is much, much lower. Mixed gas divers know a little bit about adiabatic compression: in a Ti regulator, a little chip off the old block in a bad place and opening a valve too quickly can be enough to set the thing on fire. The fire is explosive and you probably won't be able to put it out until all the Ti has been consumed. Actually, the fire is so hot that it can ignite other things that you wouldn't normally think of as flammable - including carbon dioxide (CO2), dihydrogen oxide (H2O) and aluminium - which means that many fire extinguishers will actually make a Ti fire worse, not better. Yoikes!

One of the negatives about brass is that it is relatively soft and titanium isn't. On the hardness scale, Ti rates near the top and that's a good thing for regulators. Unfortunately, that hardness comes at a price - Ti is quite brittle. I've got a couple of brass regulators that have some pretty deep gouges in them that happened when the tanks they were attached to took a tumble. I've got a friend that had a titanium regulator that cracked into pieces when the same thing happened. My regulators may look kinda punky but they still work.

Finally, because many acids are highly corrosive to Ti, cleaning them (especially for oxygen service) can be very difficult and, if your service technician isn't paying attention, a dip in many of the solutions used in ultrasonic cleaners can do serious damage to the metal. Few things irritate a technician more than having to get out the Joy and peanut butter jar because somebody got scammed into buying a rare-metal regulator. ;)

Nonetheless, Ti regulators aren't bursting into flames all over the place and, used in normox or recreational nitrox environments, they're probably safe enough. I wouldn't be comfortable with them in situations above 40-50% but I'm strongly biased towards erring on the conservative side. Price should almost always be a consideration in purchasing decisions. I might buy a Ti regulator...but only if it was substantially cheaper than a comparable brass one. In this topsy-turvy world we live in, that doesn't seem to be happening very often, however. :)