Regulators

A regulator is an oral respiration apparatus that the divers wear in their mouths. Regulators make sure to regulate the amount of air that the diver receives each time he breathes in. Due to the fact that the face and nose of the diver is covered, he needs to inhale air through his mouth. 

There are a couple different types of diving regulators. Some of these have been made for SCUBA use and others have been designed for Hookah uses. A SCUBA regulator is made for using with a SCUBA air tank and gives out maximum efficiency when it is used at a pressure over 100 p.s.i. These need a first stage valve assembly to begin with and are attached to the SCUBA tank. The function of the first stage is to bring down the very high pressure of the air in the SCUBA tank to around 2,250 p.s.i. to approximately 160 p.s.i. This pressure is then taken to the second stage that consists of the second part that is worn in the mouth of the diver. The next or second stage of a SCUBA regulator has a spring that is loaded valve that gives the right amount of air to the diver when run by air pressure ranging from 100 to 160 p.s.i.

Anyone that is looking into prospective Hookah diving needs to be aware that SCUBA regulators cannot be used for Hookah applications unless they are specially modified. A normal Hookah compressor works at an average pressure range of 30 to 50 p.s.i., and this is not enough pressure to drive the spring loaded downstream valve of a SCUBA regulator. If you already have a SCUBA regulator but you are interested in using it for Hookah uses, you can take your regulator to a good repair or dive shop and have the regulator converted over for low pressure usage, don’t do this on your own though. Take it to a dive shop because they will have all the necessary test gauges and tools to make sure the adaptation has been done correctly.

Hookah regulators and SCUBA regulators are not the same at all. Hookah regulators only have a second stage that is fed right from the output of the reserve tank through the air hose. SCUBA tanks do not have the same valve assemblies. Hookah regulators use a pin valve that provides full air flow to the diver at a pressure that goes down to 30 p.s.i. This type of regulator has been especially designed to use with low pressure Hookah compressors. Hookah regulators only have one hose and are of the demand type. This type of regulator works on a fairly low volume of air due to the fact that it only needs to provide air when the diver breathes or demands for it.