>>So do mine. I don't think there is anything that can be done, you just
>>have to live with it. Anyway these ice bits are quite harmless as they are
small
>>and melt very quickly.

I have to disagree with this, ice chunks down your throat at 160 fsw is NOT
what I call harmless!

I do understand the physics behind the phenomena, what I would like to know is
why the Odin is one of the very few regulators on the market that blow ice
pieces while still being able to work OK at great depths (300 ft+!). 

>What to do about it : is not much if you carry on with your ODIN
>- set your DV to be less easy to breath (less gas transported, higher temp at
second stage)
>- breath slowly
>- avoid using this DV with your BC or Dry suit while you breathing and
> always use it gently for inflation.
>- longer brakes between breaths will allow first and second stage to heat up
>- try to keep water of the second stage while diving.
>- OR buy yourself a DV which is stated to be designed for cold water diving
>(there are some)

All this makes sense... in theory... but in real-life situations, I've got
other things to do than to breath slowly or stop breathing when I need air in
the BC.:)

What would you describe as a good cold water regulator?  In my opinion, the
Poseidon first stages (isolated or not) are among the best on the market for
cold water diving. I've tried a few others like Mares, Sherwood, Dacor and USD
but they all tend to freeze when you combine cold temperatures and high flows.

The Poseidon Odin (or Jetstream in Europe) is designed and sold as a cold-water
regulator and although there is that very annoying ice bits problem, the
regulator itself has never frozen. I think that the ice is forming on the
outside of the demand valve and simply breaking up as chunks and being blown
down my throat by the high gas flow.

Also, refering to your previous message, I don't understand why this problem
could be worst in freshwater?  In most lakes and rivers, the water is at its
coldest near the surface where it freezes rapidly therefore isolating the rest
of the water mass from the outside environment. Freshwater is rarely colder
than 4degC while seawater can get down to -2degC without freezing and in our
area, this is the surface temperature from December to February, while below 30
meters, we have a very constant 4degC year round.  It would appear to me that
seawater presents a greater potential for second stage ice formation, while a
first stage freeze-up would be more probable in freshwater

>Just to remind you all about myself - I am from Poland (in UK at present)
>25 years of diving, I did some cave diving, under ice, deep wreck (air)
>, recently into tech, nitrox course four months ago. 

I'm not there yet, but I've been diving actively since the age of 14 (I'm 31)
and have about 700 logged dives up to now.  We do most of our diving in the
Gulf of St.Lawrence, in Quebec. There is that neat wreck (Empress of Ireland)
in front of my house that we dive when the weather is good. She was a huge
liner doing the Quebec-Liverpool route when she went down in 1914 taking more
that 1000 lives.  I also did the first two NSS cave levels and I'm into
blending Nitrox in my backyard.

Thanks for the reply,

Regards,

Richard

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