AL Mikron (ACD 2018) for deep dives?

[jdevic]

I got the Mikron set last summer for travel and so far only used it in warm water in Malta and Mexico (Cenotes) up to about 30M. I am heading to Palau and Chuuk next month.

I am not a tech diver but I suspect I will go deeper than 30M in Chuuk regularly. How reliable is Mikron for that? Should I bring my cold water set (Mares Abyss Navy II) for Chuuk, or at least as back up? I really do not want to carry 2 sets of regs for such a long trip.

Thanks very much!

 

[Marie13]

Check your manual if you still have it, but I believe the low limit for warm water regs is 10C/50F.

 

[jdevic]

Check your manual if you still have it, but I believe the low limit for warm water regs is 10C/50F.

Yes, I think it is rated for 10C. that's why I kept my Mares for local diving. I suspect Mikron will free flow in 3C water in the lakes.
My concern is how reliable Mikron is for deeper dives in warmer waters. e.g. ease of breath, free flow, etc. at 150 ft.

 

[SaltwaterNomad]

My wife and I have used our Mikrons on dozens of 100ft+ dives in Palau, Red Sea, Mexico, among other places without any problems.

 

[Michael Jastrzebski]

My concern is how reliable Mikron is for deeper dives in warmer waters. e.g. ease of breath, free flow, etc. at 150 ft.

I don't think you will have any issues.
Just returned from Truk (Chuuk) lagoon liveaboard diving. All dives were fairly deep with one of them at 165'.
My buddy had exactly the Mikron, he said he picked it up because he travels a lot and wanted a travel friendly regulator. We weren't technical divers, some of the technical divers on our boat were diving even deeper.

 

[jdevic]

I don't think you will have any issues.
Just returned from Truk (Chuuk) lagoon liveaboard diving. All dives were fairly deep with one of them at 165'.
My buddy had exactly the Mikron, he said he picked it up because he travels a lot and wanted a travel friendly regulator. We weren't technical divers, some of the technical divers on our boat were diving even deeper.

Perfect! Good to know!

 

[buddhasummer]

I see no reason why not.

 

[RayfromTX]

My wife loves her Mikron. When we started diving deeper 30m+, she started to notice a high work of breathing when exerting herself. Her secondary reg was a Deep6 so she would switch to it until her demand came down. We replaced the first stage with a deep6 but kept the mikron as her primary second stage. At 40 meters, she would usually switch to her secondary. She fought against giving up the Mikron because she loves it's size and weight. Now we are doing more technical dives in sidemount. Keeping the Mikron is really a no go because she needs both secondary regs to be "primary". We changed her mouthpiece to a small comfobite which helps how the deep6 feels in her mouth. In the end her dives have gotten to the point where worrying about air delivery for a bit more comfort just isn't worth it. I now have her mikron first stage on an AL19 in my car to inflate tires and as an air blower when needed.

It will probably be ok if you never find a need for elevated exertion and air delivery at deeper depths.

 

[jdevic]

My wife loves her Mikron. When we started diving deeper 30m+, she started to notice a high work of breathing when exerting herself. Her secondary reg was a Deep6 so she would switch to it until her demand came down. We replaced the first stage with a deep6 but kept the mikron as her primary second stage. At 40 meters, she would usually switch to her secondary. She fought against giving up the Mikron because she loves it's size and weight. Now we are doing more technical dives in sidemount. Keeping the Mikron is really a no go because she needs both secondary regs to be "primary". We changed her mouthpiece to a small comfobite which helps how the deep6 feels in her mouth. In the end her dives have gotten to the point where worrying about air delivery for a bit more comfort just isn't worth it. I now have her mikron first stage on an AL19 in my car to inflate tires and as an air blower when needed.

It will probably be ok if you never find a need for elevated exertion and air delivery at deeper depths.

This is great to know! Thank you!
Was it the old or the new ACD version? I wonder if things have improved since then? Based on this review, the 2018 version does breathe worse than Apeks XL4+ or SP C370...Scuba Regulator Review 2018

 

[RayfromTX]

not ACD but that would have no impact on the second stage. Size and weight are parts of the pie and compromises are made or else all regs would aspire to small and light if I were to guess.