advice on first and second stage ScubaPro regs?

[knowone]

Yes, but does one change the oil compulsorily when it is still opaque and the car has been rarely driven
and walk away rubbing their pocket after this expenditure instead using their hard earned, on gas fills.

Where folks that lack a basic understanding of gear and your suggested attitudes toward it
also extend that ineptitude to their diving.
Which underwater side service do you use.

My conclusion is that ten posts on any subject explaining perspective
from ten different views would bring you no closer to understanding
concept.

 

[halocline]

If the regulator isn't covered by the OEM warranty, you'll have to pay for for these updates/upgrades yourself and that will blow your calculations out the window.

BTW, do you know the performance difference between MK10, MK20 and MK25? Is there any difference?

You've got to get off this "updates/upgrades" bit. I work on these things all the time and I can tell you that they simply have not improved over the last few decades in any real-world, substantial ways. Mostly the 'updates/upgrades' are to fix problems on new models, so if you buy an older reg those have already been incorporated if they exist at all.

I'm quite familiar with the 'performance difference' between the MK10 and the later BP 1sts, and in actual real-word diving it is zero.

With regards to 2nd stages, the best performing one I have ever used is at least 25 years old, SP pilot. With those, you really can tell a difference. They were discontinued along with their successor the D series, probably primarily because SP 'techs' were incompetent working on them. These are the same people that you are recommending we rely on for the warranty service on new regs.

For me DIY is not about the money, it's about the BS avoidance.

 

[redacted]

about regulators at all (the majority of divers don't know much about regulators). One more interesting fact, regulator manufacturers occasionally update parts in their equipment for either safety reasons or for better performance/reliability over the lifetime of that particular equipment. These parts will be changed and installed for the original owner who has current warranty as a matter of fact for free. If the regulator isn't covered by the OEM warranty, you'll have to pay for for these updates/upgrades yourself and that will blow your calculations out the window. If you are a DIY type of person and you are not in close contact with people who know about these upgrades/updates, you probably won't know anything about these updates/upgrades.

That is not correct for Scubapro regs. The free parts for life does not cover upgrades unless the old part must be replaced due to a problem. Only in the case of a CPSC recall does an "upgrade get automatically applied and then it will be applied regardless of the source of your regulator. Take a look at TBs 266 and 267 which are the upgrade of the G250 to HP and the upgrade of the Mk20 to the composite piston. With 266, the upgrade is almost never necessary so the customer gets to pay for the parts. With 267, the upgrade may be required to maintain stable IP for a year in which case the parts should be free if you have paid your rent. Otherwise, the new piston is on the customer.

 

[aquaregia]

You are assuming that the diver wants to do their own service.

No, I'm not. That's why I ran the numbers on the Mk10 with a paid service to show that free parts on the Mk25 service do not make a huge impact.

You can consider the "it's not that much money" argument I suppose. You can buy a $700 BC, $700 regs, $700 wetsuit, $200 fancy fins, $50 fancy snorkel, etc... at some point it gets silly. The OP is trying to hit a price point, which indicates that he doesn't have unlimited money. I certainly don't.

I ran it over time to allow for the 'free parts' to contribute. If the free parts aren't considered relevant, then the Mk25 solution is 8x more expensive than the Mk10 solution, regardless of servicing method.

One issue you need to consider, how sure are you that the used regulator you buy from or the like wasn't involved in a major accident such as regulator falling down on the ground from the tank bench and possibly causing damage the buyer isn't aware of and can't tell the difference?

Then double the purchase price of the Mk10 so you get two. I've bought five 109 second stages and one had a bum exhaust valve. $9, and would be caught at service, obviously. The other four were in perfect order. They aren't super easy to hurt. I bent the face of one by dropping a LP95 on it, but it's purely cosmetic.

BTW, do you know the performance difference between MK10, MK20 and MK25? Is there any difference?

My girlfriend's Mk25 does not breathe any better than my Mk10. Having just got out of service, her Mk25 is all messed up and I'd like to get it reserviced immediately. I do like the venturi in her S550 though.

 

[b-man]

hey guys,

sorry its taken me so long to get back to you.... moving to asia and all that kinda took up all my time..

I finally went for the mk11 with the R395 second stage and I am very happy with it. Its great. I am going to be working in East Timor, where there isnt currently a ScubaPro servicing operation (though my new employer, Dive Timor Lorasae is going to be doing ScubaPro later this year and I think I could be doing most of the servicing ironically!) so I was advised to go with the r395 over the C300 for two reasons. 1 - it has less parts to go wrong, and If I was going to be doing over 400 dives on it before I could be in a place to get it serviced I wanted reliability (also having been around longer means there are more of these in the field and any faults will have identified themselves and been fixed by ScubaPro more likely than the newer model - though I know some will argue that ScubaPro will have tested mercilessly before releasing anyhow)..
secondly was that it was cheaper. only by 50 quid or whatever but all those 50 quids add up when you are buying a full set of kit...

anyway - the liberty wreck in Bali and the wall diving in Pandang Bai is great...

looking forward to getting to East Timor tomorrow to start my Divemaster training... wish me luck and you can follow my trials and tribulations on my blog (address in signature below)

cheers for now,

Bman