Bring back the R190

[Dutch552]

I had my ScubaPro MK2+/R190/R190 stolen from my house this week and a call to my LDS left my jaw hanging open when he told me that SP no longer markets the R190 in the US. Talk about adding insult to injury! The R295 just didn't feel right in my mouth when I tried one at the store and the purge felt different in the water from the classic R190 I've been using all year. I have another setup I can use but I truly miss the R190 and wish that SP would bring it back.

Does anyone else appreciate and miss the classic lines, easy service/adjustment, and rugged reliability that was the R190?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I alwyas preferred the R190 to the smaller diaphragmed cousins. The current small cased iterations also lack an adjustable flow vane whihc was nice for octo use and SP is in essence now forcing people to upgrade to a balanced second stage to get that feature.

The smaller diaphragm in the smaller R series regs lacks the area of the larger R190 diapjragm and as such has less power to run what are identical internal parts.

I have noted 3 basic variants of the R190 over the years and all were potentially capable of superb performance. To be fair I also noted more variation within R190s in that some could be tuned for exceptional performance while others could not achieve the same performance without swapping springs or other parts to get a better balance of forces involved.

But yes, it really sucks that SP has abandoned the full size case at that price point and I wish they would bring it back.

 

[Hank49]

I have three. BRING THEM BACK. Do you think SP will listen to us?

 

[Straegen]

Isn't the G250 a previous design? If so, there is hope.

 

[Downing]

I had my ScubaPro MK2+/R190/R190 stolen from my house this week...

Keep an eye on your local Craig's List. Chances are pretty good you'll be able to buy your reg back soon.

 

[AquaNSun]

DA Aquamaster,

From you experience, why would swapping springs or other parts could increase the performance of R190? What are the determining factors since most of the R series are using the same valve body/construction? I looked closely in the valve design and it seemed that most parts were fitting together nicely and tightly. The poppet stem seemed to have a tiny room of slack when the lever was pressed.

Thanks

Edit: And the old R108 seemed to share the same design (I don't have one).

 

[DA Aquamaster]

THe R108 comparison is a good one. I have yet to find an R108 that can't be made to produce a cracking effort in the 1.0" of water range, while some R190 (sharing the same basic poppet design) can't get under a 1.4" of water cracking effort.

I think it is an issue of quality assurance on the R190 where spring pressure, lever or poppet tolerances perhaps vary more. In cases where I get one that can't get under 1.4", swapping out various parts will usually get it there.

 

[halocline]

I was going to mention the 108. I have a friend who has a finicky R190 that I could not get to breathe well, so I cleaned up the surface on the plastic orifice, and it got much better. Even though the plastic orifice is not subject to corrosion, I have a feeling that they get a little beat up with careless servicing from time to time and are probably just not manufactured with the same precision on the edge as the metal ones were.

I also replaced the spring on a G250 (older style) and was surprised at how it improved the reg's performance. I imagine something similar could be true with the R190. It is the same spring, coincidentally.

 

[ZzzKing]

The 108's and 109's rock! Bring those back while you're bringing things back SP. Parts availability without having to know a secret handshake would be nice too. Oh yeah, and world peace...

That last one is more likely to happen than the others. Thanks Scubapro!

 

[Fishpie]

......or at least have exhaust T's and diaphragm covers available so that we can keep the 108's, 109's and 156's running.