Choice of 2nd Stage

[victor]

I have a pair of Scubapro MK 20 first stages and 2 G250-HP second stages as well as US divers Micra and a couple of AIR2's.

I intend to put together a pair of regulator sets for myself and my wife based around the MK20's.
Are there any 2nd stages that are incompatible with the MK20 or incompatible other regs. e.g. do I have to stay with Scubapro regs, etc.

As we travel to dive I am looking for light weight.
I also want to standardise so I can do my own maintenance in the future.

Thanks in advance

 

[Zung]

Stay with the G250; G250V (Vintage) is the current model. I standardized on those for the wife and the 2 kids. They are often copied but never bettered, and really simple to service yourself: you don't even need the official service kits, all the parts are readily available, see here and here.

OTOH, unless you deal with some really exotic oddballs, most 1st are compatible with most 2nd: they all work with some sort of industry standard of 130-140 PSI intermediate pressure. Worst case that can happen is you may need to tweak the orifice of the 2nd a bit.

 

[PfcAJ]

Almost all regs are fine with all 1st stages except some Poseidon models which run at higher IPs and use non-standard fittings.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

As mentioned above, most 2nd stages should be compatible with most 1st stages. The 2nd stage is simply tuned to accomodate the intermediate pressure of the 1st stage it is connected to.

I think something that is important to consider is where you plan to have your regs serviced. If you do your own servicing, the only limiting factor is the ability to get rebuild kits for the regs you choose. If you rely on a dive shop, then you may be limited by the brand(s) they carry or are willing to service. So it probably makes the most sense to stick with Scubapro 2nd stages if your dive shop is a Scubapro dealer.

Best wishes.

 

[victor]

Thats good news. I like the posiden regs, an instructor lent them to me to try, however not enough to replace all the second stages I have.
I want to be able to service my gear on the road so Scubapro parts should be available everywhere.
Now the next question is where can I find a training course in the middle of the UK?

 

[Zung]

Servicing your gear while you travel may not be a good idea, because you'll be carrying at least 5Kg of tools. OTOH, it depends on how often you travel and if you have some sort of a base; properly serviced, a MK20/G250 will last at least 100 dives, so the service can wait a while.

Getting the parts is not a problem in Europe; they're all over the place, including the UK; just do a search.

Formal factory training is not normally open to the public: you have to be in really good terms with your LDS, or just buy the Oxy book.

 

[victor]

I only plan on doing running repairs on the road, hopefully it will not be required but lack of knowledge on my part is not an excuse.
I agree that if I look after my gear carefully then it should do over 100 dives between services.
Over the last 18 years I have only had one failure, corrosion on the seat of my AIR2. However allowing a local tech to attempt to repair it resulted in more damage and required a full rebuild when I returned to the UK. This is the reason that I am switching away from the AIR2 and learning enough to do my own maintenance.