Cracks in SP Mk10 first stage body

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O2BBubbleFree:
Is it like the cracks that have developed on the MK20's? Here's the NOAA bulletin.

I just took a look at that. No, these cracks are not on the external surface of the first stage body but inside. If you remove the two HP port plugs and look inside, it is on the surface you see through the port holes. The cracks are about the same length as the diameter of the port holes.

Awap- Interesting comment on the whistling. I'll have to look into that. I dive solo so no one was around to observe any air leaking out of that reg while I was underwater. Will be buddied up part of the weekend so I'll have them check... oops, the part won't be here that quickly. I'll have to borrow another reg for the weekend.
 
Yes. I have only seen two reasons for a whistling sound on inhalation in a balaced piston regulator and both are related to sympathetic resonance.

The first and most common is inadequate lubrication of the HP O-ring. It causes some vibration in the piston as it moves and this vibration then resonates in the LP hose making a fairly loud sound that does not always sound like it is coming from the first stage. Mk 20 and 25's can have a similar sound caused by the upper bushing being installed upside down which again causes some resonance.

Many divers and more than a few techs claim reversing the spring will resolve a whistle in a balanced piston reg, but what is really happening is that the o-ring is getting more lubrication delivered to it when the piston is removed to flip the spring and the lubrication solves the problem not the change in spring orientation.

The second cause is some harmonics between the first stage and a J-valve. This is obviously a lot less common than it used to be. I had one Mk 10 owner that basically went nuts over the problem for months. The reg just would not whistle in the shop on the bench regardless of supply pressure, but the customer continued to have intermittent problems when he dove. Since he was a spearfisherman, he was not pleased with the noisy reg. After much trial and error, several visits and noting the same empty tank brought in on a couple of consecutive compliant visits/air fills, it finally occurred to both of us that it only whistled when attached to that one particular tank. The seat/spring arrangement in that particular J-valve resonated when attached to his Mk 10 after the pressure fell below about 1000 psi. A new valve solved the problem.
 
I just got my reg back from Scuba Luv (I was on the mainland this past week). They replaced the first stage body and rebuilt it, and charged me just for parts. I love my LDS.

Here are two pictures of the cracks as seen through the high pressure ports on each side:
 
Thanks for the pics. That appears to be a very differenct problem than what occurred with the Mk20. Those plug are supposed to get 80 in-lp of torque. Some leaks are not cured by more torque.

How long do you think it will take to make that new body as pretty as the old one?

The more I look at that, the more I'm not sure why those cracks caused a leak. Looks to me like a plug or hose, with good o-ring, should have sealed that up.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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