Guide to Mares regulators from 2000-2020

[TrimixToo]

Bienvenido.

I don't think you need the CWD kit. That original Abyss first is a big chunk of metal that is naturally freeze resistant and your experience backs that up.

The other theoretical advantage is it seals off the ambient chamber which keeps it clean. But on a diaphragm first stage a good rinse serves the same purpose and you obviously take care of your reg so that reason goes away as well.

I have had one of mine freeze. It only happened once. I switched to the other reg on my doubles, and within a few minutes, the freeze had thawed and I returned to the original reg and continued the dive. Water temperature was about 42F and depth about 225'. I was searching an area, so workload was moderate finning. It didn't freeze again, and at less depth in colder water none of my Abysses have ever frozen. I haven't bothered to get CWD kits and probably won't unless one freezes again someday.

Just a random data point. YMMV. Past performance does not assure future performance. Manufactured in a facility that also processes nuts. The State of California has determined that this product might cause cancer. etc.

 

[lowwall]

I have had one of mine freeze. It only happened once. I switched to the other reg on my doubles, and within a few minutes, the freeze had thawed and I returned to the original reg and continued the dive. Water temperature was about 42F and depth about 225'. I was searching an area, so workload was moderate finning. It didn't freeze again, and at less depth in colder water none of my Abysses have ever frozen. I haven't bothered to get CWD kits and probably won't unless one freezes again someday.

Mental note: either take it really easy or stay above 6.85 atmospheres when diving single tank in 42F water.

Are you still doing open circuit trimix dives with your Abysses? Did you find what you were searching for?

 

[Zef]

I have a MV as my Octo - my primary is a Proton Metal. I’ve been flirting with the idea of primary donate but I do want to replace that as my secondary for now. What are my upgrade paths? I’ll transition over to primary donate on my next set of regs(after I test out an Aqualung-style mouthpiece, I absolutely love my SeaCure but that can make primary donate difficult).

I switched to primary donate a bunch of years ago and my primary 2nd stage has a custom moulded mouthpiece similar to SeaCure (mine is the Trident brand version)....the reality is that in an OOA situation, the person you are donating an air source to will be so stressed and so happy to be breathing that they will not notice your custom mouthpiece in the slightest....I do not believe it will add to the stress of the situation one iota. I do believe the stress they experience in the moment will cause them to initially involuntarily bite down hard enough on that mouth piece that you will most likely need to replace it after the dive (small price to pay for saving someones life), and I believe you will have to point out that they macerated your custom formed mouthpiece, to which they will most likely reply "oh, I didn't even notice that".

Of course, your mileage may vary, but how a mouth piece fits is one of those small detail things that will be lost in the sauce when the option is between drown, maybe making it to the surface performing a CESA, or breath off of someone else's equipment. For whatever reason, the form and fit of the "borrowed" air source is not a relevant topic when the sh!t is hitting the fan. So don't let your custom mouthpiece inhibit you from giving a primary donate gear configuration a shot.

-Z

 

[TrimixToo]

Mental note: either take it really easy or stay above 6.85 atmospheres when diving single tank in 42F water.

Are you still doing open circuit trimix dives with your Abysses? Did you find what you were searching for?

Thanks for assuming I'm sane enough to be using Trimix, which of course I certainly was.

To reiterate, I was using doubles, not a single. (Yeah, I know you know, but some people have "I haven't read all the posts but..." or reading comprehension issues of or both.)

I haven't done any dives that deep at that temperature lately but a significant number of dives on about the same mixes preceded and followed that dive at similar depths and workloads without incident, so I don't know why the reg chose to freeze on that particular day. All the mixes were done in my garage, and the test dew point for my compressor is typically -70F or so and that's before the He is added to bring it even farther down. Just one of life's mysteries, I guess. But I have to stress this is one of hundreds of deep cold water dives. If I thought it was a significant risk I'd order a bunch of CWD kits. But that's my opinion, worth what you paid for it.

I have...lemme see...yeah, 5 Abysses. Two primary, two stage/deco, one set up for recreational that's been pressed into service infrequently as a third deco reg. Easy to rebuild, nearly flawless except for the freezing incident and one other for over 15 years. The other was a first stage not locking up before a dive for no particularly good reason a few years back. They're gonna outlast me, I think. They'll certainly outlast my dive career.

Finally, no. Unfortunately. Happens.

 

[Jeff66]

Hello everyone.
I'm new to the forum and I apologize if this is the wrong topic. But 'd like to have your opinion on an answer Mares gave me regarding compatibility issues with their equipment.

I dive at home in cold water (4 to 8 degrees) and a few years ago I bought two Mares 25X (left and right) first stages and a set of DR regulators. I'm very satisfied with this equipment. It works well in cold water and they never freezed so far.

My problem with the 25XR is the routing of the second regulator. Since the 25XR only have 2 LP and 1 HP (pre-oriented) you cannot really do what you want. I'm not 100% DIR but I like it when my routing is clean. What bothers me is that I have to put a 90-degree elbow on the first stage to be able to pass my spare regulator behind my neck. Depending on the tank I'm using, this is not very clean and the hose can become a bit short to turn the head to the left when breathing on the second regulator. A longer hose means it's kind of pushing the right side of the regulator out of my mouth which is not very convenient. (I alway breathe on my second regulator at the end of my dives, on the way up before deco, just to check if it is still working).

I'm thinking of buying a 26XR for the 5th port, which would allow me to route my second regulator hose straight in line behind my neck. A 28XR would also do the trick.

Just to be sure, I asked Mares about the compatibility of the DR reg with the 26XR first stage. I was very surprised with the answer ! Mares Italy wrote me that the 26XR is not compatible with the DR regulator, but only with the HR.....

When I travel and dive in warm water, I use a Mares 15X first stage on single cylinder with my DR regulators and it works very well and I never asked myself if it was compatible or not....

What do you think ? Would there be any risk using a 26XR or a 28XR with my DR ? Is this only marketing or is there a difference in construction that would change something (that I never noticed when using my DR with the 15X...) ?

Thank you in advance for your expert advice.

 

[lowwall]

Of course it will work. They all use the same IP specs and the stages don't know what's on the other end of the hose.

When Mares says "Not compatible" it only means their lawyers have told them to say that if they have not applied for EN250 certification with that particular combination.

Certification is expensive and since they only sell limited configurations of first and second stages, they don't bother to certify everything.

 

[axxel57]

Don't want to hijack this thread, but I think that here are some Mares specialists, who know more than me about 'Vintage' Mares Regs.
I found this ugly Mares reg months ago, together with another 'normal' Mares reg.
I didn't find time up to now to service it, but I was wondering, that if that is a Special Aniversary Edition ( and for me it looks like that), maybe somebody here could tell me from which year that might be.......

 

[lowwall]

Don't want to hijack this thread, but I think that here are some Mares specialists, who know more than me about 'Vintage' Mares Regs.
I found this ugly Mares reg months ago, together with another 'normal' Mares reg.
I didn't find time up to now to service it, but I was wondering, that if that is a Special Aniversary Edition ( and for me it looks like that), maybe somebody here could tell me from which year that might be.......

I'm stumped. It's obviously an MR12 III with their older DIN connector and the coldwater kit that required filling with silicone oil. But I can't find any mention of an all-brass special edition. Maybe someone left the stages in an acid bath overnight and stripped off all the chrome plating, either on purpose or by accident. And then leaned into it by later getting a hose with brass colored connectors.

It could have been made any time between the MR-12 III's introduction in 1981 until it was discontinued in the early '90s.

 

[Zef]

I'm stumped. It's obviously an MR12 III with their older DIN connector and the coldwater kit that required filling with silicone oil. But I can't find any mention of an all-brass special edition. Maybe someone left the stages in an acid bath overnight and stripped off all the chrome plating, either on purpose or by accident. And then leaned into it by later getting a hose with brass colored connectors.

It could have been made any time between the MR-12 III's introduction in 1981 until it was discontinued in the early '90s.

Thats exactly what I was thinking but I could not/can't tell if the 1st stage depicted is bare brass or has gold colored plating. I was thinking it was bare but there is some silver showing through on the DIN fitting which led me to believe the color might be a coating. I too have been unable to find any info on a special edition of the MR12 III reg set.

@axxel57, does your source for this reg set have any info about it?

-Z

 

[Geo7]

It looks too clean for brass, and I thought of gold plating. If the internals have zero verdigris, it might be plated. First I thought of a certain friend of mine who plated some of hsi regs, but what caught my attention is that the metal parts of the hose are the same. So it could be a special edition, perhaps even milspec?