High dollar regs free flow on me all the time

[808Dude]

So I am new to owning my own reg as I have been mooching off friends for long enough. I tried out a few high end ones, SubaPro, Apeks, etc. I am discoverying the more the things cost the more prone they are to free flow. Maybe being able to empty a tank quickly costs a lot more money for such a useful feature.

I settled on buying a Scubapro MK25/X650 which is really nice @100+ feet but at 15' today the damn thing will free flow witout stop. This if course is not very helpful when you take your reg out of your mouth to give to your friend who is low on air. Now you are both out. How exciting.

This is a brand new reg too. I think I was much happier when borrowing a friend's backup "old trusty" no name brand which was rock solid.

Should it get serviced asap or is this just how high end regs are and now I have buyer's remorse?

Aloha!

 

[matt_w]

So I am new to owning my own reg as I have been mooching off friends for long enough. I tried out a few high end ones, SubaPro, Apeks, etc. I am discoverying the more the things cost the more prone they are to free flow. Maybe being able to empty a tank quickly costs a lot more money for such a useful feature.

I settled on buying a Scubapro MK25/X650 which is really nice @100+ feet but at 15' today the damn thing will free flow witout stop. This if course is not very helpful when you take your reg out of your mouth to give to your friend who is low on air. Now you are both out. How exciting.

This is a brand new reg too. I think I was much happier when borrowing a friend's backup "old trusty" no name brand which was rock solid.

Should it get serviced asap or is this just how high end regs are and now I have buyer's remorse?

Aloha!

I tried a brand new reg in the pool the other day and it free flowed on me (on and off) for the first 10 - 15 minutes and has been reliable sinceh then.

Did it start free flowing at the end of your dive after coming up from 100 feet? It definately might need some adjustment in that case. I have not used the MK25/X so I am not familiar with any peculiarities it might have.

 

[808Dude]

Did it start free flowing at the end of your dive after coming up from 100 feet? It definately might need some adjustment in that case. I have not used the MK25/X so I am not familiar with any peculiarities it might have.

1st dive I was at 122' and didn't have to remove the reg from my mouth so unknown..

Free flow was on the 2nd dive (40' bottom/30 min) on the safety stop.

 

[DennisW]

Your new regs need an adjustment. I would guess that they were tuned to breath really easy. When they are tuned this way and the valve seats get broken in, they tend to want to free flow. Take them back to the shop where you purchased them and get them adjusted. They should do this for free.

 

[ianr33]

I have had Apeks regs for years. have never had a freeflow problem,
Something is wrong with your regs.
Get them fixed

 

[rigdiver]

It really is a simple adjustment, but let the store you bought it from do it. Watch if you can. It will amaze you how simple it is to do.

 

[redacted]

It may just be the way you are handling it. My Scubapro Balanced Adjustables will do the same thing occasionally when I remove it from my mouth. But it should stop if you cover the mouthpiece or put it back in your mouth. You should also be able to prevent such freeflows by adjusting the VIVA control or turning the user adjustment knob in a bit. These user adjustments allow the cracking pressure to be set quite low for maximum ease of breathing. But such settings may result in some freeflows if any vacuum is established inside the 2nd when the reg is not in your mouth. First try setting the VIVA switch to the 'MIN' setting which will interrupt the air flow path to reduce the tendency of the reg to establish and maintain a vacuum.

 

[oly5050user]

So I am new to owning my own reg as I have been mooching off friends for long enough. I tried out a few high end ones, SubaPro, Apeks, etc. I am discoverying the more the things cost the more prone they are to free flow. Maybe being able to empty a tank quickly costs a lot more money for such a useful feature.

I settled on buying a Scubapro MK25/X650 which is really nice @100+ feet but at 15' today the damn thing will free flow witout stop. This if course is not very helpful when you take your reg out of your mouth to give to your friend who is low on air. Now you are both out. How exciting.

This is a brand new reg too. I think I was much happier when borrowing a friend's backup "old trusty" no name brand which was rock solid.

Should it get serviced asap or is this just how high end regs are and now I have buyer's remorse?

Aloha!

when you took regulator out of your mouth did you have the mouthpeice pointing up or down..pointing up it will free flow ,face down it will not.Also why give up your primary to your friend?Did you have a alternate that you could of handed over?Or do you dive with a air2 on the bcd and that explains why you handed over your primary..

 

[David P]

also, just about any "high end" reg with a low cracking pressure will free flow when they are pulled out of your mouth with the mouth piece horizontal or pointing up. When you remove the reg, make sure the mouth piece is pointing down.

***edit*** just beat me to it....

 

[808Dude]

I think I will take it in to make it less sensitive, but to answer your questions.

- Yes I do use an Air2.
- The mouthpiece was horizontal not pointing down...I'll try ensuring it's down next time.
- I did screw the adjust the control knob all the way back in and took the lever out of the Dive position. It didn't help after it was out and dumping air. Next time I'll try adjusting it down before removal to see what happens then.

Thanks for the advice guys!