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Can't describe this incredibly detailed invaluable thread, for honkers, honk honk!
How to restore a Scubapro Mark VII Honker
- Thread starter rsingler
- Start date
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I can narrow that down for you quite a bit. When I bought mine in August of 1971 the design had been on the market for 6 months. My dad didn't like depending on new designs, but felt his 14-yo daughter was better off with a new design, rather than depending on the problematic J-valves. SPGs weren't really common or even affordable at the time.
FWIW, the 2nd stage I bought (109-A) at the same time is still my PRIMARY 2nd. I have a whole fleet of the 109-As, but my original is the one that is breathed from the most by far.
I tried over the years (in a pool) to see how long I could stand hearing the honker and the best I could ever do was just shy of 60 seconds. Part of my pre-dive checks was to 'test' the honker by just cracking the tank valve. Mine always started to honk when the SPG I had eventually gotten read between 500-600 psi.
When my somewhat inattentive son got certified at the age of 17, I got him a heavy yoke MKVII. He graduated to a non-paper weight (3-1/2# plus another 1# or so on port expanders) when I was convinced he was checking his gauges often enough. Actually, it only took one dive with him on the deep side of a steep drop-off to make the change.
OP
Terrific information! And a great story to boot!
Thank you, @raftingtigger
Thank you, @raftingtigger
Art Challacombe
Registered
I’m reviving this old thread to thank rsingler for his tip on freezing stuck regulator parts. To start off, I just received a Mk7 that was in very poor condition. It was badly corroded and the piston retainer cap would not budge. There were three issues:
1) heavy corrosion;
2) under spring load and;
3) the pin holes were badly stripped by a previous owner or tech.
Even after a long soak in a vinegar and water solution, I had no luck with removing the cap. It was frozen solid. Usually, I would use heat and Kroil to loosen frozen parts, but using a propane torch in an area with several o-rings and a piston did not seem like a good idea.
I was about to give up when I remembered a post by rsingler where he put a stubborn part in the freezer for a day and then loosened it with much less effort. So, I decided to give it a try as I had nothing to loose. Into the freezer the Mk7 went.
The next day, I took the regulator out of the freezer and immediately put it in a vise. I managed to get enough bite on the cap holes with a Scubapro multi-tool and with some effort off it went. Rsingler’s tip worked!
The rest of the rebuild went smoothly without incident and now I have another Mk7 ready to dive. Thank you very much rsingler for sharing your expertise with us so that we can restore our beloved antiques.
1) heavy corrosion;
2) under spring load and;
3) the pin holes were badly stripped by a previous owner or tech.
Even after a long soak in a vinegar and water solution, I had no luck with removing the cap. It was frozen solid. Usually, I would use heat and Kroil to loosen frozen parts, but using a propane torch in an area with several o-rings and a piston did not seem like a good idea.
I was about to give up when I remembered a post by rsingler where he put a stubborn part in the freezer for a day and then loosened it with much less effort. So, I decided to give it a try as I had nothing to loose. Into the freezer the Mk7 went.
The next day, I took the regulator out of the freezer and immediately put it in a vise. I managed to get enough bite on the cap holes with a Scubapro multi-tool and with some effort off it went. Rsingler’s tip worked!
The rest of the rebuild went smoothly without incident and now I have another Mk7 ready to dive. Thank you very much rsingler for sharing your expertise with us so that we can restore our beloved antiques.
OP
The credit goes to my wife, @Art Challacombe
She's the wizard food scientist who coaxed me against my better judgment into trying it.
Even old dogs can learn new tricks!
She's the wizard food scientist who coaxed me against my better judgment into trying it.
Even old dogs can learn new tricks!
halocline
Contributor
The most stubborn disassembly I ever had was on a MK15, and it took a few cycles in boiling water (just pretend you’re making regulator soup) and the freezer. I removed all the port plugs before subjecting it to the temp extremes. The issue is almost always exposed threads, i.e. threads that are not protected by an external o-ring. This is why the port plugs usually come right out but the reg body and yoke/DIN retainer are sometimes disastrously stuck.
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