Mares 22 navy ii

[Redshift]

I have one that I use for deco. No problem with it. If you already have one that you are keeping and they can be serviced in your area I don't see why not. But I use mine on a deco tank so don't know how the routing is for other set ups.

I have a previous model abyss 22 which I now use as a stage reg while I use Apeks atx40/ds4 or xtx40/DST on a twinset.

The Mares was an excellent regulator out of the box, but it is cold here and once I had the cold water kit (quite hard to find) fitted it was never the same again in a hard to explain way, regulator performance being very subjective.

Interesting. I thought abut the cold water kit and also noticed that even here (Finland) divers don't use it! And Mares advertises its regulators as cold regs even without the kit...

Out of curiosity, from which regulator do you intend to upgrade?

The OP has said before, mares 12 voltrex nikos.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Just a quick clarification for those unfamiliar with Mares reg names, which can be a little confusing:

• Voltrex and Nikos (and Abyss) are 2nd stages.
• The MR-12 (or MR-22) is the first stage.
• The Voltrex is essentially the same 2nd stage as the early Abyss, but preceded it I think (I own, dive, and service both). The differences are very minor and performance is the same as far as I can tell.

So you can see Mares names like "MR-12 Voltrex", "MR-22 Abyss", "MR-22 Navy", "MR-12 Proton", etc., and understand which first stage is packaged with which primary 2nd stage.

Best wishes.

 

[ams511]

Interesting. I thought abut the cold water kit and also noticed that even here (Finland) divers don't use it! And Mares advertises its regulators as cold regs even without the kit...

Mares uses unbalanced downstream second stages in their product line. These are more sensitive to drops in IP that balanced second stages. I see three potential explainations. 1) The kit was not installed properly and the secondary diaphragm is not transmitting the correct hydrostatic pressure to the primary diaphragm. 2) The kit recommends the IP be dropped down 15 PSI which would affect breathing if the second stage wasn't properly adjusted. 3) The tech detuned the second stages.

---------- Post added August 30th, 2015 at 03:38 AM ----------

Just a quick clarification for those unfamiliar with Mares reg names, which can be a little confusing:

• Voltrex and Nikos (and Abyss) are 2nd stages.
• The MR-12 (or MR-22) is the first stage.
• The Voltrex is essentially the same 2nd stage as the early Abyss, but preceded it I think (I own, dive, and service both). The differences are very minor and performance is the same as far as I can tell.

So you can see Mares names like "MR-12 Voltrex", "MR-22 Abyss", "MR-22 Navy", "MR-12 Proton", etc., and understand which first stage is packaged with which primary 2nd stage.

Best wishes.

So is the upgrade worth it?

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

....So is the upgrade worth it?

If the OP plans to dive truly cold water, it would be a good upgrade. Or if he wants something new and shiny (nothing wrong with that!). Assuming "equal" tuning, there will probably not be a noticeable difference in ease of breathing.

The MR-22 is a higher performing first stage. But the MR-12 is no slouch... think Conshelf-type performance and design, a real good workhorse, more than enough for recreational diving. The MR-22 has better hose routing (at least I think it does), but the MR-12 is not "bad" by any means.

I think the Navy 2nd stage is mostly metal like a regular Abyss but with a coating (Teflon, something like that??) to further improve cold water performance, but the Voltrex has an all metal body with plastic purge cover, should be pretty freeze-resistant. But I'm a warm-water wuss, so the OP should consult with divers in his area.

Performance-wise I think that well-tuned Abyss 2nd stages are probably pretty similar (and the Voltrex will breath similarly). They cannot be tuned as close to the edge of free flow as a current balanced adjustable type 2nd stage, but the Abyss will breathe almost as well (if tuned correctly!!).

Many techs (and the factory it seems) under-tune them. When tuned correctly, they breath VERY well for a basic, unbalanced downstream 2nd.

The best example I can give is to imagine your "hottest" balanced adjustable 2nd stage (Atomic, Scubapro, Apeks, etc.), tuned so that it just leaks with the adjuster backed out... now turn the adjuster in so the leak just stops, and maybe the tiniest smidge further in... that is an Abyss-level of performance... in other words, the way MOST folks adjust and dive their "hot" 2nd stages in the real world is how the Abyss (when tuned properly) breathes without having to touch an adjuster.

I think the Mares regs are de-tuned to prevent surface freeflows caused by careless handling by new divers, and thus get a bad rap for ease of breathing.

Best wishes.