Mares 2nd stage bubbling

[skynscuba]

My wife's Proton Ice 2nd stage was overhauled maybe 45 dives ago, and is now hissing a bit. She first noticed it on a trip in May. The guy in the dive shop there removed the hose, adjusted something. Maybe better, but not quite fixed. Got back home, where we have no Mares service. The go-to guy for equipment repair around here did some sort of adjustment. In the pool the next week, and on the surface, still a bit of hiss. The IP was about 140 (spec is 145 +/- 3 ), no creep. When I turned it down to 130psi, no hiss and little tendency to continue after purging.

So, the question is, is 130PSI too low, vs. the Mares spec of 142 - 147?

 

[Greg Barlow]

I personally set all the Mares regs that I service to 135-138psi.

The second stage on the Proton Ice should be adjusted to have a cracking effort between 0.8-1.2". Or, without a gauge, you should be able to lightly shake the second stage and hear a slight clicking sound. The sound should only be heard while the first stage is pressurized. If you can hear the sound without the first stage being pressurized, the lever is incorrectly adjusted. If the cracking effort is set below 0.8" you will likely have a free flow while the reg is oriented in a face down position. My own personal regs are set at exactly 1.0".

The adjustment nut is 5.5mm wide. All adjustments should be made with slight amounts of turning. I suggest the distance between 12:00 and 11:00 if decreasing the tension.

Make certain that the IP is set first, as you cannot properly adjust the second stage without doing so. There should be no more than 3psi creep in the IP as well.

Greg Barlow