MK 16 or MK25?
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kavka
Guest
I have both regs. MK 25 is piston design, MK16 diafragm.
They both preform great. You'll never need more air that they can give you. If you need sealed reg go for MK16.
They both preform great. You'll never need more air that they can give you. If you need sealed reg go for MK16.
ScubaRon
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The "kit" probably means that he'll fill the spring chamber with silicone gel, so no water can get in. This is effective, but messy.
There have been several freeze-up incidents with piston regs in general and the MK25 specifically, which for me is sufficient reason to stay away from the MK25 in cold water. So if you're hooked on Scubapro I would go for the MK16. Otherwise the Aqualung Legend LX Supreme is a top notch cold water reg.
ScubaRon
There have been several freeze-up incidents with piston regs in general and the MK25 specifically, which for me is sufficient reason to stay away from the MK25 in cold water. So if you're hooked on Scubapro I would go for the MK16. Otherwise the Aqualung Legend LX Supreme is a top notch cold water reg.
ScubaRon
If not either will do. You have to do some seriously cold diving to get SP regs to free flow - I used to dive back home (UK) all year round with my Mk20 without a free flow...
ScubaRon
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So perhaps you were lucky. Search this forum or talk to some of the dive centers that dive the UK lakes (not the sea!) and you will hear plenty of examples of (ScubaPro) piston regulators freezing up.
Freeze ups are caused by a combination of factors including water temperature, salinity, air dew point, current strength, tank pressure, breathing rate and more. The fact that a reg didn't freeze today at 50F doesn't mean it cannot freeze tomorrow at that same temperature.
ScubaRon
fresh water, down to 3 degress centigrade - any colder and it would have been an overhead environment.
You see and they sell a lot of piston regs in the UK....
In the old days if you had a good experience you told on average 3 people and bad 7 people.
Now if you have a good experience you still tell 3 people but with a bad one you try and tell the world. Personally I think the luck was with the free flow people, but in their case it was bad luck.
At the end of the day, if you try hard enough you can probably make any reg free flow but I am not an expert on piston versus diaphram - but it comes down to your defintion of cold water diving. If it really is cold then Mk16 seems to be the recommendation - but to a lot of people cold is below 20C....
You see and they sell a lot of piston regs in the UK....
In the old days if you had a good experience you told on average 3 people and bad 7 people.
Now if you have a good experience you still tell 3 people but with a bad one you try and tell the world. Personally I think the luck was with the free flow people, but in their case it was bad luck.
At the end of the day, if you try hard enough you can probably make any reg free flow but I am not an expert on piston versus diaphram - but it comes down to your defintion of cold water diving. If it really is cold then Mk16 seems to be the recommendation - but to a lot of people cold is below 20C....
kavka
Guest
I was diving in 1C river MK 25/S550 worked just fine. MK 16/R190 is backup
it did freeflow in 40 degree water. I got it tuned down, and no problems since. As I plan on doing more Great Lakes diving, longer dives in cold water, I am going to get an MK16 and keep the MK25 for a backup.
The MK25 is working fine, but I want the MK16 when I start doing deco dives.
Juls
The MK25 is working fine, but I want the MK16 when I start doing deco dives.
Juls
DementialFaith
Contributor
hows does atomic perfom in cold water?
ElectricZombie
Contributor
You are not going to be able to tell the difference between the Mk16 and the Mk25. The Mk16 would be a good choice if you are diving in cold or contaminated water. I would stay away from Atomic because you need to buy a lot of special tools to service them. (More than ScubaPro) People seem to like Apeks regs too.
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