MK18/ G250 problems while on Vacation

[diverrick]

I am, down here with my wife in RTB and her new MK18/ G250 reg we recently purchased new, is having IP creep. Both regs start leaking about 1 min after you turn on the air. IP gauge showed a marked increase from 150 to 200 and climbing. The on site LDS said it was unsafe to use, as the diaphrahm was going to blow any time. the dive shop operater said she had seen three regs of the same model this week alone with the same problem.
I took it down to the poppet valve, and found nothing wrong with it, no dirt, torn diapraghm (SP) Etc. I put it back together and it is still doing the same thing. I am now at our second resort and they do not have an IP gauge for me to use, but I did attempt to adjust the IP setting seeing as we are not using it anyhow. I still cannot get it to quit creeping. I turn down the IP, and it takes longer for the leakage to begin, but it still occurs. Is there anything I can do while I am here, with limited tools to fix this? Her rental reg has already had both regs taking in salt water so we switched out her personal regs to the rental first stage, that fixed the salt water problem, but then the rental gear blew the SPG high press. hose on the next dive. We are not too confident in the rental gear so I would like to get her new reg fixed so she can have dependable air source for the rest of the vacation.
Any help here would be greatly apprieciated. BTW diving is great in between reg problems.
Thanks

 

[diverrick]

just reposting in hopes someones see this and has an answer

 

[jonnythan]

I haven't seen one of those regs, but it sounds like maybe there's a leak from the HP to the LP side, so check the HP seat and sealing surface very well. On my Apeks there's a little rubber pad that presses against a round knife-edged hole.. if the pad were cracked, or there was a nick on the knife-edge, I would get those sorts of symptoms..

 

[jjs]

Hi,

When i had my first Mk18, it suffered exactly the same thing.... it was fine when you had just inhaled.. but then after a few seconds the IP was more than the 2nd stage could take and it started to bleed air until the next inhale..

I had it serviced (free of charge) and it has never given me a problem since - the service tech said he was not sure what the problem was and after getting frustrated had thrown a service kit at it and that had done the trick.. i suggest you do the same.

cheers,

Jon

 

[scubafanatic]

.......I'd recommend you swap out all your wife's reg attachments ( BC hose, SPG/ computer, and both 2nd stages ) over to the rental 1st stage, that way she's diving a 'new' reg set, except for the rental 1st stage, which your stuck with on this trip.
....I'd be reluctant to tear down a reg in some remote third world dive site with minimal tools/parts...it's probably not the place to experiment with reg repair.
I dive Atomic / Mares / Poseidon....not SP, so I won't address the specifics...........and although it's too late to help you on this trip, here are my pre-trip precautions:

1) I always take 2 complete reg sets on ALL my trips

2) I always make sure they're recently serviced or checked out by my LDS prior to my trips to see if there's any sign they need any service ( check IP / cracking pressure / inspect filter condition ).

Karl

 

[diverrick]

I did change over some of her stuf, I guess I could change all of it over. The reg didn't start doing this until the middle of the first week here, so I thought it might be sand inside of it. thanks for the help.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

The Scubapro UK site has a number of cutaway posters available electronically, if this helps.

http://www.scubapro.co.uk/utilities.asp#util8

I have not had the problem you describe with my SP MK18, and I've tried a variety of second stages with it. Being a diaphragm rather than piston design, I'd think the grain of sand stuff would be less likely - I'd definitely have some discussion with the shop who last serviced it though, when time & circumstances permit.

The MK18 takes the same service kit as the MK16, if that helps.

 

[diverrick]

Thanks for the exploded view. Looks like the only thing I didn't check, would be the cause. The HP seat. As for talking with the person who rebuilt it, it has never been overhauled as it is about 6 months since new. Thanks a bunch

 

[DA Aquamaster]

IP creep is diagnostic of an HP seat or orifice seating edge problem and if the problem is with the seat, a new service kit will resolve the problem.

The Mk 18 is virtaully the same as the Mk 16 with the exception of the swivel turret and passages to route the air forward to the turret rather than out the sides.