MK2Plus environmental sealing

[oceancurrent]

Does anyone have experience sealing an MK2Plus first stage with grease? What is the best way to do it? Which grease works best, how to stuff it in the environmental chamber, what sort of cover can one use to put over the environmental holes? Any advise will be appreciated...

 

[superstar]

I have an old mk10 and mk15 both stuffed with grease. the mk10 does not have the rubber band seal and the mk15 does. The grease stayes in the mk10 just fine without the ruber seal. I only breathe air so I used Dow Corning 111 food grade silicone grease. I have never done a mk2. Watch this video, the first 20 seconds I am filling the chamber.
YouTube - Brads helmet cam, Scubapro MK 10

 

[herman]

You can't use that method with a MK-2, it would push too much grease into the HP chamber with no way to clean it out. I don't fill regs but I do full wire connections with grease for wet location use. The way I do that is to fill a large syringe with grease then start on one end and force it through. I would think it would work fine if you injected the grease into one vent hole while holding all but one of the others closed and kept injecting it in until it comes out the other side. You can buy large syringes (inch diameter and 4 to 6 inches long) at most large department store and other places that sell grills and gas burners for outdoor cooking. They are intended to inject meat with sauces. The cost is usually in the $2-3 range….and some come with cookbooks , so it would be worth trying.

 

[oceancurrent]

Thanks, guys. I am thinking of using a modified method in-between the two that you are suggesting. I am thinking of stuffing silicone grease around the spring while the piston is inserted in the bore (so the HP o-ring on the piston seals the HP chamber from the grease), then closing the ambient chamber, and injecting some extra grease in through one of the holes. Finally, I am thinking of putting something flexible from latex around the head (condom, balloon, etc) to help with grease-water separation.

 

[superstar]

When I pressureise the the mk10 reg a little tiny bit of grease oozes out the holes so I use one of these west epoxy syringes full of grease to top off the chamber every few dives. I suppose you could fill the whole thing with this.
WEST SYSTEM Syringe at West Marine

 

[Slamfire]

You guys probably know about this more than I do, but I thought I'd post this for the benefit of readers that may not be as educated on this matter as you are. This is from Vance Harlow's Regulator Maintenance and Repair book:

SILICONE OR ALCOHOL FITTED REGULATORS, ESPECIALLY GREASE PACKED BP [balanced piston] 1STS, ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR 02 SERVICE, since in the event of a leak the 02 would find a plentiful supply of fuel. One of the few documented instances of a catastrophic regulator fire occurred in a silicon kitted BP first - see the DAN/Lippmann book OXYGEN FIRST AID for pictures. This is probably why Scubapro seems to be moving away from SPEC kit, considering the growing popularity of nitrox and high F02 de co mixes. The latest SP 1st, the MK20, uses a thermal isolation bushing (TIB) - and no goo. Current feeling among divers using the Mk 20s under ice is that the TIB is not as foolproof as the silicone, and many use the silicone in addition to the TIB.

 

[Selchie in LB]

You guys probably know about this more than I do, but I thought I'd post this for the benefit of readers that may not be as educated on this matter as you are. This is from Vance Harlow's Regulator Maintenance and Repair book:

I looked this up on Amazon and got this website where you can purchase it directly. There are several other titles available.

Airspeed Press Homepage - Books For Serious Divers

They have some great stickers too

 

[oceancurrent]

As far as I know, AirSpeedPress is the only place you can purchase the book from.

If you are concerned about fire hazard with O2, then fill your piston reg with Christolube or another synthetic O2-compatible grease like Atomic does to their BP first stages. Of course, it costs $10-15 or so in grease this way and then it's hard to rinse away the Christo during servicing (soap does nothing to it). :cool2:

I don't like ScubaPro's current TIS solution. It feels more like a marketing scam than anything that is bending the laws of physics. I'd rather stick to old-fashioned grease stuffing.

 

[herman]

You guys probably know about this more than I do, but I thought I'd post this for the benefit of readers that may not be as educated on this matter as you are. This is from Vance Harlow's Regulator Maintenance and Repair book:

This is only a concern with high O2 percentages, rec nitrox mixes (<40%) are not a problem. Personally I would not use one because of the mess. Good sealed diaphram first stages are not that expensive, esp an ebay reg.