MK5 Question

[rsingler]

Why are you packing your regulator with grease of any kind?

What happens to unsealed pistons

 

[agilis]

What happens to unsealed pistons

Never had a problem with damage of any kind from detritus or sand in the water. Of course, I soak and rinse thoroughly after every use. I have a Mk 5 that I bought in 1972 that has never had any kind of grease in it. I've changed parts to keep it updated, but I have not used it in years. It worked just fine the last time I did. I have a DIN MK 5 that I use now and then (I installed the DIN fitting a long time ago when they were readily available. I kept one in its original packaging, and posted a pic of it a few months ago) but mostly I use one of my Mk 10s. I used christolube once or twice when I dived NJ wrecks with very cold water below the thermocline, but decided it was more trouble than it was worth, and had no problems in water down to 40F. These days, being a rather old man who dives only when it's comfortable, I don't dive in anything colder than about 70F. Perhaps my geriatric opinions are of little value, but I have always been inclined toward simplicity. I was going to write a lot more, but old people tend to be overly garrulous.

 

[rsingler]

Never had a problem with damage of any kind from detritus or sand in the water. Of course, I soak and rinse thoroughly after every use.

And there you are! A little preventive maintenance goes a long way. Wish I could say I don't see trashed piston lands every month or so, but I do.

"Hey, can you service my gear? I'm getting back into diving!"
"Sure! How long since it was last serviced? It's a little green."
"Hmm. Well, last time I dived was five years ago. It was some time before that. Dunno. I came back from a great vacation and tossed it in the closet. It's always worked fine!"

 

[Open Ocean Diver]

Never had a problem with damage of any kind from detritus or sand in the water. Of course, I soak and rinse thoroughly after every use. I have a Mk 5 that I bought in 1972 that has never had any kind of grease in it. I've changed parts to keep it updated, but I have not used it in years. It worked just fine the last time I did. I have a DIN MK 5 that I use now and then (I installed the DIN fitting a long time ago when they were readily available. I kept one in its original packaging, and posted a pic of it a few months ago) but mostly I use one of my Mk 10s. I used christolube once or twice when I dived NJ wrecks with very cold water below the thermocline, but decided it was more trouble than it was worth, and had no problems in water down to 40F. These days, being a rather old man who dives only when it's comfortable, I don't dive in anything colder than about 70F. Perhaps my geriatric opinions are of little value, but I have always been inclined toward simplicity. I was going to write a lot more, but old people tend to be overly garrulous.

When you soak do you have them pressurized?

 

[agilis]

I always packed my MK5-SPEC (Top-Left in the picture above) using (inexpensive) silicon grease. This allows to increase the time between rebuilds to 5 years.
I also have two older MK5 without Spec (Bottom-Right), and I noticed that they need much more frequent servicing, usually 2 years. If not serviced frequently, the large O-ring of the piston starts to leak slightly.

I don't dive that frequently anymore, Angelo. The world is not what it used to be, and neither am I. Since the pandemic, I've only done two shallow inlet dives. We've had some wonderfully warm water here in NJ this end of summer, sometimes reaching 80F. Back when I dived frequently I had a wintertime habit of taking firs tand second stages apart, checking vulnerable parts with a 20x loupe, and replacing o rings on all my regs every year, for no special reason, even those that i had not used since the last disassembly. I suppose I enjoyed it. These days I just clean thoroughly after every exposure to salt water, check intermediate pressure overnight, check functioning, and do nothing else for years at a time.

 

[agilis]

When you soak do you have them pressurized?

Yes, of course. I have a little air cylinder I use just for that purpose.

 

[Open Ocean Diver]

Yes, of course. I have a little air cylinder I use just for that purpose.

I’m going to start doing that, I noticed a little green in my Atomic cone filter and LP hose where it connects to the second stage. Was thinking about some kind of whip connection for my pony so I can soak them in the sink.