MK5 servicing problem? or misinformed tech?

[herman]

Great to know- will check it out. I will ask my tech the condition of the piston. I suspect he was just being cautious on the advice of the SB manual. To do the servicing, is the price of any/all necessary tools going to be a factor? I work on my old VW bus, so I have tools- just don't know if I'll need many others, and tools can be costly. thanks

As far as the special tools go, you can do it without them with the exception of a pin spanner to remove the HP seat ($5) and an IP gauge (<$10). There are are other special tools that will make your life easier but are not necessary, all of which can be had for under $30. The cost of parts, the $50 you spend on Vances book and the other $50 you spend in tools will be less than the cost of one service.

 

[redacted]

I believe there's an old thread indicating Scubapro dealers are not supposed to service any shoulder-less pistons due to some liability (real or imagined) issue, so it sounds like this dealer will only cooperate and do the service if the poster can dig up a shouldered piston somewhere, even if the shoulder-less piston is still in good shape.

I got to thinking about this and it might be worth perusing. I don't recall ever seeing such a post. Perhaps someone could inquire in the Scubapro forum (I'm banned).

I really doubt if this is officially from Scubapro. The only good reason they would have for doing this would be SAFETY. And if it were a known safety concern, then there would be a recall and free replacement. It sounds to me like a scheme to try push Mk5s out of service.

 

[JohnN]

I got to thinking about this and it might be worth perusing. I don't recall ever seeing such a post. Perhaps someone could inquire in the Scubapro forum (I'm banned).

I really doubt if this is officially from Scubapro. The only good reason they would have for doing this would be SAFETY. And if it were a known safety concern, then there would be a recall and free replacement. It sounds to me like a scheme to try push Mk5s out of service.

I think this is relevant thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/repairing-your-own-gear/303673-sp-mk5-piston.html

Couv,
Thanks for the info. I have way too many regs from Ebay already and you would be surprised at what they are going for. Knowing my luck I would buy one with the same piston and be in the same boat times 2. I recently went through the SP Expert Tech course and with it they gave us a set of older schematics and marked which parts are no longer available. When the MK5 and MK7 were brought up, we were told not to service them anymore. If we chose to then we did so at our own risk. The MK5 I have is fine with a stable IP but, thought I would replace the piston to avoid the seat cutting tendency of the original piston without the shoulder.

 

[redacted]

I think this is relevant thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/repairing-your-own-gear/303673-sp-mk5-piston.html

So it is the scheme. I suspect this does not reflect a company level official policy but someone might have check with SP on that. I ran into an Aqualung distributer who was trying to convince all his shop to only service regulators they sold as a way to counter grey market sources.