Most desirable Scubapro 2nd stage?

[drbill]

The only second stage I've dived in the last 30 years or so is the G250... and I have a number of them.

 

[thbcthomas]

So I took my reg in to a local shop to see their reaction. I was told the 108 could not be rebuilt because no parts available but he could try to modify it with the guts of an s620 and the success rate is about 30%. He also said the mk3 he absolutely could not rebuild and was not able to be used on a 3000 psi tank anyways. Thoughts on his response?

 

[Fibonacci]

Overall I prefer the “plastic” regs in everyday use and atomic in particular for their ease of repair and great performance. I like the seat saver feature and even the automatic flow control, it has worked flawlessly for me.

Two things I don’t like about the 109 family (maybe it’s the 108 family) is the weight for travel, I try to always travel as light as possible in weight and number of pieces to carry, it matters to me. The worst thing about the beautiful 109 is it’s susceptibility to cosmetic damage in use, at a point they will scratch and get dings that don’t adversely effect them but they lose some of the beauty, I have two like new MK5/109’s that are rebuilt and wonderful performers but they are to nice to dive. My “plasitc” Regs can take a beating and since they never had any beauty to lose they just keep on going without me noticing.

I like all SP Regs, spent over two hours underwater yesterday with a MK17/G250 but still prefer Atomic.

I'm a big fan of the Atomic too... the AFC works seamlessly (I always forget to adjust the vane on other regs!) but there are a few niggles.
The AFC diaphragm is susceptible to sand ingress (I bought a second hand Z2 that had fine white beach sand really packed into the folds to the point where the AFC lever had locked up), the front cover can be very difficult to remove if there is even slight damage to the rim (recognised by Atomic and corrected with the M1 stainless cave ring), and the case wall thickness is eggshell thin vs the G250.

The Atomic seat saver uses a wave washer and o-ring setup but is very sensitive to the right viscosity o-ring grease being used. Without thinking I used Dow 111 on one reg which caused a massive freeflow for a second when opening the tank valve as the grease momentarily held the seat saver assembly from moving forward compressing the wave washer and closing the orifice against the seat. Cleaning it off and replacing with Tribolube 71 made a big difference!

Agree about metal bodied reg cases getting battered easily... I also have a pristine 109 that is "too nice to dive"
Biggest damage seems to occur when metal cased regs are trapped between tanks in a rack and the boat bounces through the waves to and from a dive site... my G250's have marks all over them but the massive wall thickness and rugged construction in PC/ABS means they still look relatively unscathed.

 

[runsongas]

So I took my reg in to a local shop to see their reaction. I was told the 108 could not be rebuilt because no parts available but he could try to modify it with the guts of an s620 and the success rate is about 30%. He also said the mk3 he absolutely could not rebuild and was not able to be used on a 3000 psi tank anyways. Thoughts on his response?

the 108 can be rebuilt fairly easily

Store | Vintage Double Hose

i would pick up a mk5 with the heavier yoke and 4+ lp ports to replace the mk3 at least though

 

[thbcthomas]

the 108 can be rebuilt fairly easily

Store | Vintage Double Hose

i would pick up a mk5 with the heavier yoke and 4+ lp ports to replace the mk3 at least though

I saw the kit on vdh but I do not see any orings in my 108? Am i missing something or is the vdh a generic picture of a service kit? Or am i totally cluess and need to leave it to the experts?

 

[runsongas]

2 for the lp hose, one for the orifice, and one for the inlet fitting

see DA aquamasters post

Scubapro R108 High Performance -manual

 

[buddhasummer]

Yes, the angst associated with scratching my 156s prevents me from diving them as much as I'd like too, silly I know. I have 10 new conshelf face plates so am not as concerned about scratching them.

 

[rhwestfall]

I have 2 109/156 seconds that are my "warriors", and look the part. The other 15 or so are beauties.....

 

[Couv]

Battle scars on a metal second stage give it character. Battle scars on a plastic second stage just make it uglier.

 

[lexvil]

Seat saver, 70's style

I usually just bend a q tip and put between the purge cover and metal outer cover to relieve tension on the seat.