Most desirable Scubapro 2nd stage?

[Fibonacci]

Duplicate

 

[george_austin]

Halocline hit the nail on the head, "personal preference". I've owned/own 156BAs, G260s and G250s. I have/had them all cracking at around .9". They all breathe very well. My preference is the 156 followed by the G260 then the G250. I just like the "way" the 156BA breathes a little better than the others, it's not a significant difference but enough for me to notice.

In my stable the king for ease of breathing is the D400 but could quite happily live with only one of any I've listed. Having said that I've had the most headaches/issues tuning the Ds. I wish SP would do a run of new metal orifices, they have become the bane of my existence. I have a rogue one that is about one more seat change from having a hammer taken to it.

As far as "cotton mouth" goes I've never noticed any difference between metal or plastic. YMMV.

Toss up as to easiest breathing single hose reg I’ve ever had -
Scubapro Mk 5 + 108 tuned to .625 inch / h2o
AMF Swimaster MR 12 II tuned to .750 inch / h2o
US Divers Conshelf XIV tuned to .750 inch /h2o

I honestly don’t know why people buy new plastic regulators - people want a lot of LP and HP porting, I suppose.

 

[buddhasummer]

Toss up as to easiest breathing single hose reg I’ve ever had -
Scubapro Mk 5 + 108 tuned to .625 inch / h2o
AMF Swimaster MR 12 II tuned to .750 inch / h2o
US Divers Conshelf XIV tuned to .750 inch /h2o

I honestly don’t know why people buy new plastic regulators - people want a lot of LP and HP porting, I suppose.

A conshelf at .75, wow, no matter how hard to try I can't get mine below 1.1 and I have the easier (?) to tune side port version. Any tricks or tips? Cheers.

On your conshelf what ip do you have your first stage at?

 

[george_austin]

IP about 125-130

Just kept fiddling with it or maybe I just got lucky. I also consider it cracking when the tinyest bit if whisper can be heard thru the mouthpiece

 

[buddhasummer]

IP about 125-130

Just kept fiddling with it or maybe I just got lucky. I also consider it cracking when the tinyest bit if whisper can be heard thru the mouthpiece

I'll keep playing, I'm happy enough with 1.1" as it's very stable but .75" is amazing.

 

[stuartv]

I honestly don’t know why people buy new plastic regulators - people want a lot of LP and HP porting, I suppose.

Aren't you mixing things up there? Lots of LP and HP porting would be about the 1st stage, and plastic would be about the 2nd stage, right?

I'm planning to buy some Mk25 EVO 1sts because I want swivel turrets and a bottom LP port, for use on doubles (back and side mount) and deco bottles.

I'm planning to buy some G260 2nds because they breathe well, they seem to be pretty durable, the body will never corrode, they are reversible (in case I ever want to try that) and I can replace the reg body for cheap if I ever need to.

An old metal 2nd stage may be more durable than a G260. I don't know. But after taking an A700 apart, I am not at ALL convinced thst it is any more durable than a G260. And an A700 body costs roughly 10 times as much to replace. And the A700 can corrode on the inside. No, thanks.

 

[buddhasummer]

Hmmm...

A conshelf 14, 108,109,156 or A700 will never crack. I've seen plenty of cracked plastic regs. On that point, metal 1 - plastic 0.

As for corrosion, any reg will corrode if not taken care of properly. I've cracked a G250 trying to remove a seized jam nut, user error, but still.

I doubt George is confused, it might be a slight misunderstanding on your part on his meaning, I'd assume he's talking reg sets as opposed to individual stages, but I'll leave that for him to clear up if he wishes. Cheers.

 

[Fibonacci]

An old metal 2nd stage may be more durable than a G260. I don't know. But after taking an A700 apart, I am not at ALL convinced thst it is any more durable than a G260. And an A700 body costs roughly 10 times as much to replace. And the A700 can corrode on the inside. No, thanks.

After pulling down several SP 108/109 classic metal bodied regs the majority had significant corrosion in the hard-to-rinse areas like under the mouthpiece, the diaphragm mount flange, the exhaust deflector and particularly the exhaust valve seat web even though the exterior was often quite pristine shiny chrome.
This is the major reason I have decided to go with G250's... great breathing regs, balanced adjustable design, tough engineering plastic case with a solid wall thickness, easily removable front cover, metal air tube and straightforward to service... once you learn the quirks

 

[buddhasummer]

Don't get me wrong, I love G250s, own 6 of them and agree they breathe beautifully, but on my fantasy dream exotic location dive safari I'd take a metal second stage, namely a Conshelf 14 most likely, not quite the breather a 156 is but it's even more robust.

 

[buddhasummer]

After pulling down several SP 108/109 classic metal bodied regs the majority had significant corrosion in the hard-to-rinse areas like under the mouthpiece, the exhaust deflector and particularly the exhaust valve seat web even though the exterior was often quite pristine shiny chrome.
This is the major reason I have decided to go with G250's... great breathing regs, balanced adjustable design, tough engineering plastic case with a solid wall thickness, easily removable front cover, metal air tube and straightforward to service... once you learn the quirks

Fortunately that cosmetic corrosion doesn't usually, if ever, affect performance.