New regs

[Tim Greaves]

Earlier its was the mk25 you won't rely on with your life. Please describe the 1st and 2nd stage models you've used/mated, the problems you've had, and their root causes. Please include water type, depths, temperatures, and gases used if the problems occurred UW. Please be detailed. "I've had problems and would never buy one" isn't very illuminating.

Skip the heresay, I'd like to hear your personal experiences. Point your friends to this thread and have them chime in if they have additional anecdotes to contribute.

Will do.. I dont know if they have scubaboard accounts but ill tell them to sign up just for this thread..

I did say a MK25 before because thats part of the reg setup that I had, it was mated to a G250hp.. My dive buddy had a M25 with an S600.. Read the 2 posts above and youll see that..

Ok, Water is freshwater.. Its a quarry called Bainbridge quarry in PA.. Go to divebsc.com and you can get tons of info on the quarry.. Depths are above, its happends 4 times to me between 60 and 100 feet.. Temps are in the 36F-50F range.. Gasses were all done on EAN32 nitrox..

Any other info you need?

 

[Tim Greaves]

Ok you posted while I was. What's the temp in this quarry? And at what depths did the freezeups occur? What time of year and how warm or cold was the air temp? Did you let the tanks or regs get chilled below freezing prior to entering the water?

No piston reg is suitable for ice diving type temperatures.

Temps are in post above.. Depths are above.. During the early summer, april,may or so.. Air temps were in the 70's.. Never was below freezing air temps..

 

[rjack321]

With bottom temps of 36F any piston reg is likely to cause problems, not unique to the mk25. Wrong reg for that job.

The coldest I've had my mk20/25s is 18F on the surface getting into 44F water. Breathing 21/35 on that dive @ 155ft I had no issues. Then again my SAC rate is probably a little lower than your at this point and the less gas that's gushing through there the less adiabatic cooling there is too.

Its not like diaphrams can't have problems too, just different problems which you have not encountered (yet).

 

[Tim Greaves]

With bottom temps of 36F any piston reg is likely to cause problems, not unique to the mk25. Wrong reg for that job.

The coldest I've had my mk20/25s is 18F on the surface getting into 44F water. Breathing 21/35 on that dive @ 155ft I had no issues. Then again my SAC rate is probably a little lower than your at this point and the less gas that's gushing through there the less adiabatic cooling there is too.

Its not like diaphrams can't have problems too, just different problems which you have not encountered (yet).

And I agree with you there.. Its a piece of equipment and any equipment can have problems.. Use what works for you.. If there was one regulator that would work perfect in an condition then this thread would never exist..

The water that I dive in is perfect for a dry sealed balanced diaphram regulator(or an unbalanced piston) so thats what I use..
I know one person who still uses an old Scubapro MK10 in the same water and never has had a problem.. I just speak from my own experances and 2 of my other dive buddys(mk25/s600's)..

Like I said before, if someone askes which reg should I buy and why I tell them my opinions and why.. Im sure there is someone else on here that has used a mk25 in the same water as me and never had a problem and might even have seen a problem with an Apeks reg.. They are free to speak and I would love to hear about it, might help me out with something in the future..

 

[rjack321]

Funny, the mk10 is virtually identical to the mk20/25 minus a couple parts. Used they are often a bargain.

Boomer is in the "deep south", presumably south of MD

 

[Soggy]

I have and use Apeks DS4/ATX50s for everything because they breathe well and work in all environments, including the 36 degree water and cold air temperatures that we have in winter time.

My single tank reg is a Mk25/S600. I've not had any problems with it, but I also only dive it in very shallow cold water or warm water. It breathes great, but I feel more comfortable with a sealed diaphragm for my technical applications.

 

[Tim Greaves]

Funny, the mk10 is virtually identical to the mk20/25 minus a couple parts. Used they are often a bargain.

Boomer is in the "deep south", presumably south of MD

Hmm.. I always though the MK10 was a balanced diaphram reg but I never have seen a diagram of one before so im probably wrong..

 

[rjack321]

Hmm.. I always though the MK10 was a balanced diaphram reg but I never have seen a diagram of one before so im probably wrong..

Nope piston, the precursor to the mk20. The mk25 is an update of the 20 with an adjustment screw for the IP instead of shims. There have been minor internal changes over the years trying to address freezing "TIS" I think its called.

The mk18 was the 1st diaphram reg SP made (I think). I don't think its made anymore. The mk18 was a bit of an anomaly, the vast majority of SP regs have historically been pistons or balanced pistons.

 

[Hoosier]

MK18 was after MK16.... Now MK17 and MK19

 

[rjack321]

MK18 was after MK16.... Now MK17 and MK19

Thanks. I'm so out of date :shakehead