Old Scubapro regulator identification

[oxyhacker]

Best I can figure it, they made the MK2 then the Mk3 then the Mk3 again then the Mk2+.
The Mk 2 and 3 had different size pistons which did not interchange. Now the question is, did the early and late Mk2s have the same size? And did SP ever make the Mk2 and 3 at the same time (and if so why)?

All very mysterious.

BTW, if you do not need the spec kit (cold water grease) the older big hole model is preferable because it will rinse better - the tiny spec kit holes fill and drain very slowly, and trap water.

 

[oxyhacker]

'scuse me I meant the Mk3 then the Mk2 again then the Mk2+.

 

[bigredbill]

'scuse me I meant the Mk3 then the Mk2 again then the Mk2+.

Well I believe there was also a model called the Mark 200 that was in the mix there sometime as well. From what I can tell they concurrently manufactered all three at the same time.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

By the time I started diving in the early 80's, the newer squarish capped 3 LP port variant of the Mk 3 was being produced and the "old" Mk 2 was nowhere to be seen except in old catalogs. (Since I have seen very very few "old" Mk 2's I think their production was limited to the 60's and maybe early 70's.)

Then it gets a little fuzzy, but then came the the Mk 200 around 1993, then the "new" Mk2 a couple years later in the mid 90's, and then the Mk 2 Plus a few years after that in the late 90's.

SP has manufactured competing regs together at certain poiints in time. In the 80's they sold the Mk 5 and the Mk 10 side by side for several years and later sold the Mk 10, MK 10 Plus and the Mk 15 side by side for a short time. They also offerred their Balanced Adjustable second stage along side it's composite cased decendent the G250 for over a decade.

Sometimes the over lap was intentional to appeal to a new market while at the same time marketing the old standbys demanded by the more conservative and set in their ways divers who made up a large percentage of SP's business at that time. ( still have experienced divers who come in who would not under any circumstances part with their Mark V's.)

At other times where the was very short, I suspect the motive was the need to sell out existing stocks of the older model.

 

[S C]

The Mk III is an unbalanced piston first stage with an incredibly low parts count which makes it very bullet proof. It has one moving part and two o-rings subject to any wear from friction. It was sold from the mid 60's until the current Mk 2 was introduced in the late 80's or early 90's.

DA Aquamaster

I just dig out my MK III after reading your post. Do you have a breakdown drawing of this reg. It will be easy for me to compare the diff. between the MK II and MK III.

BTW, your two hose icon, is it a "DW"

 

[DA Aquamaster]

You win a cookie. You are the first person to know, or at least notice, that the reg in my avtar is a DW Mistral rather than a DA Aquamaster.

I actually like my single stage Mistral a lot better than my two stage Aquamaster, so the Mistral gets used a whole lot more and happened to be on the boat when I needed an avtar picture.

Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I can probably find a Mk 2 and a Mk 3 schematic.

 

[S C]

You win a cookie. You are the first person to know, or at least notice, that the reg in my avtar is a DW Mistral rather than a DA Aquamaster.

I actually like my single stage Mistral a lot better than my two stage Aquamaster, so the Mistral gets used a whole lot more and happened to be on the boat when I needed an avtar picture.

Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I can probably find a Mk 2 and a Mk 3 schematic.

Thanks, my e-mail: sam@aukdive.com
I heard Mistral can hooked up with the banjo fitting for the pressure gauge but the DA do not has room in the yoke area for a banjo.

Sam

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Thanks, my e-mail: sam@aukdive.com
I heard Mistral can hooked up with the banjo fitting for the pressure gauge but the DA do not has room in the yoke area for a banjo.

It depends entirely on when the Mistral or Aquamaster was made as to whether it has a long or short yoke.

I have a chart around here someplace that I made up with all the various various features (hose colors, mouthpieces, mouthpiece colors, dull or shiny finish, yoke screw styles, yoke lenght, serial number, addresses on the label, etc) and the dates they were introduced and discontinued. It can be used to date a particular regulator and in turn can also be used in the restoration process to bring one back to it's correct configuration. (For example my DW now has a reproduction yellow colored mouth piece so that it looks like it did when it left the factory.)

The longer yoke and the banjo fitting was a relatively late development as it did not arrive until SPG use began to become common. Roughly speaking, the shiny chrome finished US Divers double hose regs have the longer yoke and the earlier brushed chrome finished double hose regs do not.

 

[S C]

It depends entirely on when the Mistral or Aquamaster was made as to whether it has a long or short yoke.

Hi DA Aquamaster

Thanks for the schematics. I did not know the DA has a long yoke. I have 2 Stream air. one with a yellow marking "Mistral" on top of the label. the other without. The diff. is the venturi stem. Do you know:

1. the time period of the steam air with the shorter stem
2. when they discontinue the stream air and release the DW Mistral

Thanks

 

[brssmnky]

I would like to know which model this old Scubapro is. It has 1 HP and 2 LP ports. Second stage has number 080752. It is possible and/or worth to repair it?

TIA for your comments.

Find ZoCrowes255 on the board, his name is Chris. He definitely knows all things Scubapro. :59: Also, his father definitely has the same 2nd stage. Or contact Kenny at Ocean Divers in Key Largo... they have a "museum" of all the Scubapro 1st and 2nd stages ever made, he will also know.