Problem at depth

[EricQ]

A friend has a Mares Ruby which has performed flawlessly for several years. He has done many deep dives-mainly on the Destroyer Aaron Ward-without incident.
Before his last trip, during the annual service, I replaced the ruby poppet with the conventional trilam. poppet,seat,and spring as advised by Mares.
Upon returning from the trip he reported a flutter in the first stage at depth-a vibration you can hear on his video camera playback. It is quite loud, especially when he held the camera near the first stage.
The vibration occured during inhalation and pressing the power inflator only; was loudest at depth-200ft- and ceased during the trip to surface.
I have carefully disassembled the first stage and found nothing amiss. The poppet is unmarked. I replaced the poppet/balance chamber spring as the one I had put in during the service seemed a tad shorter than average.
My friend used the reg. a few days ago on a shallower dive-130 ft- and the flutter is still there, but only slight at this depth.
Has anyone experienced this problem? Or will I have to replace each component before successive dive?
p.s. Please, no posts about deep air, it is done all the time on the Aaron Ward.

 

[Zak OHara]

Hi Eric,

We cannot diagnose regulator problems in this forum without having the product in hand. Are you a trained Mares technician? It sounds as if you are but I'm not sure. The short answer to your question is you should not have to replace these parts after every dive. The regulator should not make this noise, so something is wrong. I encourage you to send it back to the Mares service center closest to you for their evaluation, especially considering your friend is taking this regulator to deeper depths. Sorry we can't be more of help, but I'm sure you understand.

Best regards,

 

[Greg Barlow]

A friend has a Mares Ruby which has performed flawlessly for several years. He has done many deep dives-mainly on the Destroyer Aaron Ward-without incident.
Before his last trip, during the annual service, I replaced the ruby poppet with the conventional trilam. poppet,seat,and spring as advised by Mares.
Upon returning from the trip he reported a flutter in the first stage at depth-a vibration you can hear on his video camera playback. It is quite loud, especially when he held the camera near the first stage.
The vibration occured during inhalation and pressing the power inflator only; was loudest at depth-200ft- and ceased during the trip to surface.
I have carefully disassembled the first stage and found nothing amiss. The poppet is unmarked. I replaced the poppet/balance chamber spring as the one I had put in during the service seemed a tad shorter than average.
My friend used the reg. a few days ago on a shallower dive-130 ft- and the flutter is still there, but only slight at this depth.
Has anyone experienced this problem? Or will I have to replace each component before successive dive?
p.s. Please, no posts about deep air, it is done all the time on the Aaron Ward.

I have serviced many Mares regs over the years, and this is an unusual occurence. It sounds as if it might be harmonic resonance of the spring, but since you already replaced the spring, this makes it more difficult to diagnose.

If I were servicing the reg, I would replace all of the HP assembly parts just to make certain that you have covered all the bases. Given the relatively low cost involved as compared to the time spent on trying to solve the problem it is probably worth the expenses.

Greg Barlow
Former Science Editor for Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine

 

[EricQ]

Thank you Zak and Greg for your replies
A few other variables I forgot to mention-it seems to be also tank pressure related (it stops when the tank drops below approx. 150 Bar.) and is intermittent- not occuring on every breath.
Yesterday I dived with my friend D. First dive was to 57m; by the time I remembered to have a listen to his reg, the vibration had ceased. The second dive,40m,was free of the phenomenon.
But I agree with your sentiments. I am going to replace all the H.P. components.