Reg Recovery

[gijo1977]

Just a question about how far gone is too far gone for a corroded 1st stage?

I just got hold of what I believe to be a 3000psi SP Mk9 (with the old style Yoke screw) it had a D300 (Blue Switch) attached to it.

The MK9 has visible signs of corrosion coming from around the base plate and a bit on the yoke screw. When i remove the dust cap and look in it would appear to be ok, maybe some small signs of corrosion. What I would like to know is how corroded can the unit be, before it is too corroded to rebuild? Can the MK 9 even be repaired or rebuilt now?

Also is there any method of upgrading this 1st stage to a better spec if it turns out to be OK?

Yes i got a bit stung on Ebay, though I kind of knew it would be a stab in the dark (I was hoping for a D400/Mk10 or 15 combo - the Pictures were very hard to discern)

The D300 looks to be in pretty good shape, and i am expecting that after a service it will be good to go.

Any advice or info would be appreciated.

 

[gijo1977]

Well I went to my LDS about the REGs. It would appear that they can recover the Mk9 just fine, and possibly even upgrade it to the MK10. The D300 would appear to be a big issue here in Aus, the LDS pretty much said no way, cant get the parts and its not worth the effort

So now I find myself in the situation where I will sel the D300 to someone who can do their own servicong or someone who needs the parts to fix one they already have. What is a fair price for an out of service but seemingly well conditioned D300??

And if you or someone you know is interested in this fine piece of Retro gear then let me know as I will actually be in the US from thursday for 3 weeks or so (LA, Miami, San Francisco)

 

[halocline]

PM sent!

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The Mk 9 is a Mk 5 with a non swiveling 4 port cap as opposed to the 5 port swivel port cap found on the Mk 5 of that same era.

It was produced to answer a very small market for Mk 5 users who did not trust the 2, 4 or 5 port swivel caps used on the Mk 5 over the years.

Since it uses a Mk 5 regulator body, it can be upgraded with a Mk 5 swivel cap (if the dealer has one in stock as they have not been made in a long time) but it cannot be upgraded to Mk 10 status.

The D300, D350 and D400 are all very similar and all use the same diaphragm and annual service kit. The D300 uses a different lever and a different case than the D400, so unless one of those parts is broken or missing, the regular is no harder to service than the only recently discontinued D400.

So in short, your LDS and/or tech is badly informed about the Mk 9 and the D300.

The D300 will breathe every bit as well as the D400 and a long as the metal orifice is in good shape will make a better reg than the late production plastic orificed D400.

A sure way to tell if the reg you have is based on a Mk 10 or a Mk 5 is to look at the ambient pressure holes. If they are in the reg body, it is a Mk 10 based regulator. If the holes are in the swivel cap (with a line where it connects to the first stage body at the base of the yoke rather than closer to the LP ports) it is a Mk 5 based reg.

 

[Couv]

DA & gijo,

The MK 9 and 10 are the same regulator except the 9 has a cap in place of the 5 port swivel.

 

[Couv]

If I could figure out how to paste the diagram here I would.

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Edit: Ok, i give up trying to past the image....DA if you have a copy of the SP MK 10/9 schematic it is date: 12/97 Rev C
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[gijo1977]

Thanks Lads,

The regulator looks like the one indicated on this page:Scubapro Mk9

So the Main Body (2 HP ports* I think*)has the ambient chamber holes in it, with the 5 LP port fixed cap (4 around; 1 on top) attached directly to the main body. There is no facility for attaching the SPEC boot etc... so I assume that it was a pre-SPEC model.

I managed to get the service schematic from Frogkick. But it shows a later model with the SPEC facilities.???

I really do appreciate the replies, and thanks for your help so far.

Daniel

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Spec or non spec, the internals are the same - the holes are just smaller on the early spec regs and the later ones have a groove cut for a spec boot.

 

[gijo1977]

Thanks to all who replied, your feed back was fantastic.

The LDS serviced the MK9 (No upgrade ) and it is in a good condition (Thanks to the last service tech filling the unit with silicon) The hose routing for recreational diving is a little poor due to the fixed turret position, but as I improve the aim is to move the reg to a stage bottle where it is unlikely to matter.

Thanks again, and if anyone actually has the spare parts laying around to allow an upgrade to the MK 10 swivel turet then i may be interested.........