Regulator Geeks: Scubapro Mk19EVO - teardown & discussion

[Mobulai]

A late follow up, I recently got my hands on a couple of mk19s (the original, I also have the evo)
And my first instinct was ofcourse to open it up and finally have a looksy inside since the original presentation didn’t have it

Here are a few pictures (next to the body of an mk17 non evo)

The plastic cup that does the flow redirect was an odd discovery, I thought that was carved into the body

 

[Pearlman]

The plastic cup that does the flow redirect was an odd discovery, I thought that was carved into the body

Which version of the mk19 has that plastic cup?

 

[Mobulai]

Which version of the mk19 has that plastic cup?

The old original non evo — it was only made for a couple of years then discontinued


One other oddity: the diaphragm is almost double the thickness that of an mk17; not sure if it’s ok to use the thinner one that’s out there in the kits

 

[Geo7]

A late follow up, I recently got my hands on a couple of mk19s (the original, I also have the evo)
And my first instinct was ofcourse to open it up and finally have a looksy inside since the original presentation didn’t have it

Here are a few pictures (next to the body of an mk17 non evo)

The plastic cup that does the flow redirect was an odd discovery, I thought that was carved into the body

Wow, look at those flow channels. They increase flow, and are probably why modern diaphragm regs can play in the same leage as piston regs...

 

[Mobulai]

Wow, look at those flow channels. They increase flow, and are probably why modern diaphragm regs can play in the same leage as piston regs...

Honestly the mk17 (it’s the one with the 2 chamfered tracks in the picture)had bigger flow tracks than the 19, and ofcourse the 17e and 19e even bigger
But yeah.. big bore and great flow, approaching that mk25 flowrates

 

[Pressurehead]

Pulled apart a Mk 17 EVO the other day, it still scares me what is inside a membrane regulator, all the bits , me being a piston guy for the first 50 of my 57 years diving [and working on them].
Now I dive ,Mk17 EVO and Mk19 EVO [DIN local and yoke travel] .
I still have a few pistons I love [and will dive again], serviced a Mk25 the other day as well [and converted it back to yoke from DIN, because I can], such a simple design , if you look after it, sad so many don't.

Thanks for the above photos.

 

[Mobulai]

Pulled apart a Mk 17 EVO the other day, it still scares me what is inside a membrane regulator, all the bits , me being a piston guy for the first 50 of my 57 years diving [and working on them].
Now I dive , mk17 EVO and Mk19 EVO [DIN local and yoke travel] .
I still have a few pistons I love [and will dive again], serviced a Mk25 the other day as well [and converted it back to yoke from DIN, because I can], such a simple design , if you look after it, sad so many don't.

Thanks for the above photos.

I completely understand/agree, I started with diaphgrams but diy service made me love pistons for their simple part count and debug protocol, if there is a creep, only one spot to check
Also piston edge restoration is so meditative
So I travel now with 2 mk25Ts and a field repair kit: piston bullet + bushing tool + micromesh and lube
Had the pleasure of servicing and restoring (much as I can) 4 abused mk20s 2 weeks ago

I am slowly gathering strength to open up and work on the diapghram regs, but.. I will keep them for more local dives as they are more.. intimidating to work on
I’d rather only work on it at the comfort of my own desk

I’ll post some more photos later on when I can, I just wanted to share the 1st look (I was dying to see it for like a year and a half now, since I first found reg geeks)
Probably best I clean things first

 

[Pressurehead]

Also piston edge restoration is so meditative

That's another word for it.

So I travel now with 2 mk25Ts and a field repair kit:

I travel with whatever the mood suits me main regulator, but my reserve in my repair kit is a Mk2, paired with a couple of balanced 2nds you can't go wrong.
You want simple, the Mk2 is the pinnacle of simple.

 

[lexvil]

Good thing piston regs are so easy to fix when the IP creep sets in, because it happens so often.

 

[Mobulai]

Good thing piston regs are so easy to fix when the IP creep sets in, because it happens so often.

Every damn day

But jokes aside I think it’s a symptom of my inexperience/mistrust of my service skills

Gotta practice more so I can ditch my training wheels