Scuba Pro G250 graphite - what is compariable in other brands??

[bruehlt]

My G250's may be old, but so am I. They work great, and so do I. You'd have to ask your GF the real reason for her desire. If it is simply because her G250 is "old," is she driven by mindless consumerism? If so, probably too high maintenance for the long run. In that case, wrap her up carefully and send to me here on Catalina Island.

If she has really good reasons for wanting a new regular, post them here and we can pick them apart (er, I mean offer feedback). If you keep the current GF and get rid of the G250, you can wrap it up carefully and send it to me here on Catalina Island!

- Ok funny guys...haha!

Anyhow, I don't think it's because she's high maintenance. And there really isn't anything wrong with the reg (as far as I'm aware she'll probably give it to her daughter who she just certifed!) - but hey, why do people buy new cars for? They get tired of the old ones and want to try something new.

She's a dive instructor, and has a lot of dives under her belt, so I can understand why she'd want to try something different - try to mix things up to keep diving interesting!

Anyhow - thanks for the input...

 

[DivesWithTurtles]

bruehlt, what regs does her favorite LDS carry?

 

[drbill]

- Ok funny guys...haha!

One must have a sense of humor!

Seriously, I don't understand the real reasons here. I'm of the school that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. My stereo is 30 years old, my TV is 20 years old, my regs are 10-15 years old. As long as they all work fine, I see no need to replace them. However, I do notice that one of my sisters seems to love changing furniture every few years.

Does the shop she teaches out of require instructors to use gear they sell?

There are some nice products out there that are comparable (or even exceed) the G250, and at some point I'll consider replacing mine (IF they ever need replacing in my dive life time).

 

[ZzzKing]

...She doesn't notice the size difference in underwater at all.

I bet she does. They only SAY that size doesn't matter.

 

[Hoosier]

I bet she does. They only SAY that size doesn't matter.

Sure, with your own eyes, but you can't feel the difference in underwater....:05:

 

[alo100]

Sp has been very good with product support in regard to regulators. With the exception of the Pilot, Air 1 and 1rst generation AIR 2, they still support all the regs they ever made in terms of annual service parts and fully support most of them in terms of other parts that may break.

They also offer upgrades that allwo the use of current parts in older regs.

I am however getting a bit annoyed at the musical catalog thing and with dropping well regarded products for new, untested or even unavailable products. The D400/X650 thing is a good example with the D400 being introduced before the X650 was even ready and then of course the X650, a great reg by any standard once the bugs were worked out, was and never will be equal to the truly superb D400.

In reference to the S600 and G250, I could say something about women and how size does matter, but I won't.

Was there any recall happened for X650 before?
If yes where can I find the info?
The only page I am checking currently is: http://www.cdnn.info/recall/recall.html

Thanks.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

My personal impression of what happened is that Scubapro discontinued the D400 in anticipation that the X650 would be ready for production and then pushed the X650 along a lot faster than it should have after they actually discontinued the D400.

The early X650's breathed extremely well for maybe 20 dives and then the inhalation effort started to increase with them. The problem was reported to be some fairly sharp edges on the levers that over time wore on the plastic guide that held them in place and eventually made them harder to move. The very few X650's that had actually been delivered to customers before the problem surfaced were recalled for an update. The update itself took over 6 months and customers were offered the option of exchanging them for S600's. (Personally, if I would have had one then, I would have kept it for it's eventual collector value.)

The initial design change included a lever with a very smooth rounded profile and an additional later change added a low friction plate to the diaphragm. Fully updated X650's with both the new lever and the low friction plate on the diaphragm will have a blue "X" in the X650 sticker on the front of the second stage.

I have not heard of any problems with the X650 since the design change.

 

[Leo53214]

I just picked up two used G250 secondaries and a SP first stage. Both regs are plastic on the outside and are listed as "G250 Graphite". The first stage has 2 HP ports and 4 LP ports, and the handle you use to tighten it to the tank valve (I dont know the technical term) is half-moon shaped and just says "Scubapro". The warranty cards list them as purchased in June of 1988. Now on to the questions:

1. How can I determine if the secondaries are "old style" without taking them apart?
2. How can I determine what model the first stage is?
3. How do I determine if the first stage is themo for cold water diving?

(and yes, I am going to have them serviced before using them, I'm just antsy to know)

Thanks in advance,

Leo - new advanced diver in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Welcome to Scubaboard Leo,

Based on the date and the G250 Graphite label, they are the original G250's - superb regs, I use them on both my back gas and deco regs now.

They will have either a splined chrome plated adjustment knob or a splined plastic coated knob on a thinner chrome plated brass spindle. It is much different than the larger trash can shaped all plastic knob used on a G250HP.

The first stage is almost certainly a Mk 10 with the original T shaped yoke knob. If the trim boot beneath the yoke is black plastic, it is a Mk 10. If the trim piece is metal, it is a Mk 5. If it looks like a Mk 10, but has a bead blasted seat retainer rather than a shiny chrome one (the man hole shaped cover on the big end of the reg) it is a Mk 10 +.

If it does not have a swivel cap for the LP ports it is a Mk 9 (a non swiveling version of the Mk 10) or a 5 port non swiveling version of the the Mk 5. (In either case call me and I'd make you a great two for one exchange deal.)

1988 was about the time they introduced the rubber SPEC boot on the Mk 10. If there is a black rubber ring about 3/8" wide with small holes in it and it is located between the yoke and LP ports that is the SPEC boot. If there is a groove in the reg in that area about 1/4" deep, that is the groove for the boot. If there are shallow holes about 3/16" wide with small 1/16" holes in the center that go all the way through, it is the older version with a SPEC kit that did not use a boot.

All of the above were designed to be silicone filled to provide environmental protection. SP does not use silicone any more and there have been some improvements in terms of pistons and piston boots that offer good cold water perfromance without the silicone.

Either way, without the silicone they tend to work very well in water temps about 45 degrees. Below that, filling them with silicone will offer good protection all the way to 32 degrees.

 

[Isaac-1]

Just to back things up and clarify a coupld of details, the original G250 was introducted in 1988 (maybe late 1987), so based on dates yours is the original. It was around this same time that scubapro started pairing up 1st/2nd stages at a combined price, prior to this time 1st and 2nd stages were sold mix and match (you can still buy them this way, however the sets have mostly taken over). Scubapro tended to match their high end second stages with their high end first stages, and low end with low end. In 1988 (well lets say 1987-89 as old stock may be mixed in) scubapro went from the metal flat yoke screw, to the current black knob with model printed on the end). The high end regulator most likely mated with the G250 of the era would be the Mk 10. I think DA Aquamaster is off a bit on the SPEC boot year, I think it was about 1990, as I recall the revisions of the mk 10 went something like this:

1987 still had the small holes only and metal yoke screw altough SPEC (silicone used around the spring to prevent freeze up in cold water) was standard

1988 introduced the countersunk looking holes with the small vent holes in the middle, this made servicing easier and less messy as the scubapro squeeze tubes of silicone could mate to the large holes and it was a simple matter of injecting it until it started coming out the other holes

1989 brought about the black plastic yoke screw

1990 or maybe 1991 brought about the machined groove and rubber SPEC cap to keep the silicone from leaking out.

All of these dates are approximate, as some items changed out mid years, however at that time the big DEMA show was held in January and that is when new products were most likely introduced.

Ike

p.s. it should also be noted that the Mk 9 could be upgraded to Mk 10 with swivel