Scuba Pro MK 25 First Stage Question

[DanBMW]

I'd like to flip my first stage from pointing down to up. Is this difficult to do or should I take it to my local shop? I've seen it both ways and would like to try mine pointing up.

 

[davehicks]

Don't take it too a shop. You just need to remove a few hoses and swap them to the other side. Take a picture before you do it for reference. Use a crescent wrench and only tighten as much as you can with two fingers. You don't have to crank the hose's down very hard at all.

 

[Umuntu]

With a swivel turret you only really have to switch the HP hose to the other side. Though swapping the LP hoses front and back will make them route better.

I find that having it point up is less comfortable because the regulator turret bumps your head unless you also lower the position of the tanks. It makes no difference to the performance of the regulator though.

 

[BoltSnap]

Use the proper-sized open-end wrench to unscrew the hoses. Don't over-tighten them; snug them when you put them back on.

 

[idadd4]

Don't take it too a shop. You just need to remove a few hoses and swap them to the other side. Take a picture before you do it for reference. Use a crescent wrench and only tighten as much as you can with two fingers. You don't have to crank the hose's down very hard at all.

I agree - if simply changing hoses, this is something you can absolutely do (and should be able to). Just remember to NOT over tighten the hoses. That will crush your oRings and create leaks.

 

[Still Kicking]

I agree - if simply changing hoses, this is something you can absolutely do (and should be able to). Just remember to NOT over tighten the hoses. That will crush your oRings and create leaks.

Crush the orings? No. But i have seen a hose fitting snapped off in a port due to overtightening.

 

[idadd4]

Crush the orings? No. But i have seen a hose fitting snapped off in a port due to overtightening.

Yep, tighten them too much and they squeeze out the side. And YUP, those hose fittings have snapped, cross threaded etc. More often than not, regs have been brought in with the orings torn and FLAT from over tightening.

 

[Still Kicking]

Yep, tighten them too much and they squeeze out the side. And YUP, those hose fittings have snapped, cross threaded etc. More often than not, regs have been brought in with the orings torn and FLAT from over tightening.

The design of the hose/port is such that it bottoms out before crushing the o-ring. Orings extrude when the hose is loose.

 

[Pearlman]

Yep, tighten them too much and they squeeze out the side.

I just experienced this with my s600 2nd stage last week. But for 1st stages …

The design of the hose/port is such that it bottoms out before crushing the o-ring. Orings extrude when the hose is loose.

This may be “more” true for 1st stages… (ignoring binary logic for the moment)…

On that note I am pretty much uncomfortable with the few tools I got for hose tightening. One is a slim jaw flat adjuatable wrench ( (from TW) that works when handled delicately but it feels too sharp and hard for the hose nuts, and I don’t fancy using it on parts that requires just a little more than finger tight, or carrying that hard chrome alloy piece of heavy metal originally built to withstand a mechanics abuse, on International flights, even with its reasonably small size.

And yeah I’ve been to multiple dive shops over the last few years, where I discovered that they don’t have a right sized wrench at hand, or an adjustable slim jaw wrench either, on day-one of the trip. On my last trip, I had a boat captain dig into really dirty old torn out cloth, unwrapping greasy tools that had not been used in a while to find an appropriately sized wrench to tighten my hoses while heading out to the first dive of the trip.

Most common tools are too thick and heavy to correctly deal with hose nuts. Still searching for a travel wrench kit that does not cost me a 42% tarrif on (RRP+ shipping combined) to my country.

The thing about “finger tight” Is that the original quote was probably phrased by a sailor or mountaineer with sturdy hands and grippy fingers centuries back and that recommendation has been thrown about like it’s a golden rule since then. But it’s not good enough for a softie computer nerd like me who only uses his fingers at the keyboard (if not with a girlfriend ). I found out only recently for it to be a source of gas leak when testing my newly serviced regulators for IP lock and stability over many hours - the tank nearly emptied out over a couple of days of obsessive purging and re-testing… and later with the tank valve shut off …

Next I am hoping that finding the right wrench will improve my gas consumption and SAC rate on my next dive trip…

 

[Pressurehead]

I'd like to flip my first stage from pointing down to up.

How tall are you?
Short arse like me the turret is down.
The rule of thumb is < 5'7'' down, > for all you tall buggers the turret is Up.
Do a search, this has been discussed over the years.
Easy switch, as above.