Scuba Pro vs. Aqua Lung regulators

[halocline]

I own about a dozen of them.

Somehow I figured as much. You never know what life can bring and I may eventually end up being a cold water diver, so I could get interested in sealed regs. How's the MK5 packed with silicone? I would imagine very good.

I should get an older conshelf; Id like one that's sort of the precursor to the current titan 1st stage (uses that kit) and has a metal 2nd. What model would I be looking for?

 

[Nemrod]

The cloned MkVs seems to have heavier turret bolts. I only have one Scubapro MkV an it is an early version, the rest are various clones. Parts often interchange. I prefer the clone versions, especially the Tekna and Oceanic models.

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

I have the Mikron and love it. Had tried quite a few rentals before buying, all Scuba Pro, and prefer Aqualung. I also bought a Kronos. I personally prefer the smaller size on the Mikrons, so rarely use the Kronos, but I love how easy they both breathe. Next I buy will be the Legend LX. I want the ACD as a safeguard, Kronos has it, Mikron doesn't. I like the venturi control feature which the Kronos, Mikron and Legend LX all have.

I dive thermoclines in the 50's, but not really cold water, so don't think I need the cold water resistance. The one thing about the exhaust tee on the Kronos is that it's great as long as the current is blowing the bubbles to your right and not your left. Though it's designed to assist in terms of bubbles interfering with visibility, in the currents we get here, sometimes it can perform in exactly the opposite manner. And you don't always have the option of adjusting in order to compensate.

 

[halocline]

I don't know what the problem is with the turret bolts, except occasionally you do find one that's been severely over torqued. Most of the ones I see are replacement stainless; there was a recall many years ago I believe, so lots of them got updated.

I've seen a couple of early MK5s with no turret bolt; the turret was held in place with a circlip. That shows how little force there is on those bolts.

 

[Nemrod]

I don't know what the problem is with the turret bolts, except occasionally you do find one that's been severely over torqued. Most of the ones I see are replacement stainless; there was a recall many years ago I believe, so lots of them got updated.

I've seen a couple of early MK5s with no turret bolt; the turret was held in place with a circlip. That shows how little force there is on those bolts.

Mine are all stainless steel.

N

 

[Luis H]

How's the MK5 packed with silicone?

A mess!! I have never been a fan of filling a chamber with goop. I like Poseidon’s approach of filling it with a thin/ clean fluid. I hear vodka or rum worked well, but I am relatively new to clod water diving so all my experience with cold water is with double hose and dry chamber Conshelf and Titan.


The pneumatic force on the MK-5 turret is very small. The snap clip design was adequate from that loading (and most abuse loading).

The problem comes with the unknown tightening force applied by most technicians to keep the blot from coming loose. All but two of my MK-5 I have bought used and for the most part they did not looked well cared for. Several have the original brass bolt and I don’t know there history. Visual inspection is not enough to give me a warm felling with some of these bolts. I have a copy of a picture of a failed bolt and I can see that such event can ruin someone’s day.

The swivel was really handy back when a regulator had two hoses, the second stage hose and the SPG. The swivel made it handy to carry the regulator holding the hoses together. IMO, with multiple LP hoses the swivel is just a hassle.

BTW, I only have about 4 or 5 nice MK-5 (one later model in great condition), the others (probably 4 or 5 more) could be rebuilt but are in such bad shape that I just keep them for parts.

 

[FloridaRanger]

Well, a car with brakes serviced incorrectly is probably more likely to kill you than a regulator, so maybe all car warranties should be voided if you change your own oil, and all auto parts should not be sold to the general public. After all, cars can definitely cause death.

Eventually divers will realize that diver behavior and choices, not regulators, are the "life support" we depend on when diving.

Matt, if you read my full post, it concludes that plenty of people are capable of servicing their own regs. No one said you should not be able to service your own gear or buy parts.

I just don't blame manufacturers for discouraging that in their own self-interest, especially in a litigation crazy culture where you can't turn on the television, open a newspaper, drive down the highway or even open the phonebook without being bombarded by ambulance chasers trying to convince you to sue somebody.

Of course "diver behavior and choices" are more important that equipment choices. That goes without saying.

 

[mikeguerrero]

I owned the Kronos and it was a nice reg for Monterey diving. Not too cold here in Monterey that would require the Kronos Supreme version, sealed 1st stage.

It breathed nicely, but compared to the Aqualung Legend LX supreme, the difference was very noticeable, Legend is Aqualungs top reg and it shows in performance.

I sold my Kronos for the Legend, however the Kronos was nice for bubble deflection only if you are still, taking a picture, that was it's marketing scheme.

MG

 

[BDSC]

I have dove Scubapro regs for the past 19 years and have never had a problem with them and I have friends who have dove Aqua Lung regs and the same can be said for them. Just don't see how you could go wrong with either choice. However, after diving Scubapro for all these years I finally decided I wanted the best reg on the market so I went with an Atomics T2X.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The swivel turret seemed as a good idea, but in practice I never really cared that much for them. In general I still like the Mk-5, but the issue with the turret bolt bothers me a bit.

Scubapro made the Mk 8 (a Mk 5 with a cap with 4 fixed LP ports) and the Mk 9 (a Mk 10 a cap with 5 fixed LP ports) to address the concerns of peopel who worried about the swivel turret bolt.

I personally prefer them on stage and deco bottles as the reg is slightly shorter and if it were to suffer an impact, nothing is going to break.