Scubapro 109 Seat Savers

[jacked_72]

I hadn't seen seen this before. They came in on a pair of 109s I picked up. Just thought I'd share. Funny you could get a patent on this piece of plastic.

 

[Luis H]

It was an interesting idea, but I recommend not using it. In the long run it will deform and ruin the diaphragm cover. Diaphragm covers are much more expensive and harder to get than new seats.

 

[rhwestfall]

I think you will find that they are quite useful. As to the damage to the diaphragm cover, there has been comments to the negative (so, stating they are okay to use). I think it was Zung, maybe Couv or AWAP (yeah, any of those 3).... the "set" taken by the cover was undone in a short time...

 

[Mike Lev]

I have bought regs that had these in for years. I have never seen any covers with any damage to them from the seat savers. I think brass is a little harder than plastic. There isn't much pressure on the covers from them. I would think that those world class engineers that work for the top scuba companies would know what they are doing.

 

[agilis]

I have bought regs that had these in for years. I have never seen any covers with any damage to them from the seat savers. I think brass is a little harder than plastic. I would think that those world class engineers that work for the top scuba companies would know what they are doing.

The 109/156 diaphragm cover is made out of rubber. It's the cover ring that is metal.

 

[Zung]

I think you will find that they are quite useful. As to the damage to the diaphragm cover, there has been comments to the negative (so, stating they are okay to use). I think it was Zung, maybe Couv or AWAP (yeah, any of those 3).... the "set" taken by the cover was undone in a short time...

I asked, and awap replied...

Either way you win: awap said there's no problem with the rubber cover taking a set, and I've had my main G250 in storage for 10 years without any "saver", and it still cracked at 1" when I dusted it off.

 

[captain]

The one on my 109 is like a key that is inserted into the S and turned 90 degrees. It works and hasn't distorted the diaphgram cover.

 

[Luis H]

The one on my 109 is like a key that is inserted into the S and turned 90 degrees. It works and hasn't distorted the diaphgram cover.

Scubapro replaced the original paddle looking (as shown above) seat saver with the key you are referring to. That key was specifically design to push on the diaphragm without deforming the rubber diaphragm cover and therefore preserving it.

There is a reason why Scubapro went through the trouble of designing a new seat saver device and replacing the paddle. They eventually got rid of that one also.

I am not going to argue that many diaphragm covers may survive being stored in a deformed position, but I have witness the opposite just as well.

Storing a rubber piece in a deformed position is just not ideal. If you combine that with less than ideal environmental conditions (high temperature, humidity, ozone, etc.) you are just asking for premature failure.

I worked for the Scubapro dealer in Puerto Rico (where high temperature is standard) for most of the 70’s and we never use of that seat saver… The high year around temperatures is hard on all rubber parts… storing a rubber part in a deform position just didn’t make sense.

The LP seats in a 109 will last a reasonable long time without any special care.

YMMV

 

[Zung]

...
The LP seats in a 109 will last a reasonable long time without any special care.

YMMV

+1
Here's another case I reported elsewhere:

At least 10 - 20 years of storage, no saver, the seat is spectacularly engraved, and it still cracked at 1" of water. So the definition of "a reasonable long time" is 10 years.

 

[BenjaminF]

So does that mean that seat savers are needed/recommended or not? Or will this question set off a holy war...