Scubapro-are my regs worn out?

[TTPaws]

Thanks everyone. I am in Toronto and I think I will go to another dealer and get a second opinion.

If you ever go East, then I highly recommend Divetech in Mallorytown. The service is outstanding and IIRC they are the distributor for Scubapro in Canada.

 

[flots am]

If you ever go East, then I highly recommend Divetech in Mallorytown. The service is outstanding and IIRC they are the distributor for Scubapro in Canada.

If you have a spare $100 you can buy a few stainless steel clips.

flots.

 

[redacted]

+1 ^

I have had a good response from Scubapro for warranty, they have fixed a BC I purchased second hand, covering the freight both ways. I did advise I didn't have the original receipt and that I was not the original owner. This was handled though the local SP dive shop with out a blink of the eye.

I suspect you can give all the credit for that warranty service to your shop.

 

[pchyen]

Try Tri-City Scuba Centre in Kitchener or Dan's dive shop in St Catherine's if you are looking outside of Toronto.

Both are good shops and the owners are the service techs.

My first stage swivel was stuck wouldn't come apart and Dan from Dan's dive shop drilled out something and replace the swivel part instead of telling me I need a new first stage. Luckily the person I bought the used regulator from agreed to pay 50% cost of the parts.

 

[rhwestfall]

:lol: (you might be 50% right)

 

[scubafanatic]

There are a couple of things that have not been mentioned. One is that if you have had them serviced annually for 25 years, you have now spent far more in servicing these regs than they originally cost, and as occasional divers, probably far more than is necessary. The other is that these regulators are sold with a lifetime warranty. It sounds as if you have honored your end of the warranty requirements, and as such, if they cannot be serviced, any dealer should replace these regs free of charge. No "upgrade" or "trade in" B.S., just free replacement with whatever model is closest to what you now have. That's probably a MK25/G250V for your MK10 and a MK2+ for your MK200. If SP does not still have any G250Vs (I think that has been discontinued) and IF the problem you are having is only in your first stage, they could replace the MK10 with a MK25 1st stage and you could keep using your G250. That would be a good solution.

But most likely your regs are fine, unless you have a pitted ambient chamber. That really can be trouble, although a few of us DIYers have successfully cleaned up corroded ambient chambers with a bit of fine sandpaper/micromesh/polishing compound. A dealer won't do that. If you do have pitted ambient chambers, it's likely because you did not adequately soak your regs after saltwater use. Regardless, that's not your problem, you've already put plenty of money in SP's pocket in service costs. I suspect they will gladly replace your regs. It's a tough business and honoring your warranty will more than pay for itself in terms of good PR.

BTW, 25 years is not old for a well made regulator. None of the regs I use (and I have many to choose from) are as young as yours.

One of my 2014 scuba gear projects was acquiring (then having serviced and upgraded as/where needed) a fleet of Scubapro MK 5's / 109-156's. I did/do the best I can to acquire 'creampuffs', and generally succeeded, but I did suffer some attrition in usable units, meaning some units have one or more flaws in critical areas and are now delegated to parts donor status. The flawed units were only discovered upon tear down/servicing/cleaning. As halocline mentioned, if you suffer pitting/corrosion in certain critical areas, the 1st or 2nd stages with the critical deficiencies cannot be restored to active service and will end up being scrapped or perhaps parts donors. So it is possible your dive shop IS correct in their diagnosis. While your dive shop may have a vested interest in selling you new gear, they MAY still be telling you the truth.

 

[smoore]

One of my 2014 scuba gear projects was acquiring (then having serviced and upgraded as/where needed) a fleet of Scubapro MK 5's / 109-156's. I did/do the best I can to acquire 'creampuffs', and generally succeeded, but I did suffer some attrition in usable units, meaning some units have one or more flaws in critical areas and are now delegated to parts donor status. The flawed units were only discovered upon tear down/servicing/cleaning. As halocline mentioned, if you suffer pitting/corrosion in certain critical areas, the 1st or 2nd stages with the critical deficiencies cannot be restored to active service and will end up being scrapped or perhaps parts donors. So it is possible your dive shop IS correct in their diagnosis. While your dive shop may have a vested interest in selling you new gear, they MAY still be telling you the truth.

Thanks for your input. The LDS owner did mention that there was some pitting of the brass but I didn't ask him to specify where. If I cannot confirm my enrollment in parts for life I may be better off looking at new regs. I don't want to spend a lot of money being second opinions that confirm what I have been told already. I might be better spending the money on the new regs. There have been other situations where I know this LDS has steered me in the right direction so I have no reason to mistrust them.

 

[redacted]

Thanks for your input. The LDS owner did mention that there was some pitting of the brass but I didn't ask him to specify where. If I cannot confirm my enrollment in parts for life I may be better off looking at new regs. I don't want to spend a lot of money being second opinions that confirm what I have been told already. I might be better spending the money on the new regs. There have been other situations where I know this LDS has steered me in the right direction so I have no reason to mistrust them.

If you decide to trash those regulators, please let me know.

If those regulators are working today, there is absolutely no reason, given good user care and barring an accident or service error, that they can not work just as well tomorrow. It is possible, through poor user care or careless technical service, to damage a metal sealing surface such that leaks can not be corrected. But that does not seem to be your situation yet.

I'm skeptical towards the shop that would forecast a failure in a currently working regulator in that way unless they are seeing a problem with your post dive user care. That is quite different from scubafanatic's situation where he may have purchased gear that had already suffered enough sealing surface damage that leaks could not be corrected. This is a risk with such older gear that may not have been cared for properly.

 

[smoore]

If you decide to trash those regulators, please let me know.

If those regulators are working today, there is absolutely no reason, given good user care and barring an accident or service error, that they can not work just as well tomorrow. It is possible, through poor user care or careless technical service, to damage a metal sealing surface such that leaks can not be corrected. But that does not seem to be your situation yet.

I'm skeptical towards the shop that would forecast a failure in a currently working regulator in that way unless they are seeing a problem with your post dive user care. That is quite different from scubafanatic's situation where he may have purchased gear that had already suffered enough sealing surface damage that leaks could not be corrected. This is a risk with such older gear that may not have been cared for properly.

Proper care may be an issue. I am meticulous about cleaning my gear but on some dive trips there is no water to rinse my gear and I leave it to the boat operator to take it back to their shop to rinse it. I suspect that they may not do a good job.

If I decide to get new regulators I will let you know.

 

[redacted]

Proper care may be an issue. I am meticulous about cleaning my gear but on some dive trips there is no water to rinse my gear and I leave it to the boat operator to take it back to their shop to rinse it. I suspect that they may not do a good job.

If I decide to get new regulators I will let you know.

It is unnecessary to do thorough cleaning between dives or between dive days. It is more important to do a good cleaning after a SW dive trip. I usually just rinse the area of the yoke connection between dives to reduce the chance of SW entering my 1st stage. At the end of a dive day, I try to give my regs a rinse but don't really mind putting them up wet after a night dive and diving them again the next morning. After the trip they get hours of soaking before being dried and put away.

I doubt if the care you describe is causing any problems.