Scubapro MK10, Learning to work on Regs., need tool advice

[Manow]

I did my ScubaPro technician training with Dive Supply, who are the ScubaPro distributors here, so that's where I go for service kits, etc.. However, you can't just walk in there since it's wholesale, so you'd need somebody in the industry to take you in. They're not in Kata, though--they're in Chalong (about 10 minutes away from Kata).

Yes, Dive Supply, the mysterious pretty (and big) warehouse out on Patak Road. It always catches my eye. For my first few trips to Phuket in 2008, I stayed in Patong, and I dove with “Sea World”. We drove past Dive Supply everyday on the way to Chalong. Then I discovered Kata Beach & Karon. I hope to be a Tech one day, and Scubapro is my flavor of choice. I would love to ask you a ton of questions about living and working in Phuket.

 

[Quero]

Yes, Dive Supply, the mysterious pretty (and big) warehouse out on Patak Road. It always catches my eye. For my first few trips to Phuket in 2008, I stayed in Patong, and I dove with “Sea World”. We drove past Dive Supply everyday on the way to Chalong. Then I discovered Kata Beach & Karon. I hope to be a Tech one day, and Scubapro is my flavor of choice. I would love to ask you a ton of questions about living and working in Phuket.

Well next time you take your R&R here, we can get a start on a few of those questions .

 

[halocline]

You might as well buy Christolube from scubatools at the same time, and their IP gauge is fine; it's what I use. Looking at their site, it kind of looks like they don't show the old IP gauge with the LP inflator fitting; I'd ask them about that. Tribolube might be a little cheaper elsewhere but you'd have to add in shipping. I don't know if there's any quality difference between the two; they're both fine. Tribolube is a newer product that is "supposedly" more advanced, but for this application I'm very doubtful that it matters.

The Christolube/Tribolube vs silicone argument is more or less as follows: The PTFE greases are oxygen-safe, meaning you could use them as lubricants in regulators right up to 100%. Silicone you could not do that, but there is some controversy over whether silicone is appropriate for nitrox up to 40%. Since there is no special protocol for scuba gear (other than Ti regs) for exposure to sub-40% O2, silicone should be fine and you can bet there have been thousands of nitrox dives on silicone-lubed regulators with zero problems. But, since the PTFE greases have become so popular, its almost a "standard" to use them in any regulator, nitrox use or otherwise. They are supposedly superior lubricants. Unless you are packing the ambient chamber, the amounts you're using are so small that the cost difference is negligible. I have a small tube of Christolube and one of Tribolube, at least 10 regulators, and I'm on the same tubes of grease for the last 4 years.

Now, if I were regularly packing ambient chambers and using sub-40% O2, i'd be very tempted to use silicone grease because it's really heavy and seems to resist water intrusion a little better, but that's more or less a guess on my part. It's definitely cheaper. I've bought a couple of old MK5s that were silicone packed, probably at least a decade before I bought them, and the chambers looked brand new inside.

 

[Manow]

Well next time you take your R&R here, we can get a start on a few of those questions .

That would be nice. I would like that very much.

 

[Manow]

Thank you for all your Help Halocline. Really! I belived I'll get a small tube of both Christolube MCG111, and also a simple tube of DOW #7 for static o'rings, for hoses, etc. I think that Scuba Tools Torque wrench is basically a "Snap-On" tool. I'm bidding on one (eBay) now. They are not cheap (Snap-On), but they are compact and excllent American made tools. Still much cheaper than that Scuba tools. I think a $40.00 Craftsman with a range of 40 to 250 inch-pounds might be okay too, but the Snap-on is smaller and has a cool and quality factors I'm willing to pay for. Loking at a 109 too, and the tools. But dam, the airlines limit me to one 30 Kilo Check bag and a 5 kilo carry-on! Mares fins, wet suite, mask, 3 sets of regs, ikelite box and camera, bcd....no room for clothes! :shocked2: On the upside, it's warm in Thailand. Thanks again.

 

[DiveGusto]

Some service training I had with a Kirby Morgan tech said you can use Dow 111 for everything if you are 50% or less O2. I suspect you could go higher as the tech was willing to state that percentage without hesitation.

 

[Zung]

... I belived I'll get a small tube of both Christolube MCG111, and also a simple tube of DOW #7 for static o'rings, for hoses, etc...

Wise decision. I reported elsewhere on the effect of the lubricant on IP. It's a one-off and incomplete experiment, but then 2 tubes of lube wouldn't push your bag limit too far.