Scubapro Mk20 G500 opinions, suggestions?

[frozenwarp]

Hey all, i recently purchased a second hand Mk 20 G500, the G500 is the one with the black purge cover (american made i think)

I've heard some random bits and pieces about uprading these regs, both the Mk20 and the G500, my understanding is u can make them similar to the Mk25 S600 can any scubapro guru's help out with some details on these upgrades and weather its worth it or not

Any opinions on the quality of the reg by current or previous users would also be welcome

cheers in advance all,
Bradley

 

[redacted]

If the Mk20 has the current composite piston and you don't do cold water, you have all the upgrades you really need. I don't know if you had the same recall on the yoke nut and din retainer as we had in the USA. The other major upgrade is the external IP adjuster and that is mostly an unnecessary expense for the user that primarily benefits the service tech who is in a hurry.

If you are lucky, your G500 has a metal barrel rather than the composite barrel found in the S600. The only other upgrade I can think of is the s-wing poppet and that has most likely already occurred during a service. If not, the tech should make the change in the next service. No hurry there unless you are having a problem (leak).

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The US made black purge covered G500 is a sweet breathing regulator. Better than an S600.

The good news is that it uses an adjustable balance chamber that adds a bit more adjustability for the technician. The bad news is that it requires a special adjustment tool that not all techs may have - and not all techs may know how to properly adjust it.

The grey purge covered G500 has some minor differeneces that put in the S600 performance category.

 

[gijo1977]

Is the metal air barrel from the G500 still available as a spare? and is it the same part as the plastic one in the S600? and obviously leading up to..... Can you retrofit this item in the S600.....

I know I know, I should chill out and enjoy what I have but all this technical stuff rather interests me

PS the G200B is still waiting for its first outing.

 

[HatchetJoe]

I've been diging the Mk20/G500 combo for 10 years, it breathes great and has been trouble free. I just got a T2 as a gift and jugling storage space to keep it, however I think I will really miss it.

 

[scredfisher]

How do you like the T2? I was thinking about that regulator too and a lot of choices out there. Scuba Pro, Sherwood SR1, Zeagle and this titanium T2. Thoughts?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Is the metal air barrel from the G500 still available as a spare? and is it the same part as the plastic one in the S600? and obviously leading up to..... Can you retrofit this item in the S600.....

I know I know, I should chill out and enjoy what I have but all this technical stuff rather interests me

PS the G200B is still waiting for its first outing.

Good question. Scubapro is really good about making parts from newer regs retrofittable into older ones and over the last 20-30 years it was usually a good deal as the new changes were usually improvements.

The other side of the coin is that Scubapro also benefittted from the arrangement as it kept the parts inventory smaller. Consequently, when a part from a newer model works in an older model, only the newer part is stocked. For example, you can't get a Mk 20 piston as the Mk 25 piston works in the Mk 20 - and works better as it really is an improvement.

The downside is that some changes have not really been improvements and the plastic air barrel and plastic orifices are prime examples.

So...getting a G500 air barrel and other G500 parts to retrograde an S600 would probably depend on whether Scubapro still has them in stock and the only way to find out would be to have the dealer ask.

My best guess is that they probably do.

 

[HatchetJoe]

How do you like the T2? I was thinking about that regulator too and a lot of choices out there. Scuba Pro, Sherwood SR1, Zeagle and this titanium T2. Thoughts?

The T2, I can't find anything not to like, It is light and I perceive a noticeable performance inprovement over the Scubapro, I'm especially happy to get rid of the Viva valve which if I forgot to switche on the surface would always cause a freeflow. It works and it works great. Again I'm not saying there were any flaws with the Mk20/G500 rig. This is just better, for me anyway. If you have to stay with Scubapro for whatever reason they do have a Titanium version of the Mk25 which has also received some very good to excellent reviews.