Scubapro

[firediver293]

Useful thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/t26616.html

BTW, I have a MK25/G250HP setup and I happen to love it.

Thanks for the link. That was the info I was looking for. You could be a librarian.

LOL

 

[JonnyB]

i have mk25/s600+g500 with the scubapro fullface mask and i just love that configuration when it gets colder in the water.

/Jonny

 

[Diver0001]

ScubaPro makes a great reg. I have 3 of their 1st stages and 5 or so 2nd stages. Zero problems.

A friend of mine has (I think) 4 scubapro regs and he says they are very prone to developing IP creap problems. Any other scubapro owners notice this?

R..

 

[ninja]

A friend of mine has (I think) 4 scubapro regs and he says they are very prone to developing IP creap problems. Any other scubapro owners notice this?

R..

Depending on the age of the first stage some scubapro regulators need to be cycled to get the high pressure seat to "seat up " with the flow through piston most of the post 97 stuff doesn't have this problem. There is actually a machine that does this for the service tech.. Newer mark 20's and 25's don't seem to have this problem, they seem to seat up instantly. Look at a damaged piston end , high pressure o-ring that the piston travels through or piston orings these are a likely candidate. P.s heavily lubricate the piston with cristolube!!

Good luck

 

[DA Aquamaster]

This has been answered more completely in another post but:

The MK 20/25 has had three separate psiton designs. The early stainless steel pistons had knife edged sealing surfaces and locked up very quickly with no creep. The current production composite pistons use a near knife edge and also lock up with no creep. But the mid production brass pistons with the rounded brass seating surfaces tend to creep a bit an are allowed 12 psi of creep under normal conditions.

Switching to a newer composite piston ($19.00 dealer cost) will solve any perceived problem with IP creep.

 

[Warren_L]

I also use MK25/G250 and MK25/G200 regs. I haven't done any cold water/ice diving, but plan too this next year (after training). Can you share with me your concerns about the MK25 in cold water? What is your opinion on other Scubapro products (G250, S600, etc.) for cold water diving? Want to make sure they don't freeze up.

I have read about every thread regarding SP regs but haven't found much regarding cold water diving.

Thanks in advance

I went ice diving this past weekend. I opted to switch to my Apeks ATX50. I friend of mine used his MK25AF/S600 with environmental kit and it freeflowed on him after about 10 seconds at depth.

I realize that there are a lot of factors to consider when using a high performance piston reg like the MK25, and good gas management can make all the difference. But despite that, there are factors that perhaps are not under as much control that can contribute to problems. I have two regs anyway, and for the more extreme cold water diving, I just switch to the Apeks ATX50 sealed 1st stage. Not a single problem so far after seeing first hand a few instances of the MK25 free flow in the same conditions.

 

[scubacowboy]

I've been Diving the MK25/S600 combo for about a year, with a little IP adjustment I didnt think it could get any better...but then I just bout a new MK25 with the New X650 second stage....wholly crap that thing is SWEET!!!

 

[BigD]

Can I ask two questions?

What is IP creep? I assume Intermediate Pressure, but what are the symptoms?

Also, s600 or x650 as the 2nd stage?

Thanks

BigD

 

[SCUBA STEVE]

Why won't any SP dealer come off the price even alittle? Trying to buy four MK25/S600 Din setups and our local LDS WILL NOT BUDGE. Crazy
Eddie

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Can I ask two questions?

What is IP creep? I assume Intermediate Pressure, but what are the symptoms?

Normally when you have an IP gauge attached and the reg is flowing air the intermediate pressure will be about 10 psi below the normal intermediate pressure when the reg is not flowing air. As soon as the air stops flowing the needel will "swing" to the normal IP mark and should lock up solidly. (with the exception of the pistons with the rounded sealing edges described previously).

IP creep occurs when the IP slowly increases overa period fo several seconds to several minutes. One of two things then happens. The creep may continue until enough IP is obtained to force the piston tight enough to the seat to stop the minior leak at an IP outside the regulators normal operating range (above 145 psi) or, the leak may continues until the IP reaches the point that the second stage starts to freeflow slightly. Most second stages use adownstream valve design where excessive IP will result in an excessive downstream force on the valve that will ope the valve slightly to vent the excess pressure. This prevents an excess of pressure in theLP hose that could otherwise potnetially cause the hose to burst at something over 240 psi.

With an IP gauge, creep is immediately obvious. Even without a gauge, IP creep can often be detected. If you turn on your valve just leave the tank and reg alone and your reg starts to freeflow slightly after several seconds to several minutes, IP creep is likely present.

Also, s600 or x650 as the 2nd stage?

The X650 offers some potential advatages in case design that should reduce the problem of case gemoetry fault which impacts how low a cracking resistance you can actually use in the water in normal swimming positions withoput getting a slight freeflow. In this case the freeflow is due to the position of the diaphragm far enough below the exhaust valve to cause the pressure difference to vent air through the exhaust valve and cause the poppet to open as the pressure drops.

The poppets used in alll the SP balanced regs are capable of being adjusted to cracking efforts as low as .5 inches of water. Unfortunately most regs will freeflowif the cracking effort is much lower than about 1.0 inch of water. in a face down swimming position where CGF is worst in a conventional secodn stage design.

SP's D400 had an exahust valve that was coaxially mounted in the diaphragm and the diaphragm was angled back about 40 degrees. This moved the critical position well beyond face down and also limited the max differntial between the center of the diaphragm and the top of the exhaust valve to about .5 inches. Consequesntly, these regs could be adjusted to a cracking effort of .5 and still not freeflow in the water. Before they stuck it with the plastic orifice and compromised it's superb cracking effort (and made it a bit more tempermental and hard to fine tune in the process), the D400 was the best second stage SP ever made.

The X650 does not have the coaxial exhaust valve (too bad) but should still benefit from the angled diaphragm and should have a lower useable cracking effort than the S600 in normal swimming positions. I have not tried an X650 in the water yet, so it;s all still theoretical from my point of view. But I would buy one anyway before I would buy an S600.