SP Mk 18 question

[diverrick]

Three weeks ago I picked a new SP mk 18 Regulator for my wife, from a LDS in our area, on sale.
After her second dive with the new reg,she was cleaning it in the rinse tank, and the purge button and spring fell out into her hand.
Lucky it happened in the rinse tank, and not out in open water, as I was able to confirm that all parts were accounted for, retreive them, and clip it all back together again.
The question is, is this a fairly "usual" experience with the reg? or does is have some sort of defect? Is there a "fix" I can do to tighten up the clips that hold it all together?
Seems to me it should not come apart that easily. It shouldn't be a problem if it falls off while she's on a dive, as it doesn't interfer with her breathing on it, just would make it tough to purge the thing if she lost those parts again. Maybe thats why it was on sale in the first place? It has a warrenty, but it has nothing wrong with it right now, as I put it all back together again, so I don't think the repair shop would do anything to it, unless it is broken, plus its a pain to send stuff in for warrenty repairs in my experiences. any advise?

 

[Hank49]

Three weeks ago I picked a new SP mk 18 Regulator for my wife, from a LDS in our area, on sale.
After her second dive with the new reg,she was cleaning it in the rinse tank, and the purge button and spring fell out into her hand.

It may be a pain in the butt, but I would send it back to the shop and ask for a new one. The only way the purge button SHOULD come off is by unscrewing the face plate cover of the reg (I don't know about Posiedons or other weird regs, yeah yeah, I know they're great regs but the DO look weird)) and even then it's pretty well set into the face plate. Take it back. It shouldn't free flow but it sounds like there is something broken in the face plate structure.

 

[redacted]

I'd remove the cover and see if I could see anything wrong then talk to the LDS about it. I've never removed the purge button on my R190 (looks the same as a G250) but it looks from the schematic that they just snap in place. I suspect it is a push and turn motion for disassembly. I'm sure DA will chime in with a definative answer soon.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The G250 HP and R190 are the only current SP stages to use a purge button rather than some type of soft purge cover, but it is very rare for one to just pop out unprovoked.

Normally it is a pain to get them out even when you want them out as at least 3 of the 4 prongs have to be depressed at the same time to get it to separate from the purge cover.

I would guess one or more of the prongs has been bent beyond it's elastic limit and is not holding like it should or the teeth on the prongs have been damaged or the matching slots on the purge cover have been damaged.

I would take it back and have it inspected or even just ask that the button and purge cover be replaced as they are not big money items. The LDS should not put up too much of a fuss as SP should send the dealer replacement parts under warranty no questions asked.