whats wrong with my reg?? help pleas

[Genesis]

It needs replaced in your FIRST stage. The second is probably fine.

Don't listen to the idiots about the R190 being trash. Its not. Its a perfectly-fine second-stage reg and has a time-proven basic downstream design. Really, its only downside is that it is physically quite large. The R380 is operationally identical in a smaller package.

I have one on my pony (with a Mk10 first) and like it just fine and have NEVER had trouble with it.

 

[GLWeek]

thanks everyone!

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The R190 gets a bad rap for freeflowing as it is often adjusted improperly in conjunction with the unbalanced MK 2 first stage.

If the R190 second stage is adjusted for max breathign sensitivity on a tank at say 1500 PSI, it will free flow slightly at 3000 psi due to the higher intermediate pressure that occurs with the unbalaced Mk 2 first stage.

In your case it does not matter what model first stage you have as you have a leaking high pressure seat in the first stage. Now hypothetically, if you do the wrong fix, but do it enough, ie if you detune your R190 enough, your primary second stage will eventually begin to freeflow before your R190 and will vent the excess intermediate pressure. Then more ignorant people can tell you what a piece of crap it is.

The R190 is a great first stage, your first stage just needs serviced and I would not detune the R190 at all - it does not need it.

 

[GLWeek]

thanks, I went to my lds and they said it will take them almost two weeks to get a seal in. will it be safe to dive with the reg in the condition it is in, untill I can get the hps replaced?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The R190 has a downstream valve design that essentially means it will freeflow to vent the excess pressure long before the rising intermediate pressure could cause the low pressure hose to rupture, so from that standpoint, the reg is safe to dive with.

Any further failure of the high pressure seat will result in more air free flowing from the reg and in the extreme, that could cause some problems with running short of air etc. The constant flow of air can also aggravate the freeze problem for a first stage in cold water resulting in a large freeflow that could empty your tank in a minute or two.

So I would not use the reg in cold water (ie 50 degrees or less) until it is fixed and I would assess the situation in warm water on a dive by dive basis. If the free flow is getting worse from dive to dive, I would stop diving.

In my experience with piston first stages, a high pressure seat will leak slightly but the problem usually does not progress rapidly unless the edge of the piston is damaged and is cutting the seat. Some rotation of the piston can occur in normal use and the seat can be gouged in more than one place over time resulting in a progressively larger leak.

But in the end, you are the diver responsible for the decision and it's your call - if you have any concerns or are not comfortable diving with it, I wouldn't.

 

[Charlie99]

DA Aquamaster once bubbled...

.... I would assess the situation in warm water on a dive by dive basis. If the free flow is getting worse from dive to dive, I would stop diving.

In my experience with piston first stages, a high pressure seat will leak slightly but the problem usually does not progress rapidly unless the edge of the piston is damaged and is cutting the seat.

I agree with DA's recommendations and observations above.

An additional observation is that I've seen quite a few cases of IP creep on diveboats where the diver is totally unaware of it. The very slight problem that you described, Snipe287, doesn't even get noticed by a lot of divers. And some, like a couple people that posted in this thread, do notice the problem, but incorrectly assume they need to detune the 2nd a bit. All those oblivious divers seem to survive. You, knowing what is going on, shouldn't have an unmanageable problem.

Unfortunately, IP creep is generally why I have service my Atomics B1 (piston) after 12-16 months and 80-100 dives. I've never made it out to the full 2 year service interval. It has alway been a very, very slowly increasing problem and in one case where I had back-to-back trips scheduled, I did 21 dives / 22 hours of dives in Cozumel before getting it serviced with little noticeable change in the problem.