Wheezing Regulator

[mccabejc]

Had my Mares Abyss reg serviced a couple months ago, and it's only about 1.5 years old. Since the service, occasionally the reg will "wheeze" when I inhale. Sounds like an old man with asthma after he wakes up in the morning. Happens only occasionally, some dives it's fine, other times it will wheeze for a few minutes. Anyone know what's the deal? I don't think it's me wheezing, so it must be the regalater.

 

[Cetacea]

Every now and then we get a reg that will "harmonize" as air passes through it. It's fairly normal and usually related to slight 1st stage intermediate pressure changes. I have had a very rare few that wheezed after service despite any IP adjustments, they were normally piston 1st stages with significant internal corosion, not a problem for a Mares Abyss (good reg as an opinion).
Call around until you can find a tech willing to chat with you, ask them to retune and check for harmonizing, the LDS that did the work should be willing to do a quick tune up. Mares parts tend to settle slightly after the first few dives and the Intermediate Pressure can change slightly throwing off an original tune, the change can be difficult to predict from the tech point of view.
Lastly, shuddering or strange noises can occur from using the wrong parts or lubricants, Mares uses metric orings, some shops have used near sized believing close is close enough but this is rare. Double check you've found a Authorized dealer, this can help a bit with these problems, but again this is a rare problem and many non authorized dealers may have access to Mares parts...
Safe Diving
Sean

 

[qwerty988]

My Zeagle Envoy Delux has developed this issue. The first dive of the day is fine, no problem. However, usually after a second dive...and always after the third dive, it starts wheezing at the surface. I don't hear, or feel, the wheez underwater, but at the surface is really does sound bad. I have about 20 dives on it total.

 

[Zen1300]

My Zeagle Envoy wheezes also. Never noticed it underwater... only on the surface. It did that new and after it's first service (didn't need parts changed out, but had it done anyway).

 

[Garth]

Thats odd. My HOG D1 cold water regulator never wheezes. . . hint, hint,...

 

[Capt.Gene]

If you do not have water pressure against the back of the intake diaphram preloading and dampening it against quickly moving air you can get all kinds of weird noises. Not a safety or performance issue unless you suck the exhaust diaphram under itself or dislodge the diaphram from the edge clamp surface.

 

[Camerone]

Yup...particularly in some higher performance regs this can be an annoyance. I rebuilt an old early-90s Beuchat second stage last night for a trip this weekend where I needed a fourth reg for a deco bottle, and it was leaking a bit so I overhauled it. It's one of the best brething regs I've ever owned - enough so that I bought a "lifetime" supply of parts kits from a LDS that went out of business, since there are no dealers left in the US.

It's got an unusual Venturi arrangement inside it, though, to improve sensitivity. In some positions, the inrush of air just hits the diaphragm right, and you get the duck quack sound on the surface. It's fine under water, but on the surface, it's loud! No harm, though, and no worries!