TobyFish(Offline)

Hi all,

A few months back, my missus got an excellent deal on a brand new set of Mk25/R295/S600. all she had to do was get some more appropriate-length hoses and she was still quids-in.

I have never dived scubapro, but as far as reputations go, you can't get much more solid than this combo, right?

My only concern was that these wer not "AF" but I was under the impression that mk25s were still cold-water-rated, and didn't hesitate to reccommend that she snap up the deal.

Unfortunately the regs have an issue. On a dive in 5C water, the s600 started to bleed air between breaths. this started as such a minor dribble that I was not sure it was happenning (it was the first time I had borrowed these regs), but it got progressively worse and ended up dumping 200 bar from my 12l in a 20 min dive (most of that in the last 5 mins). Playing with the B.R.A. did not help.

I thought this would be an adjustment issue... so maybe the secod stage valve was se too light, or the I.P was too high or something.

The regs went back into the reg-man for an adjusment and the missus dived them today in stoney (about 6 degrees C I think). As we dropped past 22m she signalled that the reg was leaking... apparently it had been worsening since she first noticed it as we headed down the road from the shelf. We thumbed the dive although the leak was not severe, and as we headed up past 20m she reported that the blead had stopped and indeed taking the second stage out of her mouth revealed no bubbles. The regs were trouble-free for the rest of the dive.

However, neither of us is confident taking these regs on holiday next month

Questions

1. Are Mk25s unsuitable for UK winter diving without the AF badge?
2. Do these regs often bleed?
3. Is there something I should be telling the service check other than "adjust them properly for cold diving"?


Toby

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Cyrille (Online)

Hi,

I never dove Scubapro but as I primarily dive in lakes all my regulators are cold water certified :
- Aqualung Legend Lx Supreme DIN
- Beuchat VX10 Iceberg DIN
- Apeks DS4/XTX50

For cold water there exists a European Standard: EN250. Therefore check with the manufacturer if this is true for your regulators or if there is a defect.

A cold water reg. is more than just a good idea for UK diving. It is also valid for many lakes, where even in summer time the temperature at the bottom is around 7C.

Kind regards.

Cyrille

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Ali Fikree(Offline)

Toby, I have had similar issues with Apeks, Scubapro, Poseidon and Dacor (?). I took my regs in for a full service and had no issues then.

If they are new, take them back to the shop where you bought them from.

The coldest I used my regs were in Scapa Flow.

-Ali

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zuckerkringel(Offline)

Hello,

5°c to 8°C is our standart watertemperature during the winterdays here in Austria. I think that this is the reason, that we avoid the Scubapro regulatores...

Best from Vienna, Hubsi

badger(Offline)

Hi,
I have a MK25 and R350. Had in them at 6 degress a couple of time this year with no problems.
Try looking at you predive procedures out of the water and terms of how much gas you are purging before your rig hits the water.

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TobyFish(Offline)

That is a good point. There was snow on the trees on Sunday when we enterd the water.

The regs were not purged at all before the dive. they were tested by one in-breath each. They were held in the mouth but not breathed during giant-stride entry and taken out and submerged immediately upon bobbing up after the entry. They were then not breathed until descent (no more than 4 breaths before submersion). You see we have dived in freezing air temps before ;-). To be fair, by the time we surfaced 20 mins later, the snow had all melted so the air temp was well above freexing.

The regs did not start to bleed until 5 minutes into the dive. Would you expect this from pre-dive surface icing?

Toby

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neilh(Offline)

...and that would have included Stoney yesterday

Shame we didn't spot you yesterday Toby - there were a few of us from here enjoying the delights of Stoney-in-the-snow

tim(Offline)

I may be mistaken but as far as I know my Mk25s aren't the AF versions (at least, they weren't sold to me as such!) and they have done many mid-winter trips to Cumbria in 3-4 degree water with no problems at all. I have had the problem you describe though with a G250 post-servicing if the reg has been set up very light and the cracking resistance (I think that's the right term) set very positive. Just detuning a little fixed the problem.

Tim

Rubis(Offline)

I used my scubapro MK20 + S600 on the frigid waters of the Great Lakes with never any issues.

Two things though, I have a "cold water kit" and reg set to a lower IP.

Caverkevin has been diving scubapro regs MK20/25+ old G250 in the Great Lakes for years without issues either ...

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nskdrs(Offline)

FWIW,
I know quite a few serious divers who use unsealed regs, also $-pro and Apeks in cold waters with same success as sealed ones, usually the gases contain Helium but also with Nitrox, no probs, AFAIK.
I borrowed an unsealed Apeks Stagereg ( UST I believe ) last weekend and used it with 21/35 and 18/45 in 8C waters, worked flawlessly.

AF=pistonchamber filled with lube?