Certified Combinations

[sapox]

Hi, I'm a new diver looking for buying my first regulator set.
Following that advice that I have read here often, which is to get something that can be serviced locally, I'm inclined to get a regulator set from Scubapro. On my research I came across the SP regulators user manual from different years. In all of them there is a page that specify what (EN250:2014) Certified Combinations are valid.
The combination of 1st/2nd stage that I like is valid in the old document but not in the most recent one.

So the question is, how all this 'Certified combinations' work?. Older valid combinations expire? Is all this irrelevant? Dive shops sell the sets using this tables?

 

[lowwall]

Completely irrelevant. Stages don't know or care about the model number that's on the other end of the hose. The only thing that matters is that the intermediate pressure (IP) provided by the first stage falls within the specifications for the second stage. All ScubaPro regs use the same IP specs. Note that the dealer should test each regset sold to make sure everything is still within factory specs.

Certified combinations are simply whatever the manufacturer used when performing the EN250 test. The testing is expensive so the manufacturers tend to only test the combos they want to sell. The certifications don't expire.

I think the issue is simply that ScubaPro has different manuals that cover different combinations of regulators and that chart changes with the manual. For example, here's yet another version of the chart.

What combo are you interested in?

 

[Wibble]

Don't overlook second hand regs. Lots of money can be saved -- half price or less. You'll need to factor in a service unless they're sold with a recent one.

I've loads of reg sets (10?) and have only bought a couple of new ones.

The dirty secret of the dive industry is selling overpriced "new" designs that really aren't that better than the trusty old designs and you could barely tell the difference between them if blindfolded. Do go for a decent brand though: ScubaPro, Apeks, etc.

 

[sapox]

Completely irrelevant. Stages don't know or care about the model number that's on the other end of the hose. The only thing that matters is that the intermediate pressure (IP) provided by the first stage falls within the specifications for the second stage. All ScubaPro regs use the same IP specs. Note that the dealer should test each regset sold to make sure everything is still within factory specs.

Certified combinations are simply whatever the manufacturer used when performing the EN250 test. The testing is expensive so the manufacturers tend to only test the combos they want to sell. The certifications don't expire.

I think the issue is simply that ScubaPro has different manuals that cover different combinations of regulators and that chart changes with the manual. For example, here's yet another version of the chart.

View attachment 838407

What combo are you interested in?

At the beginning I was going for a mk17/S620ti combo, but after realizing the different tables (and reading also that the mk17 seems to be faded out/discontinued), I was thinking to pick a mk19 with the same S620. As far as I understood both are the same except that the mk19 has a rotating thingy which I don’t think I really need.

 

[rongoodman]

That "rotating thingy"(aka "swivel turret") might come in handy if you want to change your hose routing at some point in the future.

 

[lowwall]

At the beginning I was going for a mk17/S620ti combo, but after realizing the different tables (and reading also that the mk17 seems to be faded out/discontinued), I was thinking to pick a mk19 with the same S620. As far as I understood both are the same except that the mk19 has a rotating thingy which I don’t think I really need.

I don't follow ScubaPro closely enough to make specific recommendations, especially on second stages.

But FWIW, while ScubaPro traditionalists tend to prefer their piston first stages like the MK25, I happen to prefer diaphragm regs like the MK19. Also a turret becomes very handy if you move beyond the standard recreational second stages setup of primary plus donated octo.

 

[Nemrod]

The chart is the tested and certified combinations. It should not be taken that some other combination would not work, only that they were not tested together and therefore not certified. For example, only a few people, maybe only one person, like me , would take a Mark 2 Evo and then use a G260 Carbon as the second stages. So such a combination was not certified to the EN250 specification. But it works just fine, better than fine. In fact it is quite dandy.

 

[USdiver1]

Nem,

I’m not too far behind you, I have a Mk2 matched with a G500. Unbalanced 1st stage with a balanced 2nd. As I do not believe in sealed piston regs, I chose a non Evo model Mk2.