Help, I hate my Mikron

[arcie]

Title says it all. I appreciate how light and small it is, but I've had it with bubbles in my face. And in my ears. See below. What I would like to find is something relatively light and easy to travel with that does not put bubbles in my face. About me: warm water diver only unfortunately due to physiological reasons. Hence I need to fly to dive except for a couple months regionally in the DMV. I carry my regs on the flights. And I prefer a yoke since I dive primarily US/Mexico/Caribbean. Other wishes - I'm hoping to do some science work eventually which may involve siltier water. And I'd like something that can withstand whatever happens after hours at the dive shop for those longer stays with shops that rinse/store gear for divers.

@buddhasummer I remember a thread a few years back where you mentioned you had also experienced the Mikron bubble issue, and would love to hear your suggestions for a new reg as well as from anyone else who has some thoughts on this. I am not married to Aqualung, happy to try others such as Atomic or whoever. But prefer something easy to service locally here in the District-Maryland-Virginia area. I can spend about 1K - 1.3 K total for a 1st, second, and octo. Thanks for listening

Also, since this is Scubaboard, yes, I know my octo is wonky My holder broke and my spare holder sucked.

 

[-JD-]

Why replace everything? If it is just the bubbles and everything is working OK, all you need is a new primary 2nd stage reg. I'll leave specific recommendation for which 2nd to others. @buddhasummer will likely have good suggestions for you.

Keep your existing Mikron bubble-maker 2nd as a spare.

 

[Zef]

Why replace everything? If it is just the bubbles and everything is working OK, all you need is a new primary 2nd stage reg. I'll leave specific recommendation for which 2nd to others. @buddhasummer will likely have good suggestions for you.

Keep your existing Mikron bubble-maker 2nd as a spare.

I agree with the above, in fact it looks like the OP has an Aqualung ABS octo....there is nothing wrong with that 2nd stage but there is nothing great about it either...my recommendation is to get a Legend, Core, or Helix (all pretty much the same thing, just rebadged) to use as primary 2nd stage and use the Mikron as an octo. If the OP ever decides to switch to primary donate configuration with the octo on a bungee necklace, the Mikron will sit/hang much better than the ABS octo with its offset mouthpiece.

-Z

 

[arcie]

Why replace everything? If it is just the bubbles and everything is working OK, all you need is a new primary 2nd stage reg.

Keep your existing Mikron bubble-maker 2nd as a spare.

.my recommendation is to get a Legend, Core, or Helix (all pretty much the same thing, just rebadged) to use as primary 2nd stage and use the Mikron as an octo. If the OP ever decides to switch to primary donate configuration with the octo on a bungee necklace, the Mikron will sit/hang much better than the ABS octo with its offset mouthpiece.

And this is why I love Scubaboard! Thank you both so much. It had never occurred to me that I could mix 1st and 2nd stage models within brand. Somewhere along the line I got the notion that it was a bad thing to do across brands, but now that I think back to some of the earlier threads, sounds like many of the Aqualung 1st stages are near identical so it makes sense. I guess I conflated the two scenarios. Thanks again, more $ to spend on diving instead of new regs!

 

[Compressor]

Nice job everyone.

 

[Guille G]

And this is why I love Scubaboard! Thank you both so much. It had never occurred to me that I could mix 1st and 2nd stage models within brand. Somewhere along the line I got the notion that it was a bad thing to do across brands, but now that I think back to some of the earlier threads, sounds like many of the Aqualung 1st stages are near identical so it makes sense. I guess I conflated the two scenarios. Thanks again, more $ to spend on diving instead of new regs!

You can mix brands if you want to. The second stage will simply have to be tuned to the IP of the 1st.

I’m sure there are specific combinations with compatibility problems if one of the stages has an uncommon design, but with most widely used regs there is no problem as long as they are tuned together.

 

[johndiver999]

For Sale - Aqualung Legend Second stage Octopus with hose $90 shipped

Regulator works fine - dove it last week. Not sure of the service record, so it should be checked out at least.

scubaboard.com

 

[Cthippo]

My concern with repressing the Mikron as an octo is lf you need it in in an emergency then you also add the bubble issue / irritation to your task loading. Maybe that is a negligible concern, but second stages are cheap and plentiful.

 

[Zef]

My concern with repressing the Mikron as an octo is lf you need it in in an emergency then you also add the bubble issue / irritation to your task loading. Maybe that is a negligible concern, but second stages are cheap and plentiful.

When the sh!t is hitting the fan such that one needs to deploy their octo, one won't even notice or remember the bubbles. Additional stress would be fairly short lived due to the fact that when the octo is "needed" one would be turning the dive to head to the surface/exit point.

@arcie, if you decide you can't live with your mikron 2nd stage, just send it to me and I will appropriately dispose of it for you.

-Z

 

[arcie]

Thanks all! I’m going to take a look at the 2nds and will let you know what I end up.