Mares new limited edition

[scubatoys]

During my first setup, I noticed a weird noise coming while inhaling and while testing the Airtrim (the inflator for the Morphos Pro). It sounded like: "tac-tac-tac-tac", very regular, very mechanical. Underwater, the noise continued and there was resistance while inhaling. Air came by successions of short packets, at the same rate as the noise.

There is an allen wrench fitting on the side of the 1st stage. By turning that in until it stops, then out a 1/4 turn - you will eliminate that problem. The reg should be set up by a LE dealer before leaving the shop - if that problem exists, they can easily set it up in a matter of a few seconds.

 

[scubatwinned]

Dear all,

let me introduce my self. I am Stefano di Martino and I am the President of Mares world-wide. I am 39, Italian born. It is just one year I work for Mares / Dacor. I used to work for Nike in the USA (Portland and NY) , China and I end up in Amsterdam (Nike Europe - Middle East - Africa headquarters) where I was the Director of Sales. In Jan 2004 I joined HTM diving (Mares, Dacor and Spora Sub). I am a good diver and I love our world. I have read all your comments about Limited Edition and I felt to jump in as well. Limited edition March 2005 is a very unique event in Diving. We will propose something totally new in diving. The product is NOT just a new color but totally new and revolutionary. In 15 days we will pubblish the list of the World Wide dealers. The product could not be found on Internet and it will be only found at this Elite Mares Dealers. ONLY limited product that will EVER NEVER done in the same way later on.
More information will be on www.mares.com. Feel free to ak me questions. Ciao.Stefano :10:

I used to be a mares fan until about 2 years ago when shortly after perchasing syncro-tech bc, it fell apart, got a new one, all was good - it fell apart, got upgraded to syncro-power-teck after fighting for 6 months with the dive shop and mares, sold it. Saw the same problem on 2 other of the same bc's with a husband wife team. I made a back plate and bought a wing.

 

[longimanus]

There is an allen wrench fitting on the side of the 1st stage. By turning that in until it stops, then out a 1/4 turn - you will eliminate that problem. The reg should be set up by a LE dealer before leaving the shop - if that problem exists, they can easily set it up in a matter of a few seconds.

There is indeed a small allen wrench fitting on the side. It is covered with a red material that looks like wax. Probably it's there so that users/non-dealers don't tamper with them + let manufacturer know if somebody did so (the red wax looks pretty much like the one used for sealing letters a couple of centuries ago, and can also be found on the top and bottom of the 1st stage).

My dealer didn't mention that when I called him hence he is probably not as savvy as Scubatoys...

Scubatoys, do you refer to this issue as "pinging"? Also, would anybody happen to know why this issue only occurs when the pressure coming to the 1st stage is high?

Another detail I didn't mention in my previous thread: it 'seems' like the problem goes away faster at greater depth, which leads me to believe that the differential of pressure between outside/inside the 1st stage is the key factor here. But this is all very subjective.

Thanks Scubatoys!!

 

[scubatoys]

The official term used by mares is "rapping"... not to be confused with the kind by Eminem... (or Sugarhill gang if from my era). One of the features you bought with that reg - whether anyone told you - is that it uses a multi port DFC design. Sounds fancy eh? When you put a heavy demand on the reg by breathing hard - the IP drops each time you inhale - about 10 - 15 psi or more depending on the reg. DFC (direct flow control) is a way of slamming more air to the port rapidly to decrease the IP drop and improve performance. The IP drop will be more in the 2-5 psi range. In the LE, this feature hits all the ports - if you look at an Abyss, you will see only one port is stamped "DFC". Same in the V16 or V32 - like the proton ice.

If set too "hot", at certain pressure differentials you will feel a rapping of the air as you inhale - it will not be smooth as the dfc operates. By turning in that allen until it bottoms out - you are shutting off the DFC feature. That will not actually hurt anything to totally bypass it by closing it down - but you would loose a bit of performance under very heavy air demand. By simply backing up about a 1/4 turn, the DFC is opened enough to give enough effect of the DFC to work - but will eliminate the rapping. If you want to try backing out 1/2, 3/4 etc - it will not hurt a thing - if the rapping comes back - just tweak it in until it stops.

Mares sent all LE dealers a detailed report of the proper tuning of the regs - so I don't know why your dealer was not aware of this feature, and the adjustment of it... But there you go!

There is indeed a small allen wrench fitting on the side. It is covered with a red material that looks like wax. Probably it's there so that users/non-dealers don't tamper with them + let manufacturer know if somebody did so (the red wax looks pretty much like the one used for sealing letters a couple of centuries ago, and can also be found on the top and bottom of the 1st stage).

My dealer didn't mention that when I called him hence he is probably not as savvy as Scubatoys...

Scubatoys, do you refer to this issue as "pinging"? Also, would anybody happen to know why this issue only occurs when the pressure coming to the 1st stage is high?

Another detail I didn't mention in my previous thread: it 'seems' like the problem goes away faster at greater depth, which leads me to believe that the differential of pressure between outside/inside the 1st stage is the key factor here. But this is all very subjective.

Thanks Scubatoys!!

 

[longimanus]

I returned the Reg to Mares. Mares gave a 5 days ETA but it actually took an extra week. Since I already had a bad experience with Scubapro X650 (returned it twice with no improvement), I asked the vendor a tank to test the supposedly fixed reg. The problem was not fixed at all. Mares either didn't test it after the tweeking or did test it but returned it anyway, although the vendor explicitely asked Mares to test the reg at 3000psi and 1800 psi. There was no explanation of what was done attached to the returned reg (Scubapro at least gave a detailed printout of what they did). I left the reg to the vendor so that he resends it back to Mares. I will refrain from putting any comment or sign of anger at this point, just stating the facts.

Stefano, if you're still on this thread, please talk to your New York area sales rep, technical rep or whomever who can look into this personally to make sure that this brand new life support item is working properly.

 

[gottabenarced]

If this is the stuff they put your name on. The first stage is the smallest I’ve seen

 

[crpntr133]

I do have to give Mares credit with the regs design but the rest seems to be more hype than anything. I guess since I come from a lower income family and don't have a closet full of toys it just isn't for me. I will buy a pair of Jets before the Mares LE fins. The BC, no way no price.

I do have to agree that this LE issue was lot of hype and I too was sadly disappointed. I have a local Mares dealer and he was slightly PO'd that the LE gear was limited dealers.

 

[steve2281]

How cool. This is like,,,,the thread that just won't go away.

 

[riverangel]

I admit I bought the BC and honestly, I love it. It is so comfortable and the fit is fantastic. I don't know much about the other items, but the BC was worth every penny!!

 

[4ce]

i have bought the bc too and i love it i would like to buy a dive alert i there anyone that have one with the air trim system and wht model is it???