Sp Mk2+/r190

Sup guys,

Currently I have the Scubapro Mk2+/R190, and at the end of the month I am going to california to do a livaboard for 3 days. I am wondering do you think the regulator will hold up to the cold. I have had it to 100 feet and it breaths fine, I know it is a "work horse" bottom of the line reg. Do you think I should upgrade? Thanks

mk2 R190-

That reg will have no problem with cold conditions, if you feel like you want to upgrade your reg, it could be a good time. But as far as if your reg will freeze up on your next dive, sleep easy you will have no issues as far at temp goes

Jumbo

Sweet that is all i needed to know, Thanks. I think i am going to hold off on the upgrade this one has been serving me well so far. Just a few minor quibbles like when I look up it takes a lot of effort to draw a breath, and when i am inverted it leaks like a sieve. But other than that no problems at all.

Local divers here do ice dives with them and I have never seen one freeze up if good cold water technique is used.

In California's comparatively warm cold water temps, you will have no problems at all.

enderjs:

and when i am inverted it leaks like a sieve.

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It shouldn't do that, at least mine doesn't. It is harder to breathe when looking up at the surface, almost all regs are. Mine's dry in all positions. Maybe have your 2nd stage looked at?

Really? I just got the annual service on mine 2 months ago. But for as long as i can remember it has done that. I can still breath through it but it definietly isnt dry.

That is a darn good regulator. You will be fine in CA water....

All-

I've had good experiences with this reg in the past (even if I find it a bit "dry"), and am thinking of buying one of these because of this experience and the reg's reputation.

My only concern is that this is at the low end of SP's lineup, and it has several higher performing models above it. In what kinds of situations would I need a higher-performing reg? Will they be easier to breathe with?

My main diving will be in NE USA quarries, various tropical dive destinations, and occasional trips to the MD/VA/NC seashore for wreck diving.

King_of_All_Tyrants:

My only concern is that this is at the low end of SP's lineup, and it has several higher performing models above it. In what kinds of situations would I need a higher-performing reg? Will they be easier to breathe with?

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I have this reg, and a high performance SP reg, MK15/G250. I've directly compared them on alternating dives right after servicing, so I know they were both tuned correctly. There is a difference in the smoothness of breathing, but it's a subtle thing that you'd most likely only notice on direct comparison or if you had alot of experience with both regs. I have no hesitation whatsoever about using the MK2 in any rec diving situations; the only scenario in which you might "need" a higher performing reg would be depths beyond rec (I've had mine to 130ft w/no problem) and situations in which 2 divers would be likely to be breathing very hard off the same reg at excessive depth.

The biggest difference for me is between the R190 and G250 2nd stage; I have the older G250 with a metal air barrel and consequently it tends to moisten incoming air. If you want something like that you have to find it used; the current G250 has a plastic air barrel.

The MK2 sometimes gets a bad rap, I believe, because it's so often used as a rental reg and therefor not tuned well. Once mine was serviced and tuned with a slightly higher IP (around 140PSI) and the 2nd stage tuned to it, it really worked well all the way down to 300PSI. The common complaint about unbalanced 1st stages is that they get harder to breathe as tank pressure lowers. I can tell you from experience that if the reg is tuned well, you won't notice a thing until significantly below 500PSI, at which point most of us are on the surface or close by.