Mk19 + d420 whistling

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GioPuma

Registered
Messages
39
Reaction score
18
Location
San Juan, Puerto Rico
# of dives
200 - 499
Hello all,
Long time lurker here but never active poster.
I hope someone can shed some light on what happened to my almost new SP Mk19 with a D420 second stage.
My regulator is practically new, two ~80 ft dives + some pool work (about 2 hours).
Today started a beach dive and the regulator was whistling every time I inhaled. It almost sounded like a dive computer alarm.
After about 15 - 20 minutes into the dive the "beeping" stopped and I finished the dive normally. What could bd the cause?
Is it a reason for concern?
How can I avoid it happening again?
Concerning or not, it was very annoying.

Thank you.
 
Had to send my MK 17 EVO first stage back in for the whistling sound in the first stage... Tech told me it was some kind of problem in the ring seals etc... looking like they were bubbled up.... I had only 20 dives on it. He has been using Scuba Pro for years and said he had never seen that before...BTW I am a dummy at the service part...
 
Difficult to say. I am tempted to say it was the mk19 and not the d420 because i originally thought the noise was coming from the computer of a buddy.
Did it change with how you breathed?
 
Most manufacturers have wrestled with this sort of thing, though as pointed out above, it's usually the piston regs that get the blame, with HP air whistling past the spring or seat. In the case of the Mk19, I think it could be one of two areas:
SharedScreenshot4.jpg

Each time the valve opens, you have tank HP air blasting past the poppet, and zipping around the corner of the knife edge past the hat and pin. I'm guessing that either the poppet is vibrating against the case, or the pin is vibrating. It's very uncommon for diaphragm regs, but I'll bet it doesn't occur at a low tank pressure. In any case, it will probably disappear as the components settle in.

Would love to hear more as time goes on!
 
@rsingler
Thank you very much for your detailed answer.
I had an easy shore dive today to a max depth of 30 feet and the reg was quiet the entire time despite the fact that i never reached low tank pressure (I surfaced with 2000 psi). My LDS contacted the SP representative and apparently it is a somewhat odd occurrence for a sealed diaphragm like the mk19. As mentioned before in the thread it typically seems to happen in piston regs and seems to be caused by uneven lubrication.
In any event, good news that today it was not beeping, but of course I will keep an eye (or a ear) open.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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