nf_diver
New
I've been having a freeflow problem with my second stage when I remove it from mouth at the surface. Any suggestions or comments welcome.
Mares Abyss MR22
- Thread starter nf_diver
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
jakobon
Registered
Hi
I have a Mares Abyss 42 (and a Abyss octopus), which also freeflows when I take it out - but only when the mouthpiece points upwards.
To my knowledge (and anyone from Mares, please correct me) this is normal and by design for all high-end Mares regulators.
Your Mares regulator is very high quality and thus very sensitive. This is a huge advantage when diving, because it easily adjust to the divers demand on all depths.
When you take the 2nd stage out of your mouth, while submerged, the difference of just a few centimeters of waterpressure is enough to activate the lever inside your 2nd stage regulator, which might cause a freeflow.
Just try it in the surface and slowly submerge the regulator with the mouthpiece pointing up. When the front of the 2nd stage comes just a few centimeters down, you will hear a "hiss" of air flowing from the regulator. This indicates that the waterpressure has activated the lever inside the regulator and allows air to flow from the LP hose into the 2nd stage chamber. This also indicates that the cracking resistance is set correctly.
The solution; take it cool and just rotate the 2nd stage so that the mouthpiece points downwards.
This will make make the waterpressure slightly lower in the regulators front than in the mouthpiece, which will make the lever close the vent to the LP hose again.
Sometimes it also helps to hold your thumb over the mouthpiece hole, which makes the pressure inside a bit higher which again makes the lever release the vent to the LP hose (and shut off the air flow).
Note; this also applies to your Mares octopus, but here the cracking restance is set a bit higher than on a normal 2nd stage - to lower the possibility of freeflows when shifting positions during dives.
If your 2nd stage regulator releases air while out of the water, you should take the unit to a Mares Service Center to get it checked and possible have the cracking resistance adjusted.
Best regards,
Jakob
Jakabon is mostly correct here. Most regulators will have a tendancy to freeflow at the surface, particulary if upside down and or dropped in a rapid fashion. It is also possible the 2nd stage could use a minor adjustment to increase the cracking effort which would solve the issue as well. Your local Mares dive shop should be able to help you with this.
Thanks,
Thanks,
JD001
Guest
As a matter of interest my MR12 / Proton free flowed while using it. I had to stick my fingers in the breathing hole and smack it to get it to stop - got a bubble bath going at 18meters and dropped 100+ bar in no time. This started to happen after a service, after retuning to the service center / agent all was checked, intermediary pressure was ok, cracking pressure was ok but it happened again - no fun trying to keep 10bar in your mouth.
After the second return to the service center/agents , the service center persisted and dived with my reg set but found no problem and after another check they accidentally bumped the 2nd stage and started a free flow on the bench. Strip down was done again it was found that the spring in the 2nd stage keeping the valve closed appeared weak. This was not part of the service set and I've been told there are no technical/service data on the spring. Spring was replaced and I've not had a freeflow in my last 10 dives.
I was unimpressed - servicing my set caused more trouble , I paid and lost out on dives and the service center / agents did not give a discount or voucher for any of their products even though I have heavily invested in their products. It was disconcerting that a service caused more problems and that not all the parts are checked.
However they did persist and found the / a problem. Only time will tell if it will last another 100 dives before the next service.
After the second return to the service center/agents , the service center persisted and dived with my reg set but found no problem and after another check they accidentally bumped the 2nd stage and started a free flow on the bench. Strip down was done again it was found that the spring in the 2nd stage keeping the valve closed appeared weak. This was not part of the service set and I've been told there are no technical/service data on the spring. Spring was replaced and I've not had a freeflow in my last 10 dives.
I was unimpressed - servicing my set caused more trouble , I paid and lost out on dives and the service center / agents did not give a discount or voucher for any of their products even though I have heavily invested in their products. It was disconcerting that a service caused more problems and that not all the parts are checked.
However they did persist and found the / a problem. Only time will tell if it will last another 100 dives before the next service.
Similar threads
