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Post by scubadiverbob on Aug 30, 2011 19:37:17 GMT -8
I bought an original Mk7 first stage. If I put a R-109 on it will it still be vintage? Do I need to put an R-108 on it? Really I'm uncertain if Mk7's are vintage. Didn't they come out in the late 70's? I think I dove one when they first came out. I was taking an NASDS scuba class and being instructed on how to buy ScubaPro.
I know they are way more vintage than plastic stuff like Technas; but, they are still fairly new. What I remember was they were one of the best breathing regulators I have ever dove with. Why I bought it. I also need a spare reg if my DA ever breaks down again.
Robert
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Post by luis on Aug 31, 2011 1:37:29 GMT -8
The MK-7 was only available with the 109 (there is no R in front of the name designation), I don't believe that it was never sold with a 108. As far as I recall, the Mk-7 was first introduced around 1970 or 1971.
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Post by scubadiverbob on Aug 31, 2011 11:03:24 GMT -8
I put a pressure gauge, LP hose, and a Dacor Pacer 900 XL second stage on it. It works, has a very slight HP leak (I'll have to replace the parts on the piston, like the seat and o-rings). Ip is 135 psi.
Ok, here is another question .... I put it on a tank low on air and it didn't honk. Been awihile ago since I used one (late 70's). Did they have to be in the water for the honker parts to make noise? If I remember, you had to be 4 - 6 ft. down (I think). I have service info.; but, can't find anything. At least it appears to work .....
Anyone have an owners manual?
Robert
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 31, 2011 11:21:34 GMT -8
Robert, It's not intuitive, but if it is not honking you may have put the second stage on the wrong port. Switch them and see if it does start honking. To use this reserve feature, you must put in on the port that allows the air to circulate through the sonic reserve portion of the valve. It's not like the Healthways Scubair Sonic, where there was only one LP port on the long sonic portion. The Scubapro has the sonic portion within the main body, and therefore you need to have the primary regulator second stage on that port. I had the same problem with mine, and finally figured it out. I think I may have the manual which covers it too, but its pretty generic. Once you get it, this sonic is pretty unique as it seems to vibrate the entire second stage too--very irritating and impossible to ignore. And no, they don't have to be in the water to honk  John |
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Post by scubadiverbob on Aug 31, 2011 16:51:55 GMT -8
Thanks John.
I have the second stage plugged into the only port that is labled. It's labled "audio". May not have been enough air in my pony bottle to make it work. It was almost empty. It's Luxfer experimental aluminium and I usually use it to fill bicycle tires with air. It had less than 50 psi in it. Do they go off at 350 or 500 psi?
Robert
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 31, 2011 17:50:13 GMT -8
Robert, This may answer some of your questions:  There is a message in the back of the manual: I just looked at my Mark VII, and you need to put the second stage onto the port that is on the other side from the holes in the first stage case. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it is because the sonic reserve section is not subjected to water pressure, but is a pressure chamber with reverberating parts. Mine dates back to the 1970s, and it still honks. 'Hope this helps. John |
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 31, 2011 20:45:13 GMT -8
Hey John, I can't remember, was the Healthways Scubair-300 a balanced first stage? How close is it to the Mk-VII, are they the same thing, or are they close to a Mk V? I recall at one point they were producing the same regs with different names: am I wrong?
Jaybird
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Post by luis on Sept 1, 2011 2:33:24 GMT -8
Hey John, I can't remember, was the Healthways Scubair-300 a balanced first stage? How close is it to the Mk-VII, are they the same thing, or are they close to a Mk V? I recall at one point they were producing the same regs with different names: am I wrong? Jaybird Scubapro was a spin-off company from Healthways, they were supposed to be the Professional division of Healthways, but they end up becoming their own company. Scubapro offered Healthways regulators in there first catalog in 1964, but after that they were totally different company. I am not aware of Healthways ever offering any balanced piston (or any kind of balanced) regulators. The Healthways single stage piston regulators were all non-balanced flow-by design. The Scubapro balanced regulators (Mk-1, Mk-5, Mk-6, and Mk-7) are all the same flow through piston. The Mk-5 being the most copied first stage ever made, but by the time they were being copied Healthways was long gone. They were copied by TUSA, Oceanic, Teckna, and maybe some others. |
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Post by nikeajax on Sept 1, 2011 9:05:51 GMT -8
Luis, thanks for the 411: info on Healthways is murky at best! The sonic-alarm technology shared by both of them, until now, has always confused the (expletive-deleted) outa me!
There are a lot of people that don't realize the acronym SCUBA was trademarked by Healthways, and became part of the English vernacular, just as Coke has become a more or less generic term for soda-pop: so it makes sense that Scubapro would be a spinoff.
Jaybird
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Post by cnotthoff on Sept 1, 2011 16:23:26 GMT -8
Bob, The oscillator on a Mark 7 is very picky. Scubapro provided special o-rings with a lower durometer (hardness) for the oscillator. Earlier versions had an oscillator with a shallow o-ring groove that caused it to bind and not honk. I still have some of the oscillator o-ring sets, but I'm not sure about the newer style oscillator.
If it's a vintage Mk 7, it will have a thinner yoke that is not marked 3000 psi. If unit is working properly, you should be able to hear it honk when you pressurize it with a full cylinder, turn off the tank valve, and slowly purge 2nd stage.
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Post by SeaRat on Sept 1, 2011 20:57:32 GMT -8
Lubing the current O-rings may also help, if everything is set up correctly.
John
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