Mares Rebel Octo issue

[DiverBob]

I have had my Mares Rebel Octo serviced at my LDS and the darn thing will still leak air with the plug octo holder in place. It will free flow if turned up at depth... I would like to stop losing a slow stream of bubbles for an entire dive... Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Bob

[BusDiver]

Bob,

Are you still experiencing issues with your octo? My rebel will drip bubbles for the first minute or two of a dive. It drives me up the wall. After a few minutes it will settle down. I have had dives where I will wrestle with the darn thing and constantly change it's position so it will stop leaking air. Now the air leak is minimal and not a free flow. I am not going to lose a tank or any measurable amount of air on a dive. But boy it is irritating. I have a dive buddy with the same octo and there was a free flow issue that required servicing. The guy who runs my LDS is a friend and he told me that this the air leak with the Rebel is common. I asked him why the heck he sold it to me if he knew it would drive me up the wall. He said because it still is a good piece of equipment and reliable when needed. Now, he still is a good friend, but when I get ready for a new set up or help some one else with a set up, I will tell him where he can put his Rebel octo!

Bus

[DiverBob]

Thanks for the reply Busdiver....

I am now the proud owner of an Zeagle Octo-Z... The Rebel octo has gone into storage... can't sell it with that slow leak so it becomes a closet fixture.

[CODMAN]

Guys, to my knowledge, there isn't supposed to be a slow leak on those regs (so no, it's not normal). I'm not a pro, but I would assume one of two things: 1- It isn't set up properly, and a good technician could solve this, or 2- There is a problem with the reg.
I'd contact Mares about this and see what they have to say (if you haven,t already). The Mares reps can be easily contacted on the Scubaboard forum in the Mares sub-forum (Scuba Gear and Scuba Diving Equipment - Discount dive gear).

I'd give them a shout and see what they can suggest to correct this. They are regularly on that board helping out Mares users/ owners.

Good luck!

[ScubaToys Larry]

Here's the deal... one of 2 things... either it just needs adjusting... or the plug is causing the problem. Let me explain.

The way an octo works - or any reg for that matter, is if there is lower pressure inside the reg than outside - it depresses the diaphragm and opens the valve. Now with octo holders that trap air inside the reg, it is very common that the air space in the reg does not increase in pressure fast enough to equal the outside water pressure. If you hop in, then remove the octo holder and fill the octo with water, it should not free flow. If it does still free flow - then it's a simple adjustment to tighten up the seat. If filling water fixes it... then that's it.

So one of those two things should do it... but the zeagle octo is yet another fix! And those are sweet! Great for cleaning out your BC with the hose attachment as well!

[CODMAN]

Well even better than going to another forum to get help, is Larry to the rescue!

Once again, what really annoys me, is a LDS saying this is common, or normal... Wow, some of them really know their stuff!!

[TN Traveler]

I would not bet on getting proper help from "the other forum".

Case in point - I have a friend that had a Mares Abyss Reg rebuilt by an LDS that had formerly been a Mares Dealer - they sold him the reg. He was complaining that it breathed wet. After the rebuild (a very costly one), it still breathed wet. So he posted on "the other forum" and Mares had him send the reg in for service at their service center. He got the reg back from "factory service" and did one dive and it still breathed wet.

So he asked me to look at it, since he knows I service my own Mares regs, if I can get the parts. Well, low and behold - the exhaust valve looked like it had never been changed. It did not fit tight to the seat and had a small protursion on the edge. When it was taken apart it was obvious that it had never been cleaned properly - there was a small ridge built up on it that could easily catch the little tab on the exhaust valve - resulting in a poor seal and allowing some water to enter.

After polishing the reg (sonic cleaning would not remove it all - but a dremel tool with a little jewelry polish made it nice and shiny) - and installing a new valve you could tell it was fine. The new valve fit tight against the seat (the old one would slide around) and all is fine now.

So the lack of carefull service is not limited to an incompetent LDS. Anyone who fully disassembled that reg should have seen the problem (I suspect that the original LDS did not have a new exhaust valve and figured with just a cursory look that the old one was OK)

By the way - I have had ScubaToys work on my regs, when I did not have the parts available and needed a quick turnaround, and have never had a problem with theirs.

[CODMAN]

TN, I agree that is not cool. It's poor service, even from the Mares techs if they did not catch this. You should PM this info to the Mares reps to let them know. I do believe they are always trying to improve their customer support and if someone there didn't do their job, they should be informed of it.

Anyways, just my 0.02$ As it has always proven for me, no one can do the job as well, or as meticulously as yourself. I learned this racing bikes. Was sick of paying big $$ to "so called speciallists" to service my high end racing bikes. They did a mediocre job and each time I had to take the bike to the shop (waste of time). I basically picked up a few books on bike maintenance, started buying the right tools, and now I do EVERYTHING for maintaining my bike. And I do it right... I wish I could do this for my reg, but the tools seem to be a bit costly (gauges and such) and having just bought a house, cash isn,t flowing as it used to...

Anyways...

[TN Traveler]

If you want to at least keep track of your regulator's performance and do simple maintenance the cost of tools is not high.

You can pick up a magnahelic gauge (0-3") on ebay for less than $20, IP gauges routinely sell on ebay for less than $15. a 5.5 mm Nut Driver less than $10, set of Hex Keys, $15 and a Mouth Piece adapter from PeterBuilt ($16) - total cost about $75. Add a pair of Cutting Pliers and some zip ties for mouthpiece removal/replacement.

With these tools you can at least be sure your regs are functioning properly, even if you don't want to work on them yourself - at least you know if you have a problem or if performance has deteriorated. Small price for the piece of mind it provides.

I check my IP after every couple of dives and my 2nd stage cracking pressure after every 10-15 dives. Rarely is there a problem, but at least I know that it is either just-in-my-head or if it is real. And it does not take a mechanical genius to perform these tests.

[CODMAN]

TN, that,s not that expensive... Of course, you have to add the maintenance guide (don't remember the name) which is another 40-50 $. Maybe I'll get into this some time down the road, when cash picks back up... For now, I have a decent LDS that does a good job on my regs, so I'll settle for that...

Cheers!