KISS Mares Proton BOV Failure

Crazyduck

This is not meant to be mean spirted or rude.
If anything it is meant to be informative and to provide details of the Proton unit. If something offends someone; I will gladly revise.


I find it very interesting that people are calling Mares Product trash when they own and produce the parts for the Dacor unit.
To put it bluntly- the interior parts are the same and the interior volume is also very similar.
Please note that there was a specific ‘replacement’ exhalation valves on the Viper. Last time I worked on these units they had changed to a Blue valve to show they had been revised.
Please be careful- you may be trading one set of issues for another.

As someone that is a Mares Technician I find their products have highs and lows. (Disclosure)
Depending on the development of their product and price point will directly affect what you are getting.
The products are easy to service and the interior of the first stages are a breeze. They require no buttons or levels and produce very good results. I am not saying they are perfect; but they representative a good product. If other people feel differently I would more than understand that.

Now the Proton has a mesh screen front that is very small with a very small interior volume. The movement on the purge diaphragm cannot be more than 1/8 to 3/8” movement. So as we descend guess what- it has to pull the volume from somewhere. So this unit will have to be equalized as others have pointed out. Please note that this unit gets its results partially from the small volume and the grid mesh front. While some people on open circuit feel it is responsive and works well. In this application I can see to the potential problems.

The other potential problem was if the open way valve did not fail, imagine what it would do to your tongue. I think that others have had this problem and can address that issue.

Personally, I would like to see a Cyklon used for this; but that is my opinion.
So from the open circuit world- equalize early and often. (fun reference)

Safe diving…
Andrew

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osiris

Hmm, I guess that sums up what some people think of Dacor as well then......

Tyler S.

This happened to "The Brandon" as well. It was fun choking on water when I tested his unit in the pool.

Dave Sutton

The answer is simple: Don't use a flow stop. Add a QD at the second stage and unplug it if it leaks. Makes break down and setup of the rig easier too.

Mares stuff has been fine for us. No problems ever, and we've sold and use a bunch of it all the way back to the MR-12s. I'm happy with the Proton on my BOV and have never had an issue with it.


Dave

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Marc

After drinking salty water a couple of times, I've removed the flow stopper on my BOV and installed QD. Worked great on the dive....The proton reg on the BOV provides a nice grip while your trying to reconnect it up. To easy...

So, provides you with some extra options to plumb in gas and as Dave said, works a treat after the dive to break it apart for cleaning....

Cheers, Marc

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EBT

Cyklons dont like not being used, especially in salt water. The 2nd stage has a habit of building corrosion on the piston inside the barrel. I ditched mine as stage regs when one failled on me on a trimix dive, leading to 20 mins of deco done using the tank valve to control the flow.

They're lovely regs, but not really suitable for this application.

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Scubascooby

I looked at a Dacor too because it was a side flow design and I thought that might be better streamlined. I found that it is also made by Mares.

I am not a Mares fan but the Proton is better than the Paragon, it can be serviced and it seems to work ok so far. Only done half a dozen dives with it.

Many years ago a friend washed out his regs and didn't notice that the jet of water had flipped the lip of the mushroom valve. Like many OC divers he didn't do a -ve test when he next used it and guess what...

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Dave1w

Has anyone used a Mares Prestige yet?
Dave

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sosha

I just put one on, and plan on testing it next weekend. I'll post comments.