Chucke et al.,
It's not a consumer warning, it's a safety bulletin, essentially a
directive to all NOAA divers to discontinue use of the regulator. They
do this whenever serious problems with equipment come up, but usually
there is already a company recall in effect, which doesn't appear to be
the case here. This safety bulletin on the real NOAA website, which
I've used before. (Some of the new rules we're putting in place in
Komodo are based on NOAA codes and practice.) The safety bulletin is
also listed on their index of safety bulletins page.
http://www.ndc.noaa.gov/rp_bulletins.html
If this is a hoax, then it's a very elaborately prepared one, involving
multiple hacking of the NOAA site. I suspect this is for real.
I've got two Mk20s that I've had for 5 and 7 years, and regularly use
both. Off-hand, I'd say that at least half the serious divers I know
are still using Mk20s, either in original condition or upgraded to
Mk25s. (Both have been upgraded, but what got replaced - making it
possible to adjust IP without opening the reg and adding or subtracting
shims - doesn't protect against the problem outlined in this report.)
I did a quick web search and there are a number of sites with reports
about this, but all are just repeating or summarizing the March NOAA
report. One said that three NOAA divers had encountered the cracking
problem, prompting the safety bulletin issued by Dinsmore, director of
the NOAA diving program. (Dinsmore's name and sig also check out, by
the way.)
I've emailed Scubapro Southeast Asia in Singapore to see if they have
anything to say about this. Until I know more, however, I'm taking it
seriously.
On Wed, 1 Jun 2005 06:40:25 -0500, Chuck wrote:
>Why would NOAA be publishing consumer warnings on SCUBA gear. Not part of
>their mission I would think. Something smells bad and it isn't my booties.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Giovanni Marola" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 3:59 AM
>Subject: [SCUBA-SE] cracks on MK20
>
>
>> Has anybody more informations about possible cracks on mk20 first stages?
>>
>> http://www.ndc.noaa.gov/pdfs/sb05-01.pdf
>>
>> Giovanni
>>
>>
>
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