SPEC Boots for MK10 and MK15 primary regs

[James79]

buy a couple for sure if you make enough

Ditto ^^^

Once I have sizing right (OK'd by couv) I'll make as many as needed. Of course, you all just lit the fire under me to make sure I get them in the mail to couve tomorrow!

 

[Angelo Farina]

I sent my two-parts aluminium mould and some liquid silicon and liquid PU rubber to @couv so he should be able to continue my experiments.
Unfortunately I was unable to continue myself...

 

[SlugLife]

I just received a prototype from James79 & have a tub of silicone grease ready to go. I'll probably do the install tomorrow & dive with it Friday. If I understand correctly, I need to pack as much silicon grease as I can without air-bubbles into the chamber where the spring is, and there are holes are? And the boot on the outside of course. I'll post up pictures and updates, so people can use it as a guide of what to do, or not to do.

Standard disclaimer that this is just a prototype, and if anything goes wrong it's probably my fault. (I don't think anything could go wrong, but I always dive with fully redundant air, and have an extra MK10 in my save-a-dive-kit)

 

[SlugLife]

Basic overview:

• I have 4x MK10s. Two which are compatible with the boot, and two which aren't. The regs I'm currently using for sidemount are missing the groove for the boot. So the plan of action was to swap everything from my left-sidemount regulator to one of the MK10s with the groove that I wasn't using.
• I think this regulator was the one I got from @halocline
• First I inserted the bullet part way, packed in grease, then inserted the spring, and packed in more grease. I also lined the inside of the boot with grease and slipped that over the outside. Once I removed as much air as possible, I cleared the top of the bullet off enough to slide the piston over the bullet, so I could slide the piston into the regulator. Hopefully I got most of the air out, but it's hard to tell.
• After getting everything back together, I started feeling lazy, so I haven't checked the IP yet, but I should do that later today.
• Overall, the process was mildly messy. I recommend having several towels ready.
• Unfortunately the amazing "slugmug" saddle doesn't fit the din-adapter, I had forgotten that the din adapters were a different size. I'll move it over to one of my yoke-regs when I'm less lazy.

Overall, it didn't take that long. If I have to repack it, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. I have no experience with SPEC boots, other than this so... wish me luck I suppose. Thanks again to @James79 for the boot!

If anyone has questions or knows of any testing protocols, let me know. I guess the main thing is to see how much grease leaks out?

 

[lexvil]

I should get my mk25 and the experimental boot today or tomorrow, if today I may have a chance to pack it before diving Saturday, I’ll put it on the elephant (40cf pony) and give it a run. All in all it’s an interesting experiment although I dive MK17’s exclusively and enjoy the ease of low maintenance without the fuss.

 

[SlugLife]

So I finally hooked it up to a tank. I also noticed when pressurized, the spec-boot bulges, and when depressurized, it contracts. I assume that's what it's supposed to do? That's probably why I made an additional mess the first time I turned it on. The regulator seems to work and breathe fine. I'm getting quite a bit of IP creep, though to be fair I forgot to check the IP creep of this regulator before I started this process.

I suspect I might need to cycle the system a number of times, perhaps even take it on a dive, and then see if there are any air-bubbles.

 

[James79]

So I finally hooked it up to a tank. I also noticed when pressurized, the spec-boot bulges, and when depressurized, it contracts. I assume that's what it's supposed to do? That's probably why I made an additional mess the first time I turned it on. The regulator seems to work and breathe fine. I'm getting quite a bit of IP creep, though to be fair I forgot to check the IP creep of this regulator before I started this process.

I suspect I might need to cycle the system a number of times, perhaps even take it on a dive, and then see if there are any air-bubbles.

So, the piston moves down when pressurized... reducing the internal volume of the ambient chamber. All that is to say "yes, it will bulge when pressurized and suck in when depressurized". IP creep.... did you re-use the same HP seat? and if so, did you mark it so it's clocked the same now as before? If the answers are "yes" and "no" then you may have the piston not seating in the same groove from before, and where the old groove overlaps the new position becomes an escape path for HP air, until the IP gets high enough to drive the piston deeper than the old groove.

Respectfully,

James

 

[SlugLife]

So, the piston moves down when pressurized... reducing the internal volume of the ambient chamber. All that is to say "yes, it will bulge when pressurized and suck in when depressurized". IP creep.... did you re-use the same HP seat? and if so, did you mark it so it's clocked the same now as before? If the answers are "yes" and "no" then you may have the piston not seating in the same groove from before, and where the old groove overlaps the new position becomes an escape path for HP air, until the IP gets high enough to drive the piston deeper than the old groove.

Respectfully,

James

I didn't know that was a thing. Is the basic idea, that you want the piston to have the same rotation inside the chamber, so it always presses against the seat in the same orientation?

What's the remedy? Get a new HP seat?

Does anyone have a cheap source of HP MK10 seats? The best I'm aware of is buying an entire mk10-kit from vintagedoublehose.

 

[James79]

I didn't know that was a thing. Is the basic idea, that you want the piston to have the same rotation inside the chamber, so it always presses against the seat in the same orientation?

What's the remedy? Get a new HP seat?

Does anyone have a cheap source of HP MK10 seats? The best I'm aware of is buying an entire mk10-kit from vintagedoublehose.

The piston is centered in the bore no matter what... the seat carrier is never perfectly centered on the bore (machining tolerances, damnit! lol). So it's more a case of having the seat in the same rotation as when it was removed. If you didn't remove the seat from the carrier, then the question is just if you torqued it to the same clock position in the body. Sounds like a "who knows" lol.
Right now full kits from VDH are the cheapest source I know of. I know Mk5s originally used a flat puck seat... and you could flip it to get another use out of it. I have no Idea what happens if you flip the concave seats!
How bad is the creep? It's probably worth just cycling it a bunch and see if it settles down.

Respectfully,

James

 

[SlugLife]

The piston is centered in the bore no matter what... the seat carrier is never perfectly centered on the bore (machining tolerances, damnit! lol). So it's more a case of having the seat in the same rotation as when it was removed. If you didn't remove the seat from the carrier, then the question is just if you torqued it to the same clock position in the body. Sounds like a "who knows" lol.
Right now full kits from VDH are the cheapest source I know of. I know Mk5s originally used a flat puck seat... and you could flip it to get another use out of it. I have no Idea what happens if you flip the concave seats!
How bad is the creep? It's probably worth just cycling it a bunch and see if it settles down.

Respectfully,

James

Ah, so it's the rotation of the carrier . I didn't remove the seat from the carrier, but it's hard to know if the position is exactly the same.

I don't know if silicon grease getting in weird places would also affect anything, as I did make a big mess.

The creep is from 150 to 170psi. I'm not getting any free-flow or other annoyances at the moment, so I'll probably just roll with it on a dive or two to see if it settles down.