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Aqualung Aquarius servicing
- Thread starter whaylonsmithers
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whaylonsmithers
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You're right Herman, but not at the prices people want. I first started diving in 1994 and you couldn't give them away. I clearly remember the instructor in my OW class saying that they were junk (since proven wrong, though he is a great instructor) and he kept one for the wall and one for diving with frisky fish to take better photos. Now someone pulls the same hunk of junk out of the garage and wants 500 bucks for it. I'd prefer to spend that on going diving with the effective gear I have. I'm patient so I'll wait until is a nice AM going for $20 in a garage sale and then play with it till I'm happy.
$75 to $125 is about the going rate on ebay, there are nut jobs who ask crazy prices and the occasional one who pays them. Figure on about $175 to $200 to completely go through a DA or RAM to get it back in perfect working order. This includes new hoses, mouthpiece, internal rubber parts and a few nice to add upgrades. You can some times press old hoses and mouthpieces back into service but I don't recommend it. Tricking it out with all the latest gadgets can set you back another $250 to $300
---------- Post Merged at 07:13 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:09 AM ----------
While I am at it, if you intend to restore and dive a DH reg, limit your hunt to either US Diver DAAMS, RAMs, Mistrals or their Voit counterparts. These are the easiest to restore and all the parts you need are available. Other makes or models like Dacors and Healthways have limited to no available new replacement parts. The older USD regs can be restored but they tend to be more expensive and do not perform as well as a later DA or RAM.
---------- Post Merged at 07:13 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:09 AM ----------
While I am at it, if you intend to restore and dive a DH reg, limit your hunt to either US Diver DAAMS, RAMs, Mistrals or their Voit counterparts. These are the easiest to restore and all the parts you need are available. Other makes or models like Dacors and Healthways have limited to no available new replacement parts. The older USD regs can be restored but they tend to be more expensive and do not perform as well as a later DA or RAM.
OP
whaylonsmithers
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Thanks everyone for your help with this. Its been a while but I finally got the Aquarius in the water and have put some nice dives onto it this week. Its working a treat and shined up uber-bling. I sure won't ever stress about the second stage getting damaged by a tank on the boat - I think it would give better than it took. For some reason it seems to breath a tiny bit better upside down but I'm cool with that too. And I'm getting no-where near as much air under my hood, which I presume comes from having such a large exhaust tee.
And +2 for VDH. Service is very good there.
And +2 for VDH. Service is very good there.
milbournosphere
Contributor
Sorry to drag up an old thread but I dug out my closet this weekend and what did I find but an old Aquarius regulator that my Dad passed down to me. The parts info on this thread has been very useful, but I do have one more question. What was your process to shine up the chrome on the second stage? Mine has no peeling or pitting pitting on the chrome finish, but could probably use a good cleaning/polishing on the exterior.
If there is any corrosion I use vinegar, but make sure not to leave any chrome parts more that 5 to 10 minutes. Vinegar will attack the chrome if it is left too long.
To polish I use old fashion white tooth paste and an old tooth brush. I don't use the more abrasive stuff that the dentist have, just the common tooth paste. My experience is that it cleans and polishes the chrome to a "like new" condition. It will clean all the dark stains from the black mouthpieces, etc.
Using a tooth brush help clean all the threads and tight corners.
I even use on the diaphragm and other rubber parts. I figure that something that is supposed to work in your mouth can't be too harmful to the rubber or to the diver.
To polish I use old fashion white tooth paste and an old tooth brush. I don't use the more abrasive stuff that the dentist have, just the common tooth paste. My experience is that it cleans and polishes the chrome to a "like new" condition. It will clean all the dark stains from the black mouthpieces, etc.
Using a tooth brush help clean all the threads and tight corners.
I even use on the diaphragm and other rubber parts. I figure that something that is supposed to work in your mouth can't be too harmful to the rubber or to the diver.
KD8NPB
Contributor
I use this stuff for cleaning regulators in our ultrasonic. I also add about 1 tsp of Dawn to it. I get my water out of the hot water spigot on the coffee machine, so it is near boiling. 10-30 minutes in the ultrasonic will remove all but the most stubborn deposits.
milbournosphere
Contributor
Thanks for the advice, it shined up pretty well. 8/10 for looks. Only one other thing, the decals on the Yoke and second stage are beat up bad. I checked and VintageDoubleHose doesn't seem to carry decals for the Aquarius. Are there any other sources out there that anybody knows of?
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