Aquarius Rebuild Kit

[Scott G. Bonser]

And now for a return to the thread topic. It appears that some of the Aquarius 1st stages had a star clip to refrain the mesh filter and some had an internal spring clip. Has anyone established whether or not they will interchange?

Also, it appears that mesh filter in the Aquarius is the same as the one in the Conshelf series. Is this indeed the case, and can they be interchanged?

Ah, G F, I believe they can. The spring clip is a better option. Look for the ‘groove’ on the inside of your regulator connector at the yoke. They come in different sizes and most dive stores that have been established should have a variety of sizes. Ray at Chesapeake Bay Diving Center at Hilltop North had one that would fit my ( I think ) ‘62 Blue Drager DHR … even foreign regs. (…an extensive restoration but one of my best ‘breathers’..) you may want to check w/Rob at TSM.

…please keep me posted…

Scott B. ‘the’ g f i t p.

 

[wetjon]

Silent Explorers is a source for Aqualung parts and service kits. There are different versions of the Aquarius first stage, so verify the kit is a match before purchase.

U.S. Divers Aquarius 1st Stage Kit 1075-00. ​

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Silent Explorers kit for the Aquarius is $23.00. Well, not bad. To 'check-out' you need to buy $35.00 of stuff. I don't need it that bad I guess. I'll rebuild using the suggestions in this thread. Thanks.

 

[Green Frog]

The only 3 parts needed for a complete Aquarius 1st stage rebuild, other than the proper O-rings, are the sintered metal filter, the high pressure seat, and either a clip or a star spring, depending on the version of the specific 1st stage. That’s actually only about 4 O-rings, the filter, the HP seat, and the proper retainer clip. If you start looking for each piece separately and don’t have connections to help, the $23.00 price of the rebuild kit won’t seem so bad.

 

[Green Frog]

Ah, G F, I believe they can. The spring clip is a better option. Look for the ‘groove’ on the inside of your regulator connector at the yoke. They come in different sizes and most dive stores that have been established should have a variety of sizes. Ray at Chesapeake Bay Diving Center at Hilltop North had one that would fit my ( I think ) ‘62 Blue Drager DHR … even foreign regs. (…an extensive restoration but one of my best ‘breathers’..) you may want to check w/Rob at TSM.

…please keep me posted…

Scott B. ‘the’ g f i t p.

@Scott G Bonser,I’ve been so busy preparing for, going on, and returning from my FL trip, the Aquarius has been on the back burner. As soon as I recover from and clean my gear from that trip, I’ll be getting back to it. BUUUTTT… the general consensus is that those regs with the star-type clip lack the groove needed for the circlip. You might be able to use the star clip on the later reg, but don’t seem to be able to go the other way.

 

[Scott G. Bonser]

@Scott G Bonser,I’ve been so busy preparing for, going on, and returning from my FL trip, the Aquarius has been on the back burner. As soon as I recover from and clean my gear from that trip, I’ll be getting back to it. BUUUTTT… the general consensus is that those regs with the star-type clip lack the groove needed for the circlip. You might be able to use the star clip on the later reg, but don’t seem to be able to go the other way.

Hmmm. Interesting. I do know that some parts were ‘exclusive’ to certain models and dates of equipment. If they worked, they became the standard, if not, a return to tried and true. Most were NOT interchangeable. My Pacer 650 doesn’t have a normal seat like the 150, 350, & 950, but the 650 is (almost) indestructible. Try to find an old or remanuf. seat for Pacer 650 1st stage. I have had no luck finding if I need to rebuild the 1st stage.

 

[Green Frog]

Scott, back to the subject of the Aquarius 1st stage filter retainer, it appears that the star spring was on the earlier variant, then the circlip was a later factory upgrade. This being the case, those of us with the older regs probably need to look for a good source of those star spring clips. It looks like every other renewable part for the old Aquarius 1st stages remains interchangeable throughout their production run.

 

[Scott G. Bonser]

Scott, back to the subject of the Aquarius 1st stage filter retainer, it appears that the star spring was on the earlier variant, then the circlip was a later factory upgrade. This being the case, those of us with the older regs probably need to look for a good source of those star spring clips. It looks like every other renewable part for the old Aquarius 1st stages remains interchangeable throughout their production run.

I will keep an eye out for that clip. I may be able to put a ‘bug’ in the ear of some folks I know that have old dive stores with possibly some NOS that has not been discarded or sent back to mfg. a long time ago. Is it possible that you may know a range of dates or serial #s to hone in on?
SGB

 

[Green Frog]

@Scott G. Bonser , fortunately we have a store here in town that specializes in all types of fasteners. As soon as I can get “a round tuit “ I plan to carry the star clip from my Aquarius 1st stage over there and try to match it… I can’t believe it would have been a proprietary item designed and made just for Aqua Lung. I have had pretty good luck in other endeavors in the past with non-OEM parts sourcing, especially on items such as this.

 

[Scott G. Bonser]

@Scott G. Bonser , fortunately we have a store here in town that specializes in all types of fasteners. As soon as I can get “a round tuit “ I plan to carry the star clip from my Aquarius 1st stage over there and try to match it… I can’t believe it would have been a proprietary item designed and made just for Aqua Lung. I have had pretty good luck in other endeavors in the past with non-OEM parts sourcing, especially on items such as this.

…good call on that one GF. Some other sources of fittings are IMS Bolt and Military Fastners, Inc. ( Military Fastners sells to private citizens not just Gov’t entities. They do have 1” replacements for old Tinnerman Hose clamps for DHRs as well as many other specialty items. )

 

[scrane]

In a pinch I reform the star rings and reuse them.