Atomic ST1 "broken"?

[kimbalabala]

My husband and I have identical Atomic ST1 regulators. When we have the second stage hooked up to HIS, but NOT to a tank, you can inhale a small stream of air through it - but on mine no air passes through on an inhale (if you inhale on all of our other second stages - including other manufacturers, you get nothing). Which one is broken? His or mine? The LDS said that Atomic told them that HIS (the one that you CAN get air through without it being on a tank) is functioning fine. We don't understand. Anyone else ever had this problem?

 

[Scared Silly]

Atomic has a seat savor design in the second stage. That is when there is no pressure from gas in the system a small wave washer pushes the orifice away from the seat thus allowing gas to pass through. The reason for this is so that the seat does not get a permanent set in it which can cause it to prematurely wear out. Not all mfg have this feature.

As such, your husband's second stage is working fine. Yours is not. My suggestion would be for the tech to adjust the orifice. They should back it off until the reg free flows then turn it back in until the free flow stops then go approximately a 1/4 turn more. My guess is that on yours it is more than a 1/4 turn.

There is a tool for doing this: Dual Drive Inline Adjusting Tool. Though one can use a screw driver in the field.


Here is a video on it (look for the wave washer between the orifice (yellow) and the orifice sleeve (gray)):

[video=youtube;Q-vPucQyYdg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-vPucQyYdg[/video]

 

[kimbalabala]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I took it back to the LDS (today) before I got your response and the tech made some calls and found out the same thing. What he was told was to add some additional lube to see if that would help make a better seal and it worked! Pretty cool engineering I guess.

Thanks again!

 

[diversteve]

Hi,

Do you understand that it's NOT supposed to seal when the regulator is not pressurized? Or does "better seal" mean that yours acts like your husbands does now also? Which is normal for Atomic regs. I'm confused...

The idea behind the seat saver is that it removes the stress on the seat prolonging the life. It does this by creating an air gap which is why your husbands "breathes" when not pressurized. This is a normal function of the regulator and should not be altered. It also means that theoretically if you dunk the regulator for a long enough period of time, water can flow past the open seat into the 1st stage. Since your regs are Stainless - it's a very minor concern. I don't worry about it with my T2's either...

If your tech "added lube" so that it now seals closed so you can no longer "breathe" thru it, I'd look for a new tech since he's apparently not an Atomic certified tech.

 

[kimbalabala]

Diversteve, maybe I'll print out what you said and take it to the LDS. They do not sell Atomic and perhaps don't have the proper training. It sounds like the only purpose of this is to save the seat - not that it would endanger my life at depth. Btw, the previous dealer we took it to was a certified Atomic dealer and it came back not functioning properly (but we didn't know that because it worked like our other regulators!). My next dive will be on my Scubapro anyway ...

 

[Scared Silly]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I took it back to the LDS (today) before I got your response and the tech made some calls and found out the same thing. What he was told was to add some additional lube to see if that would help make a better seal and it worked!

Lube has nothing to do with it. It is all in the position of the orifice. Did he really talk to someone at AA on a Saturday? I did not think there would be anyone available??????

 

[diversteve]

Take your manual - a description is on page 27. Much better idea IMO - Don't go back except to get your service charge refunded. If they're not an authorized dealer they have no business servicing your Atomic gear. I'm not sure but that may void your warranty if you still have one.

the previous dealer we took it to was a certified Atomic dealer and it came back not functioning properly

Was it? The Great American Diving Company - St. Louis Leader in Underwater Adventures If it was, I'd take it back till they get it right.

The Great American Diving Company has recently been awarded the exclusive dealership for the Atomic Aquatics line of dive gear in the St. Louis area...Please Note! We are the only factory authorized dive center in the St. Louis area. If you have your gear worked on anywhere else they are not factory authorized, factory trained and not using factory fresh parts.

From your area you might send it to DiVentures in Omaha instead - http://www.diventures.net/

Atomic Aquatics has named DiVentures Scuba and Swim Center as the first-ever Atomic Aquatics Regional Repair Center. With a team of qualified, factory authorized service technicians and the latest state-of-the-art equipment, DiVentures will serve the Midwest, Southern and Eastern regions of the United States.

[user]mjrob[/user] owns it.

Scubatoys is an authorized dealer also if you want to send it out. http://www.scubatoys.com/store/regs/regrepair.asp About the same $$.