Breaking down wrecked regs

[CycleCat]

Anyone want to guess what second stage this is?

I want to understand better how these things work even if all I ever do is adjust them. Eventually I want to take @rsingler 's course but for now I'm satisfied to tear apart some well used regs. So I bought a poorly cared for first with two seconds on eBay for $25 so I could see how things fit. This was my first one. Completely disassembled and reassembled this afternoon.

Next come this SP 195 and this Aqualung first stage. Everything is quite corroded.

 

[Kupu]

Anyone want to guess what second stage this is?

Sherwood, possibly Magnum as the Magnum Blizzard heater fins are not seen in your photo.
Just a guess, I'm not very familiar with Sherwoods and there were several second stages with that style cover and black plastic cover ring.

 

[CycleCat]

Sherwood, possibly Magnum as the Magnum Blizzard heater fins are not seen in your photo.
Just a guess, I'm not very familiar with Sherwoods and there were several second stages with that style cover and black plastic cover ring.

Good guess. Magnum 2.

Not sure of the function of this brass button on the diaphragm cover but it seems to be a seat saver...

 

[johndiver999]

yes it is seat saver and they work great in my experience. Yours needs vinegar.

 

[CycleCat]

yes it is seat saver and they work great in my experience. Yours needs vinegar.

I don't expect any of these will be dived again. They're just for experimentation. The Sherwood has a cracked case so it's done for sure.

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

If your wanting to start cleaning things properly and / or servicing you need to get yourself a heated ultrasonic bath and compatible fluid, nothing comes close on metal parts, for plastic stuff ( bodies of second stages etc) you’ll need to dilute some ipa, and give things a light scrub, everything after cleaning should be rinsed with a generous helping of fresh water. Try and find some service manuals as obviously they help massively, I started doing all my own regs after being sorely disappointed in what some “industry trained and approved by manufacturers” are (in)capable of,,, namely robbing parts out of my first stages and just dunking the whole first stages in ultrasonic baths and saying they were serviced,,, nope am not joking,,, and now all my regs operate as new. Best of luck​

 

[James79]

So I bought a poorly cared for first with two seconds on eBay for $25 so I could see how things fit. This was my first one. Completely disassembled and reassembled this afternoon.

This way lies madness... lol. That's exactly how I started, and I still dive that first reg I bought. I thought; gee, $25 is cheap to learn, even if it never goes back together. A few years and a **** ton of vintage regs later.... lol.

Regarding an ultrasonic, they help vastly.. but aren't "necessary." For most regs lots of elbow grease can get it done too. But a US cleaner with some 50/50 vinegar water goes a long way real quick (just make sure to properly rinse after).

Regarding manuals, there is a wealth of info at VinageDoubleHose.com . The store is down indefinitely since Bryan's passing, but at the bottom of the page is a link to Catalogs and Manuals that is still active.

If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, send me a DM and I can probably send you something to tinker on that will be good to dive with.

Respectfully,

James

 

[CycleCat]

This way lies madness... lol. That's exactly how I started, and I still dive that first reg I bought. I thought; gee, $25 is cheap to learn, even if it never goes back together. A few years and a **** ton of vintage regs later.... lol.
[SNIPPED]

If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, send me a DM and I can probably send you something to tinker on that will be good to dive with.

I appreciate that. But thanks to SB classifieds I have all the regs a two-diver household could ever need. His & hers Apeks, his & hers Deep6, and most recently a pair of SP MK25 with a variety of SP 2nds. Also a random Edge and AquaLung. I just want to get to where I can maintain and adjust them myself. I've got the adjusting part figured out... now I'm working on the "maintain" part. I will be looking into a good ultrasonic cleaner eventually.

I got this SP 195 as far apart as I'm going to take it. The Sherwood needed no special tools but this one does to get the poppet out.

Now on to the AL 1st stage.....

 

[James79]

I appreciate that. But thanks to SB classifieds I have all the regs a two-diver household could ever need. His & hers Apeks, his & hers Deep6, and most recently a pair of SP MK25 with a variety of SP 2nds. Also a random Edge and AquaLung. I just want to get to where I can maintain and adjust them myself. I've got the adjusting part figured out... now I'm working on the "maintain" part. I will be looking into a good ultrasonic cleaner eventually.

I got this SP 195 as far apart as I'm going to take it. The Sherwood needed no special tools but this one does to get the poppet out.
View attachment 824038

Now on to the AL 1st stage.....

Ghetto work around if you don't want to buy a poppet tool is to use a whittled down chopstick or plastic spudger to keep the poppet from turning while you loosen/remove the nut. I rebuilt a few Conshelf seconds that way before I bought the poppet tool for them (4 prong poppet vs. the 3 prong you have there).

 

[Mobulai]

This way lies madness...

I just started the same cycle of madness

@CycleCat I just started by doing the same -- just slightly different reg choices; godspeed