breathing differences in same model reg

[NJDiver07866]

Thanks Awap! This guy helped me out in the past on a few questions...I did not know they made a single 0-ring poppet.... I only played with the white double o-ring ones...but looking at some old diagrams you are right there is only 1 o-ring...

I noticed that on the Swing poppet where the lever engages the poppet with the two metal dogs.. there is some slight wear. I put a VERY SMALL amount of 02 grease on where the dogs engage the poppet. Another idea I had where the lever engages the diaphragm I also coat the diaphragm center where the lever rubs against with a small coating of 02 grease. It might be a placebo effect, but I think it helps breathe a bit smoother.

After a season the slick coating is still on the draphragm center... I wanted to make sure sand would not also stick but it did'nt.... Also no sand stuck to the poppet and there was still a tiny bit left....i did find some breakfast in the air tube when I had to 'purge', so I figure the sandy grease was the least of my worries.

Placebo ? who knows....

I guess this is where the art comes in.......

 

[beanojones]

Here's the things that made the difference with mine:

That slight wear makes a big difference.

Basically the lever and where it pivots (barrel and poppet both) is the reason why the air comes in. So any irregularity makes the cracking pressure change.

My g250s also ended up getting retired because the metal air barrel itself eventually notches where the lever pivots in it. But that's with heavy tropical use.

 

[ToddK]

Are the orifices matched? I know that there is a plastic variant as well as a brass one, and I'm thinking there is an old post around here from da_aquamaster stating there was a third variant(?!?).

 

[davros]

What color poppets are you talking about? I have seen grey plastic with the metal stem and blue plastic with the metal stem, both of which are now obsolete. Current s-wing poppet is one piece white plastic with 2 balance chamber o-rings (original had only one o-ring).

Thanks awap.

My four regs have poppets made from transucent blue plastic with metal stem and one o-ring. The two that I just bought are identical but the plastic on the poppet is very dark grey/black.

I will try to source some newer style popets next service. Ah...... Scubapro parts.... very difficult for me to source!!

Thanks again for all of the tips guys. I will try out some of the tweaking tips next time.
I am too busy diving now, to be pulling everything dowm again. All of the regs work very well in the real world, now that I am divi9ng with them instead of talking about them. I don't notice any difference in any of them at depth.

 

[davros]

Are the orifices matched? I know that there is a plastic variant as well as a brass one, and I'm thinking there is an old post around here from da_aquamaster stating there was a third variant(?!?).

Hi,

Yes they are all the same. Chromed brass.

 

[redacted]

Thanks awap.

My four regs have poppets made from transucent blue plastic with metal stem and one o-ring. The two that I just bought are identical but the plastic on the poppet is very dark grey/black.

I will try to source some newer style popets next service. Ah...... Scubapro parts.... very difficult for me to source!!

Thanks again for all of the tips guys. I will try out some of the tweaking tips next time.
I am too busy diving now, to be pulling everything dowm again. All of the regs work very well in the real world, now that I am divi9ng with them instead of talking about them. I don't notice any difference in any of them at depth.

The blue ones are fairly old poppets (10+ years) and while they do still show up occasionally on ebay as "new old stock", I'd be concerned that the seat material may be degraded by age. The grey ones I have seen have a seat that is riveted in place and I believe they are much older than the blue ones. So, those seats could be 20 years old.

 

[davros]

The blue ones are fairly old poppets (10+ years) and while they do still show up occasionally on ebay as "new old stock", I'd be concerned that the seat material may be degraded by age. The grey ones I have seen have a seat that is riveted in place and I believe they are much older than the blue ones. So, those seats could be 20 years old.

All of my regs with the blue poppet were serviced by a dive shop about four years ago. The regs hadn't been used for over three years since then, and the poppets were in as new condition, so I reused them. I have located four new ones (white, full plastic and two o-rings), and have ordered them for next service. The dark grey poppets in the recently purchased regs, are simply a different color. The seat isn't riveted. I checked out all of the seats very carefully, and they didn't seem degraded at all.
I wonder if the new poppets are actually better than the poppets with the metal stem and one o-ring. I would have thought the older style poppets would be more expensive to produce, so maybe that is why they were "upgraded"

 

[redacted]

All of my regs with the blue poppet were serviced by a dive shop about four years ago. The regs hadn't been used for over three years since then, and the poppets were in as new condition, so I reused them. I have located four new ones (white, full plastic and two o-rings), and have ordered them for next service. The dark grey poppets in the recently purchased regs, are simply a different color. The seat isn't riveted. I checked out all of the seats very carefully, and they didn't seem degraded at all.
I wonder if the new poppets are actually better than the poppets with the metal stem and one o-ring. I would have thought the older style poppets would be more expensive to produce, so maybe that is why they were "upgraded"

Sounds like your shop got rid of some old stock when they did the service. The S-wing poppet is lighter and that should be an advantage. While I'm sure the poppet should have a finite service life, it should go through at least a few of the replaceable seats before it becomes a problem. During the changeover (about 1998 to 2005), Scubapro included the S-wing poppet and a new balance chamber in their annual kits. Older balance chambers are compatible but could leak due to the different seating surfaces. So, if you do encounter a small leak, you may also have to renew the balance chambers. I don't think I ever saw a light grey poppet except with the riveted seat but I did look at my bag of old parts and found a very dark blue, maybe gray/black, poppet of the same design as the light blue ones.

I would not expect any problem with the blue poppets due to their age as long as the seat compound is holding up OK. I buy older regs and restore them and have even sanded the groove out of some of the blue poppet seats as a temporary fix while looking for new parts. They worked fine. Sounds like you have found what you will need to keep those regs working well.