calling all mentors

[fjpatrum]

Last year I serviced 4 regs, I believe. A couple of Dacors in the pacer line, an MR12 II, and one other, I believe. They all work reasonably well. What I'd like to see, though, is if there are any "old hands" in my area (near DC) that would look these regs over with me and show me what they might do differently. The regs work fine, as I said, and I have no problem with doing the service again, but having someone with more experience to act as a mentor would be a fantastic benefit. (Hopefully to both of us, but certainly to me.)

Any folks in my general area willing to share some of their time teaching a newb a little more than the books really can? More of the finesse, the nuance, and the art of servicing regs.

I also have a new (to me) conshelf and a pacer Dart as well as a Scubapro MK5/G250 I need to work on if those are more up anyone's alley.

---------- Post added January 30th, 2013 at 02:25 PM ----------

Wow, a bunch of views and no responses. Any other folks looking for something similar? I invite you to post here as well, maybe someone in your area will take you "under their wing".

 

[WB2GLP]

Just for the record, I viewed the thread. I feel your pain from up in Jersey. If you were near by, you would be in my basement already plugged into a test bench.

 

[herman]

Maybe because you ask someone local...I am at least 4 hours from you but always happy to help here or via PM or email.
The Conshelf I an tell you pretty much anything you want to know about it...as for the Dacor, Dart was a line all it's own and the Pacer line included a bunch of different first stages, most (all?) of the second stages are pretty much the same.

 

[fjpatrum]

Maybe because you ask someone local...I am at least 4 hours from you but always happy to help here or via PM or email.
The Conshelf I an tell you pretty much anything you want to know about it...as for the Dacor, Dart was a line all it's own and the Pacer line included a bunch of different first stages, most (all?) of the second stages are pretty much the same.

Yeah I've already gone through the pacers and they weren't too hard. Like I said, I was just thinking getting a second, more experienced, set of eyes would be nice.

The problem I've found so far with local is all the folks I've met are far more interested in the latest and greatest (often at the highest price) while I'm more of a tinkerer and a "cheap-skate". I get an awful lot of funny looks when I pull out my kit at the local quarry... I'm a mis-matched cluge of all kinds of things that are different vintages and a mix of home-made, modified, or used and "that should be in a museum". I figure there must be plenty of DIY types around me, I just haven't found them yet. Hence my hope that one or two of them might be reading Scubaboard and me just not know it yet.

I have appreciated all the information you've provided so far, Herman, and I appreciate all the offers I've received for info if/when needed. I'll keep plugging at it and maybe eventually I'll be the mentor to some other newb.

 

[undrwater]

I like the post, and would be interested in something similar. My next scuba purchase will be the regulator books recommended. I have couple of very old SP regs (mk5 & 10 I believe?), and HOG.

Thanks again for the post.

 

[Nemrod]

Some of us tend to specialize in particular regulators. Dacor for example is not in my universe. I do not do cheap, I obsess about things sometimes to the point of being ridiculous. Many of my (old) regulators therefore as a result, cost more than a new equivalent. I am good on Conshelfs and USD stuff including the USD and Voit twin hoses, OK on Voit MR series and passable on Scubapro 109s etc. If it is plastic, it ain't fantastic and I might circular file it.

(Shhhh, I love my AL Titan XL and I have a sudden hankering for a new Scubapro G260 just cause everybody is hating on it so.)

N

 

[herman]

Nem, I really need to find you something pretty,pink and plastic to dive at Sand Dog.

I divide my regs into 2 catagories, those I dive and those I tinker with. The ones I dive need to work well but often times they are not the prettiest. The tinker catagory are the odd balls that never did or will dive well but are a challange to make better, the Aquamatic for example.....
Actually I have 3 catagories.. the third are those I build or highly modify, those are the most fun. I will take an old reg and modify the body or make parts for it that did not exist before. If you saw the Pegusus project that Luis made a while back, I did the machine work for it. The XPR second stage that VDH sells were first prototyped in my shop so I had the very first ones installed in a reg. One of these days I plan to make a reg from the ground up just because I can.

As for the Dacor line, I find the first stages for the most part are over designed, way to many parts and orings plus they were bad for having several different part sets in each reg which makes them a pain to restore. That said, the Pacer second stage is actually a pretty good reg. Solid, relaible and easy to service and adjust.

 

[Couv]

Hi Fj, I'm not a mentor-just a hobbyist. The regs I like to play with are mostly older ScubaPro MK 2/5/7/10 first stages and BA/109 second stages. Unfortunately, I'm about 1.5 thousand miles from DC so until Scotty can beam one of us up and over-the internet will have to do.

All in all, I probably spend a LOT more time cleaning a regulator than a shop can afford. Just the time I spend on cleaning would make it too expensive a project for a shop to pass the cost over to a customer.

I pretty much go "by the book" on most of my rebuilds except for a few tiny and probably meaningless details. One thing I do on my personal fleet of balanced pistons is to lightly abrade the piston stem where it contacts the piston stem o-ring. I do this in order to retain lubricant in that area. I also lightly abrade the inside of the piston stem o-ring to remove the flash (the very thin piece of material left over from the molding process) for the same reason.

Next on the piston knife edge, I perform Matt Magic (I'll have to look for that thread and post the link after I find it.)

The 109s/BAs are very similar to the G250. Here too, I'm also pretty much by the book with very few exceptions. One area not often mentioned in the manuals is lever height. See my http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/do...apro-lever-height-adjustment-tool-review.html (made by Herman) for more details. Another little detail you don't see dealt with often is the second stage diaphragm disc. The friction point where the lever and disc interface sometimes develops small grooves. I polish these grooves out give a smoother surface for the lever to act on.

If I think of any other tidbits, I'll post them.

 

[halocline]

The harlow book would be your best bet for working on the conshelf and older SP regs; there are really good detailed directions in there. There are some comments about Dacor regs too, I just don't pay much attention to them because I don't own any Dacor regs nor do I want to.

Once you get general things answered by that book, I think if you post specific questions on this forum you'll get lots of help. If you're rebuilding and can take photos of what you're doing and post them, even better. In terms of a local mentor, there is an extremely knowledgeable regulator tech that I think lives in the DC area, but I suspect he's pretty busy and unless he posts here, probably not available.

I don't modify old regs, I just work on my own and anyone else's locally who asks. I've found that the old SP balanced piston 1sts and barrel poppet 2nds, and center balanced valve 2nds, are plenty high performance enough for me. I enjoy trying to understand the principles on which they work, and the ideas behind specific design features. If you want to get into modifying old gear, you should probably think about doublehose regs and start hanging out on vdh. But, doublehose regs are pricey; it's very easy to sink $500 or substantially more into one depending on the reg and type of restoration. But it's definitely fun.

 

[Scared Silly]

You might also visit some of the local shops and get to know the techs. I have found that most are more than willing to share their knowledge. It also does not hurt that I bring them a beer now and again . I do this will three shops in my area and they all get a bit of of my business as a result.