Dumb Question About O Rings

[Luis H]

I went to the Parker website. It has got a lot of info, but I didn't find the answer to something I was looking for.

My Halcyon inflator calls out- 70 durometer "buna" . There were 18 different materials on the website but not one was call "buna". So which material is equal to buna?

You probably saw Nitrile, which is the same as Buna-N.

 

[rcontrera]

If that is the case why is it the distributor who is exposed to the most risk because he has his product in many places sells cheap. And where are all these big law suits in the dive industry that insurance is supposedly protecting against. From the way they hide behind the law suit defence you would think every LDS must be getting sued every other week.

Oh, the lawsuits happen. It is just that a huge percentage of them never make it to court and are settled. The scare for the diving industry started back in the late 70s with Dacor who sold a mask in a cardboard box that said "Diving Mask" on it. A kid used it on a diving board and hit the water face first, shattering the glass and getting a piece of it in his eye. That was the first multi million dollar suit for this tiny industry and it was devastating.

As far as why there are places that sell cheap, Parker makes o-rings for many uses and they have no liability unless they specify the use. It is Dacor, Mares, Scubapro and the like that bags them up and identifies exactly what the seal does and where it should go. THEY are the ones that are subject to the liability. There are lots of dive shops that have taken it upon themselves to bypass the industry guys and just use the generics in their service. Hopefully, they are also the ones that know what they are doing so they aren't likely to have a failure.

 

[dlndavid]

It's a nice site, and they're nice o-rings, but I don't think they're really looking to ship out a bag of 10.

Terry

True, but still buy Parker O-rings please.

 

[Hoosier]

So does anybody know, off the top, what # 0-ring, or 0-rings we should pack around?

A "Search" function is a good tool for this matter.

Here it is:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1078483&postcount=1

 

[wilkie]

Thanks hoosier!

 

[Scuba]

As far as why there are places that sell cheap, Parker makes o-rings for many uses and they have no liability unless they specify the use. It is Dacor, Mares, Scubapro and the like that bags them up and identifies exactly what the seal does and where it should go. THEY are the ones that are subject to the liability. There are lots of dive shops that have taken it upon themselves to bypass the industry guys and just use the generics in their service. Hopefully, they are also the ones that know what they are doing so they aren't likely to have a failure.

All manufacturers have product liability concerns. One who mfrs o-rings is responsible for their o-rings meeting stated specifications. One who mfrs regulators is responsible for regulators meeting stated specifications.

The science of equipment maintenance, parts and service, is not some mystery only understood by SCUBA industry insiders.

 

[JDog]

You probably saw Nitrile, which is the same as Buna-N.

In the "Halcyon Precision Inflator's Owners Manual" (V2.0) on page 6, 4 of the 5 o-ring callouts are "buna".
I am assuming Nitrile is short for Hydrogenated Nitrile (per the Parker website).
Thanks for the info.