Experiment replacing Oceanic regulator covers with silicone...

[spoolin01]

Just came across this old post while searching yet again for replacement covers for these crap Oceanic 2nds. The brittle covers have been a longstanding bane. I tried taping them back together which works adequately but am looking for a better solution. Tired of spending money on branded replacements....

How did these perform after all?

 

[emoreira]

Well this is a very old thread. I have bought a 3D printer and I've been experimenting with flexible filament.
I've printed several flexible 2nd stage caps for Oceanic Alpha 7 and Alpha 8 and similar seconds.
Those flexible caps are crap, and sooner or latter they break to pieces.
Though not enough time has passed I hope that those 3D printed caps can stand the dutty.

 

[chris kippax]

Another reason not by anything Oceanic. My neo boots & Biolite Bcd were junk. These regs seem to be built to a similar standard.

I was climbing the ladder back onto the boat and watched the entire sole of my wifes boot float past me, took more than her fin off when exiting.
So if anyone from Oceanic is reading this, stop polluting the world with crap plastic!

 

[spoolin01]

Well this is a very old thread. I have bought a 3D printer and I've been experiencing with flexible filament.
I've printed several flexible 2nd stage caps for Oceanic Alpha 7 and Alpha 8 and similar seconds.
Those flexible caps are crap, and sooner or latter they break to pieces.
Though not enough time has passed I hope that those 3D printed caps can stand the dutty.
View attachment 656465
View attachment 656462
View attachment 656464
View attachment 656463

I don't know anything about 3D printing, but at $20 a pop for replacement purge covers, it could be justification on it's own to buy one and learn to use it. What is the materials cost for those printed covers?

I made the mistake years ago of standardizing on the Air XS2 integrated octo, and have had at least 4 of the covers fall apart, as well as the lone Slimline I own, two Alpha 8s and an Alpha 7. Oddly, the Alpha 8s were not much used when I got them, and the yellow Alpha 8 octo covers (like the one you posted) were fine and new-looking though the black and grey primary covers had both fallen apart.

I don't know if this long-standing plastics issue puts Oceanic in a class by itself - I like their Shadow mask, and have not really used many other of their products long enough to say anything about durability (the Geo/Manta battery problem of 10 years ago was another black eye, though they did eventually solve it, albeit not always solely at their expense). They changed hands a few years ago so current problems may or may not be related to what happened prior to that.

 

[Phishin]

I don't know anything about 3D printing, but at $20 a pop for replacement purge covers, it could be justification on it's own to buy one and learn to use it. What is the materials cost for those printed covers?.

It looks like about 50 cents of material.

 

[emoreira]

I don't know anything about 3D printing, but at $20 a pop for replacement purge covers, it could be justification on it's own to buy one and learn to use it. What is the materials cost for those printed covers?

I live in Argentina. There is almost no spare parts available here and the few that can be found are incredible expensive. So 3D printing is a way to reuse broken gear.

 

[KenGordon]

My son has a 3D printer and needs to learn more about materials for his DT class. I have stacks of useless Alpha 8 second stages. Anyone got the STL (or whatever) file?

 

[emoreira]

My son has a 3D printer and needs to learn more about materials for his DT class. I have stacks of useless Alpha 8 second stages. Anyone got the STL (or whatever) file?

Hi, attached find the stl for the Alpha 8 flex cover.
To print it you need flexible filament. The one I used has a shore hardness of 98.
I print those with an encased Creality Ender 3 very slowly.

 

[KenGordon]

Hi, attached find the stl for the Alpha 8 flex cover.
To print it you need flexible filament. The one I used has a shore hardness of 98.
I print those with an encased Creality Ender 3 very slowly.
View attachment 656784

Lovely. It is an Ender of some sort. I will buy him the filament for his birthday

it can be a lesson on why stuff needs doing properly and the whole life of a product - marketing, design, production, support etc.

 

[emoreira]

Lovely. It is an Ender of some sort. I will buy him the filament for his birthday

it can be a lesson on why stuff needs doing properly and the whole life of a product - marketing, design, production, support etc.

The filament I use is produced here. I don't know if Creality has some sort of flexible filament of similar caracteristics.