Gossip from reg tech re Dive Rite

[Matt S.]

My Dive Rite RG2500ICE is in for annual service. The shop started on it today and gave me a call... They were wondering if I had messed with the DIN fitting on the first stage. Well, no, what's wrong, I ask?

The tech told me that it was torqued to twice what it should have been and they were barely able to get apart. He also said that the part is prone to coming loose in DR regs and so it is very common to find them overtightened. I think he meant that owners would see it coming loose and, not having a torque wrench, just crank it down tight. (This isn't something that could happen from over tightening the reg on a tank, I asked since I couldn't quite visualize the part he was talking about.)

I never messed with my first stage so it must have come to me this way. I don't know if the factory messed it up, or if my retailer adjusted it. Looks like it will be fine though.

Anyway I just thought it was interesting.

 

[h90]

I don't know details about that, but I am surprised that they can tell the torque from opening. In my opinion many other things can prevent an easy opening.
I recall that I had my Din to Int adaptor fitet per hand on my first stage and left it there a month and it was almost impossible to get it off again, because there was no grease on it and salt got hard between.
So I find that phone call strange.

 

[Luis H]

When two parts that have been together for a wile (even just a year or less) just a minute amount of corrosion, hardened grease, dust, etc., etc., can affect a torque reading. Any good tech would know that it is very unreliable to trust a torque reading when taking apart a threaded fitting that has been together for any length of time.

He is just trying to impress you that he owns a torque wrench. And that you are just a mere mortal and mere mortals are not supposed to work on “life support equipment”.

 

[fweber]

As Luis said, resistance to loosening is not an accurate measure of the torque to which something has been torqued. I think that in this case the tech is of more concern than the reg.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Mine works loose fairly regularly but I was the original installer (the adapter was in the box when I got the reg) and I only tighten it until it stops moving, I don't crank down on it. I must have missed the part in the book that tells what the torque setting should be
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Bob Vincent]

The tech told me that it was torqued to twice what it should have been and they were barely able to get apart.

They take a torque wrench when something feels tight to check how tight? Boy, thats one good repair shop now.:mooner:

:11::blinking::14::11doh::10:

 

[northen diver]

My Dive Rite RG2500ICE is in for annual service. The shop started on it today and gave me a call... They were wondering if I had messed with the DIN fitting on the first stage. Well, no, what's wrong, I ask?

The tech told me that it was torqued to twice what it should have been and they were barely able to get apart. He also said that the part is prone to coming loose in DR regs and so it is very common to find them overtightened. I think he meant that owners would see it coming loose and, not having a torque wrench, just crank it down tight. (This isn't something that could happen from over tightening the reg on a tank, I asked since I couldn't quite visualize the part he was talking about.)

I never messed with my first stage so it must have come to me this way. I don't know if the factory messed it up, or if my retailer adjusted it. Looks like it will be fine though.

Anyway I just thought it was interesting.

Matt: The removal torque is often more than twice that of the tiightening torque on many fasteners. The turning effort of a torque wrench is measured into two efforts. Friction and tension. So if your tech is saying its twice the amount, it was more than likely torqued correctly.

Also, if you look at the instructions on a torque wrench, it'll say NOT to use a torque wrench to remove fasteners due to loosing the calibration of your tool. So, if the tech is using his torque wrench to remove fasteners, he'll end up with a tool out of calibartion. There are "reverse" torque wrenches on the market, but they are rather expensive and I doubt that your LDS tech has one of these.

 

[hunter991]

Some of the Dive Rite Regs have a drop of Lock Tite on them, that may have been the issue.

Brent

 

[docmartin]

the guy obviously knows nothing about torque wrenches and it's a pretty safe bet that the ones he uses are incorrectly calibrated since he uses them inappropriately.

 

[Matt S.]

These comments are cracking me up. Don't be too hard on the guy yet, though. Since I couldn't tell a torque wrench from a fetzer valve I may have misstated a critical detail.

Even if the tech is a chowderhead and was wrong about details like "twice" the torque, the way he described it made it pretty clear that the part was cranked down way too hard.

I think the primary purpose for his call was to warn me that the part got some cosmetic damage from the 'heroic effort' of disassembly, and did I care and want them to order a new one. Secondarily, he wanted to scold me if I was the offending torquer.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt since this is one of the two shops in my area that everyone recommends for this kind of service.