Hey all, I'm starting to get into the vintage diving scene, and a month or so ago I was given a old Voit 50 Fathom reg that was in rough shape. The hoses were rotted away, but the regulator box was all there and the blue metalflake paint was even in decent shape.
Well, a few internal parts from VDH and new hoses/rubber parts from the Scuba Museum, and she's back in business and breathing like a champ. (I work in a dive shop and am a reg tech, so I kinda sorta know what I'm doing and have access to tool and such.)
I'm LOVING these old regs and the other gear. Diving them is a HOOT!
I've had it in the pool test-diving it a couple of times and a few questions:
1. I test the unit and it is totally airtight. 100%. But after using it, I tear it down, and there is water inside the can. Not much, like condensation on all surfaces and a little bit pooled in the bottom, but that can't be right, is it? Also, there is some condensation on the inhale hose, which seems counter-intuitive. How is water getting in when I've tested it for airtightness on the surface and there are no leaks from it when underwater?
2. And probably a silly question, but I ordered a new HP seat from VDH as a spare, since the original, while grooved, still locked up tight with no creep or leakage. However, the original has two holes at different heights for the crossbar that the lever acts on, while the replacement only has one, closer to the end. Does it matter where the crossbar goes?
When I tore it down, it was in the "higher" hole, away from the bottom, (nearer the seat), which I presume would put more preload on the poppet spring. I rebuilt it that way and set the lever height to give around 1.3 inches of water on the inhale and it doesn't leak and locks up tight. I could maybe tune it a bit more aggressively, but since I rotated the guts to face the venturi down the intake hose, it breathes like a million bucks as-is. (Though, being downstream, it gets noticeably harder below 1000psi, but that's a nice reminder.)
Any help would be appreciated. I'm currently working on putting together a set of USD triples I was given and getting them dive-worthy. After that, who knows? The guy also has an old DA Aquamaster that would look great with a Phoenix nozzle...
Well, a few internal parts from VDH and new hoses/rubber parts from the Scuba Museum, and she's back in business and breathing like a champ. (I work in a dive shop and am a reg tech, so I kinda sorta know what I'm doing and have access to tool and such.)
I'm LOVING these old regs and the other gear. Diving them is a HOOT!
I've had it in the pool test-diving it a couple of times and a few questions:
1. I test the unit and it is totally airtight. 100%. But after using it, I tear it down, and there is water inside the can. Not much, like condensation on all surfaces and a little bit pooled in the bottom, but that can't be right, is it? Also, there is some condensation on the inhale hose, which seems counter-intuitive. How is water getting in when I've tested it for airtightness on the surface and there are no leaks from it when underwater?
2. And probably a silly question, but I ordered a new HP seat from VDH as a spare, since the original, while grooved, still locked up tight with no creep or leakage. However, the original has two holes at different heights for the crossbar that the lever acts on, while the replacement only has one, closer to the end. Does it matter where the crossbar goes?
When I tore it down, it was in the "higher" hole, away from the bottom, (nearer the seat), which I presume would put more preload on the poppet spring. I rebuilt it that way and set the lever height to give around 1.3 inches of water on the inhale and it doesn't leak and locks up tight. I could maybe tune it a bit more aggressively, but since I rotated the guts to face the venturi down the intake hose, it breathes like a million bucks as-is. (Though, being downstream, it gets noticeably harder below 1000psi, but that's a nice reminder.)
Any help would be appreciated. I'm currently working on putting together a set of USD triples I was given and getting them dive-worthy. After that, who knows? The guy also has an old DA Aquamaster that would look great with a Phoenix nozzle...
