I recently came across a pair of halcyon precision inflators (post recall model). I looked up the product manual and was surprised By the oring recommendations. All of the orings were buna N except for the pair of dynamic 006. The manual recommends polyurethane dura 70. I have been using viton 006 in my "non-serviceable" standard style inflators. Any thoughts on polyurethane in this application. Also, what happened to this inflator line (discontinued?), it seems like a great idea.
Halcyon precision inflator
- Thread starter Candiru
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Dr. Lecter
Contributor
Ha, are you the one who outbid me on eBay for those two? 
The pre-recall ones were prone to autoinflation issues. The post-recall ones never really shook that stigma, in part because they really do require a significant amount of cleaning to avoid the buttons sticking just enough to cause a slow leak into the wing. This wouldn't be such a problem but for the design of the shaft holding the dynamic o-rings, which is just a royal pain in the arse to unscrew from the inflator assembly (especially if you've followed the instructions and applied a dab of green loctite when reassembling) because it has a very broad, very shallow flathead screwdriver slot milled into it instead of something smart like a hexbolt or even a pozidrive. One could skip the loctite and have an easier time of disassembly, but then the twisting and whatnot seems to cause the button to unscrew from the shaft eventually, leading to the button firing off from the rest of the assembly under pressure. The SS inflator assembly also threads into a polymer inflator body, which leads to stripped threads and the entire inflator assembly firing out under pressure instead of just the SS button.
All told, it's a brilliant thing for pinpoint buoyancy control via the ability to inject just the right smidge of gas...when it works. All too often, it doesn't and you find yourself torn between the hassle of rebuilding it or the hassle of constantly having to twist the inflator button back and forth to make sure it has popped fully out after you used it. And a matching steel inflator body, as heavy and expensive as that would have been, would have been a much better idea.
The pre-recall ones were prone to autoinflation issues. The post-recall ones never really shook that stigma, in part because they really do require a significant amount of cleaning to avoid the buttons sticking just enough to cause a slow leak into the wing. This wouldn't be such a problem but for the design of the shaft holding the dynamic o-rings, which is just a royal pain in the arse to unscrew from the inflator assembly (especially if you've followed the instructions and applied a dab of green loctite when reassembling) because it has a very broad, very shallow flathead screwdriver slot milled into it instead of something smart like a hexbolt or even a pozidrive. One could skip the loctite and have an easier time of disassembly, but then the twisting and whatnot seems to cause the button to unscrew from the shaft eventually, leading to the button firing off from the rest of the assembly under pressure. The SS inflator assembly also threads into a polymer inflator body, which leads to stripped threads and the entire inflator assembly firing out under pressure instead of just the SS button.
All told, it's a brilliant thing for pinpoint buoyancy control via the ability to inject just the right smidge of gas...when it works. All too often, it doesn't and you find yourself torn between the hassle of rebuilding it or the hassle of constantly having to twist the inflator button back and forth to make sure it has popped fully out after you used it. And a matching steel inflator body, as heavy and expensive as that would have been, would have been a much better idea.
Sorry Dr lecter for snipping you. I am planning on selling the extra one on scuba board so keep an eye out. What are your thoughts on on the polyurethane orings? I am really interested in an all metal inflator. I wonder how difficult it would be to get one prototyped with today's rapid prototyping companies. COLOR="Silver"]
---------- Post added May 13th, 2014 at 10:01 PM ----------
[/COLOR]With the proper tool. I find the non-serviceable inflators really easy to service.
---------- Post added May 13th, 2014 at 10:01 PM ----------
[/COLOR]With the proper tool. I find the non-serviceable inflators really easy to service.
Dr. Lecter
Contributor
No worries, that's what I get for not paying close enough attention to the auction. As for the o-rings, I assume Halcyon chose them for some reason, but I wouldn't worry about trying different o-rings and seeing how they work/hold up. The machined SS body against which the shaft o-rings move is probably not as smooth as the chromed brass used in the generic inflators, which may have something to do with it.
Taking some polishing rouge and a shaped Dremel hard felt tip to the inside of the SS inflator assembly is an idea I've considered but never tried...it did do wonders for the feed ramps my .45s, though, so maybe it'd help here too.
Taking some polishing rouge and a shaped Dremel hard felt tip to the inside of the SS inflator assembly is an idea I've considered but never tried...it did do wonders for the feed ramps my .45s, though, so maybe it'd help here too.
Dr. Lecter
Contributor
I've always just used the red fine clay type stuff that came with my Dremel ages ago. I assume you can buy more of it at any hardware store.
That said, this thread inspired me to finally break down and clean up one of these I pulled out of service and tossed in a drawer last month...it'd be a rather drastic trimming of a hard felt tip to polish the interior walls. Regular cleaning with CLR (rust scale from iron in the water seems to get on the SS bits pretty frequently) and then packing the whole thing with grease before reassembling is probably the easiest approach.
That said, this thread inspired me to finally break down and clean up one of these I pulled out of service and tossed in a drawer last month...it'd be a rather drastic trimming of a hard felt tip to polish the interior walls. Regular cleaning with CLR (rust scale from iron in the water seems to get on the SS bits pretty frequently) and then packing the whole thing with grease before reassembling is probably the easiest approach.
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