How to restore a Piston Regulator that has IP creep

[Scared Silly]

We’ve all fallen for it. For pennies on the dollar, we bought a great deal on eBay that looked perfect in the pictures and was “just serviced!”, but ended up having IP creep.

....

As soon as we took her apart, it became clear that as flawless as the outside appeared in the eBay pictures, this reg hadn’t seen service in awhile, and had clearly been put away wet.

So what kinda of feedback did you give the seller?

 

[rsingler]

So what kinda of feedback did you give the seller?

Lol, none! The price is always a clue. Since we all now know how simple it is to "fix" this broken regulator, I still won out.
I've acquired two "broken" Atomic T2x sets for $400 each this way. They don't last but a day or two on eBay, and people wonder how I ever afforded $3000 for my wife's and my reg sets.
But I know what you mean. I once picked up a Poseidon XStream from Hawaii (big mistake) that looked just as pretty. When I took it apart, it was such a corroded mess that I was looking at $50 in new parts. I opened a correspondence with the seller, who felt badly enough that he sent me the money for all the parts I had to replace. Buying from the tropics is a chancier thing.

 

[Couv]

Very informative, Doctor.

 

[rsingler]

Ah, @couv ! You could do this in your sleep!

 

[Couv]

I actually like your hex key method better than my method. But, I'm a sharp piston man-so I'm looking forward to that tutorial.

 

[Bryan@Vintage Double Hose]

Robert, if by chance you have this in PDF form I'd really like to have it in my manuals and catalogs section of the site.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I used this to fix a used MK-10 and am working on. MK-20 at the moment.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I am happy to report I fixed the one on the MK-20 I screwed-up as well. This works.

 

[Andrew Dawson]

Agreed!! I restored 3 MK20s with this method

 

[JamesBon92007]

Thanks for the excellent tutorial! I finally got a regulator with IP Creep--it's a Sherwood Maximus that was way more corroded than your subject. I got the new Belleville washers in the mail today (the other ones fell apart) and at least now I have LP but it creeps up to nearly 180 psi. This was also from eBay and was an indicator--it looked like the previous owner did not maintain his equipment so I took a chance that he simply did not replace the batteries on the two computers. Two batteries later and a couple of O-rings (for the SPG) I had myself a great deal. I'm not sure if sharpening the piston will solve all the issues on this one because the vent hole on the piston was also corroded. Probably will be good enough for air tools though. I used the piston spring to fix another Sherwood