I Want to hear about Reg. Failures. Got any stories?

[herman]

Huh. I have one of those. A Dacor Olympic from the early 70s (I think it's an Olympic 400). My father gave it to me the same time he gave me his old MK5.

You think anybody out there can still service one of those Dacors? I've never even tried to use it... it's about 9 years older than my MK5 and hasn't been serviced in about 30 years. I keep it mainly as a conversation piece, but if it could be cleaned up to serviceability... hmm.

Those are pretty generic regs. It would make a great first DIY reg, as long as the diaphram is good the rest of the parts are generic to most regs of the time (and a lot of low end modern ones as well). They are simple and easy to repair. Or to more directly answer your question, not likely a shop would do it due to the lack of OEM parts (and the liability BS that goes with it) but there is no reason not to do it yourself and learn from the experience.

 

[Couv]

Huh. I have one of those. A Dacor Olympic from the early 70s (I think it's an Olympic 400). My father gave it to me the same time he gave me his old MK5.

You think anybody out there can still service one of those Dacors? I've never even tried to use it... it's about 9 years older than my MK5 and hasn't been serviced in about 30 years. I keep it mainly as a conversation piece, but if it could be cleaned up to serviceability... hmm.

Yes,

It was my "old faithful" for years until I worked in a SP shop...still worked well when I sold it.

Dixie here is a thread you might find helpful


http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/264615-dacor-parts-wish-list.html

 

[Rick Inman]

It does seem wasteful though to use an expensive regulator on a deco bottle? I'd be inclined to put an inexpensive regulator for deco, since it's shallow anyway and you're just floating and waiting. (I'm not a tech diver)

Adam

Yeah, well when I first went to doubles I got a fantastic deal on an Apeks xtx200, so I had the Atomic on one post and the 200 on the other. Then I got the same great deal on another 200 and wanted to match the regs on my doubles, so I made the Atomic my first deco reg. I now use a SP17 for my O2 bottle, and the Atomic for deeper bottles (if I'm using a 120' bottle, I use it for that bottle).

 

[DixieDolphin]

but there is no reason not to do it yourself and learn from the experience.

Thanks (to both of you!) Yeah, I've taken that reg apart several times to learn about how they were put together. Figured I'd risk screwing up one that I wasn't using, rather than one I was depending on.

If I can track down parts, I think I may turn it into a project this spring!

(Sorry to thread-hijack!) =)

 

[DennisW]

I normally do the overhaul / repair on my regulators. I actually took a course from Diving Technologies International in Coral Springs, FL. A week long course that was classroom and actual regulator overhaul. Excellent course and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to do their own regs. However, I will admit I have made at least one mistake, I didn't get the mouthpiece on tight enough on my wife's regulator and as we were descending on a dive off FT. Lauderdale, the reg floated away and she was there with the mouthpiece in her mouth. I was right with her and took the mouthpiece and gave her her octopus. We went back to the boat, fixed the regulator and dived. She was great and when she felt water instead of air, just bubbled air until I had the Octo in her mouth, it couldn't have been more than a second or two.

On one occasion a couple of years ago at SBITK, her regulator began breathing wet. This regulator was an old Sherwood that I had bought used and we had been using it for years. I bought her a new SP R395. Later I found out from my LDS here in VA that those specific Sherwood regulators could develop cracks in the plastic body. I am sure that is what happened to that regulator even though I never tried to confirm it. An experienced technician that was very familiar with Sherwood would have known this problem and checked for it at each overhaul. I didn't know and I don't know of any service bulletins that discuss the issue.

 

[captain]

To me a regulator failure means a failure that prevents inhalation of air. Free flows, wet breathing, O ring leaks, hose leaks, etc I do not consider as failures. Using my definition I have had none in 52 years of diving and have not witnessed any.

 

[Slonda828]

If regulators were real life support then there would be a certification required to work on them?

I work on life support regularly, if an engine quits running or a wing falls off or a propeller goes away on it's own then pilots and passengers tend to get upset. When I complete a job I sign it off with the authority that goes with the A&P/IA. Who exactly guarantees with a legally required signature that the retail dive business clerk knows anything at all about regulators? Bicycle mechanics go to school or apprentice, who exactly trains dive equipment "mechanics" and I use that word dishonorably in that regard as they are unworthy of the title, mechanic.

N

This cracks me up too. When I was an avionics technician, I had to go through 7 months of hell to learn how to fix RADAR. I was a technician through and through. I went through FOUR HOURS of training to become certified to service regulators. Now I'm a "regulator technician".

 

[beachnik]

I've been certified for 20 years and diving a little longer than that. Overall, I have seen very little in terms of equipment failures. But there was one interesting incident.

We were on a small charter sailboat. We were diving the wreck of the Rhone. The captain of the boat was on the dive with us. He was swimming right next to me. Just as we got to the sandy bottom, I looked over at him and just then, the plastic cover on his second stage floated off and sank to the bottom!

He calmly grabbed for the cover, tried to screw it back on, couldn't get it on, stuck the parts and second stage into his BC pocket, grabbed his octo and continued with the dive.

The 2nd stage did not free flow (I have no idea if one would expect it to, but it didn't).

Someone else might have flipped out and turned this into a real problem. It was a good lesson in the value in staying calm.

 

[InTheDrink]

Late to the party too, but hey there's still a bit of night left.

Right, my one and only reg 'failure'. I was in a very strong current, and I mean strong 'hold on to the wall with both hands' strong, nothing I've encountered before or since. Anyhow, my reg started letting in water, lots of it. I checked my SPG wondering W-T-F is going on? Loads of gas. W-T-F-x2? I ballooned off the wall into my guide who duly guided me out and up. By which stage the reg was breathing fine again. Basically it appears that the water pressure from the mental current was enough to depress the purge and it leaked badly. No real biggie in retrospect, although it seemed it at the time - the current and the reg failure combo being somewhat a scary combination. Was a rental reg FWIW.

 

[Merlin830]

In 40 years have never had a in water failure, a few O-rings leaking at the surface is it:

Rule #1 Check the O-ring. They are cheap to have a bag in your dive bag and if there is any doubt replace. What is a few more cents.

Rule #2 Check out on deck and make sure if it is functioning. If it works on deck it will work in the water. Also check out the Octo and power inflator.

Rule #3 Keep water out of the first stage by replacing the cap as soon as it comes off of the tank. Dont forget the Octo or power inflator if you have a combo unit.

Rule #4 Flush the regulator thouroughly while atatched to the tank hit the purge to make sure all the salt is out. (If you dive freashwater not as important)

Rule #5 Store it in a climate controlled area if possible. top of a closet or bottom of a drawer. Hight temperature especially such as in a garage will shorten life of seals and o-rings.

A regulator is a very simple mechanical device and has very few failure modes.