Jetsam Baby Booster Maintenance

[sunnyboy]

I bought the kit today. Once it arrives I'll be ready to do the maintenance. I'm not sure if I will tear mine down as far as you did, but probably.

 

[teksimple]

Here is the full piston @Agro. Polishing it did actually reduce the leak, but I am skeptical it is a long term fix, so dropped it off at the local machine shop who was convinced they could replace the rod without much trouble.

Tear down is trivial @sunnyboy . No sweat, seriously. Would be interested in seeing what your piston rod looks like.

In the meantime, I did buy a used Haskel mini booster, and its on the way. The three [count 'em 1,2,3 FFS!] service kits needed for that thing cost more than the lightly used booster itself. Once I get the Jetsam baby booster going again, will probably use that exclusively for travel. Most dive operatiors (in the US, at least) will not fill my inconel spheres, so have no choice but to fill them myself. Clearly, did not get into rebreather diving to save money.

 

[Agro]

Here is the full piston @Agro. Polishing it did actually reduce the leak, but I am skeptical it is a long term fix, so dropped it off at the local machine shop who was convinced they could replace the rod without much trouble.

Tear down is trivial @sunnyboy . No sweat, seriously. Would be interested in seeing what your piston rod looks like.

In the meantime, I did buy a used Haskel mini booster, and its on the way. The three [count 'em 1,2,3 FFS!] service kits needed for that thing cost more than the lightly used booster itself. Once I get the Jetsam baby booster going again, will probably use that exclusively for travel. Most dive operatiors (in the US, at least) will not fill my inconel spheres, so have no choice but to fill them myself. Clearly, did not get into rebreather diving to save money.

I do agree, polishing did not solve the problem. I expect the sealing to be dammaged by the piston.

Yes replacing the rod should be an easy job. I recommend stainless steel.

Inconel spheres? Never heard about that. Where did you get them from? What kind of rebreather do you dive? Do you have pictures of your spheres? Very interesting.

 

[teksimple]

@Agro this is my rebreather in the flesh, right before it was shipped to me in 2004. Allegedly this is NEDU #3. The center section's horseshoe board has been rebuilt twice, the last time by me. I have had several versions of electronics, the latest now on the way is the Tigershark. But you can see the inconel spheres in the photos here: SM1600

 

[rjack321]

It is undoubtedly steel, possibly stainless steel but the corrosion probably from sitting in the closet with condensation inside for quite a few years makes me think it is just tool steel. It is a composite piston. The rod is steel, the other part with the gasket and o-ring whose name escapes me, is aluminum.

Are you sure? That rod looks like bronze to me

 

[rjack321]

Inconel spheres? Never heard about that. Where did you get them from? What kind of rebreather do you dive? Do you have pictures of your spheres? Very interesting.

Have not been made in decades and the cost on the used market is astronomical.

 

[teksimple]

For sure not, lol. If it was brass it would be shredded by how much I hit it with the Dremel. I last used a brass polishing brush spun by a drill at high speed, however, so may have transfered some color

 

[teksimple]

Are you sure? That rod looks like bronze to me

Also, bronze doesn't rust. There were and are relatively giant rust corrosion pits

 

[teksimple]

Also, magnets don't stick to bronze

 

[rjack321]

Also, bronze doesn't rust. There were and are relatively giant rust corrosion pits

Bronze will definitely pit exactly like that.