old Dacor catalog online

[DarthWader]

I stumbled across this old dacor catalog online and thought you folks might enjoy it.
http://www.sukellusmuseo.fi/esitteet/dacor_78.pdf

 

[Luis H]

Thanks

This 1978 Dacor catalog is very interesting.

In page 12 they are offering a new balanced double hose regulator. It is right below the single hose octopus and multi-port adapters to add the octopus. That in itself is kind of ironic since that double hose had no LP ports (or HP ports for that matter) to attach an octopus.

I always thought that Dacor quit making double hose before US Divers, but it doesn't look like that is the case.

Also in page 7 they are showing the constant volume Nautilus...I have one of those. One of these days I will restore it and dive it.


Was that the only Dacor catalog? I wish it was just a bit higher resolution... I can't read most of the text.

 

[David Wilson]

I chanced upon this Finnish-language site a month or two ago. There's only one Dacor catalogue posted, but there are dozens of other diving equipment companies' catalogues, particularly European ones, waiting to be downloaded. Yes, the resolution isn't ideal, but this site is the only one I know with access to such a broad range of vintage diving gear information focusing on this (Eastern) side of the Atlantic. What's great is that the whole text of each catalogue has been converted to a PDF file, not just the front covers that some sites post just to tantalise online surfers. And the gear covered isn't just regulators and tanks. As a vintage snorkeller, I grow weary when there's too much emphasis on air supply equipment and too little about basic gear such as fins, masks and suits.

Anyway, enjoy what you find on the following web page:

http://www.sukellusmuseo.fi/esitteet.html

My Finnish-English dictionary tells me that "esitteet" is the Finnish for "leaflets" or "prospectuses", while "sukellusmuseo" is the Finnish for "diving museum". The rest of the sukellusmuseo.fi site is worth a visit too, you don't have to know Finnish, there are plenty of images to view.

 

[ditch-diver]

Wow.., I picked out my first mask, snorkel and fins out of the catalogue, along with my my first dive light, back pack, wrist mounted depth guage and knife.

I even had one of the T-shirts, hats, stickers and patches...,. but I did NOT have the cheezy
'70's porno moustache :^)

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I believe that I have seen years ago a Dacor double hose with a HP port (I think it was a "Clipper" version). I have also heard of people taking the HP body and drilling it, taping it for threads and making their own HP port. But again, that was some time ago. When I get home, I'll look at my older Dacor catelogs, as I think I have the some one as the one pictured. That really isn't to "vintage" for Dacor, as the Olympic line was their line at the time and the R-4 was their double hose. This one with the balanced first stage may have had a HP port too, I'll check on that this evening. The Dacor Dart regulator is the really vintage Dacor single hose, and I had one, then sold it, and now have another. It had the only double-lever system that I know of in any single hose regulator second stage. The Dial-a-Breath double hose regulator is one I had in the 1970s, and dove a bit. I then bought the internal parts for the R-4, and changed out the regulator to convert it from the former to the latter. That R-4 I dove for years, and had a lever modification that I made that I thought would help the regulator. I gave it to the Dacor rep when he came through the Roseburg, Oregon area one year, and never saw it again. Several years later, when I brought it up, Dacor sent me a Pacer regulator to replace the converted R-4. I regretted giving it up, and the Pacer I received was possibly a pre-production model with drilled (round) holes for the second stage exhaust (not the stamped out ones on the Pacers I have now). But Dacor was a very interesting company, with great products which were very servicable. Their first regulators, and all of their double hose regulators, could be maintained with a screwdriver, pliers, and little more.

Here is a photo of me using the R-4 in about 1973.

Luis, if you have the Dacor CVS, do put it in the water and dive it if you can. It is an interesting experience. Once you add air, you really do not need to mess with it again, as it does maintain a constant volume. But you need to read the book on it, and get used to it too. It operates differently from other BCs.

Using the Nautilus with a Sportsways Hydro-Twin regulator in 2007. The Hydro-Twin has both a LP and an HP outlet, hence its use with the Nautilus CVS. This Sportsways regulator also features a balanced first stage and downstream second stage (it's predicessor, the Duel-Air was an upstream tilt valve off an unbalanced first stage).

John

 

[Luis H]

Luis, if you have the Dacor CVS, do put it in the water and dive it if you can. It is an interesting experience. Once you add air, you really do not need to mess with it again, as it does maintain a constant volume. But you need to read the book on it, and get used to it too. It operates differently from other BCs.



John

I have used a Dacor Nautilus, just not this one.

It was easy to adjust and dive, but it is not capable of automatic compensating for the buoyancy change with depth of a heavy neoprene suit (or tank weight change as you consume the air) so it is actually basically pointless, IMO.

If I could add a pump and program it to compensate for the buoyancy change of the wetsuit as a function of depth and the weight change of the tank as a function of air pressure left, then it would be useful. Then you could swim in all three axes and just use your lungs for minor adjustments.

As it is the only purpose of the Nautilus is for compensating for an improperly weighted diver. It can do that very well, but I just prefer not to carry into the water any extra weight that I don't need.

It was an interesting experience diving it, but it is just not very practical.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

For the "New Balanced Two Hose Regulator," this is what the catalog says:

MODEL C3NB Balanced Two Hose Regulator
This professional's choice two stage balanced regulator is capable of delivering over 30 cubic feet of air per minute to the diver. All brass parts are triple-plated chrome, highly polished for lasting beauty and protection. Longer length true spiral hoses for smooth air flow andwater purge. Hose features bacteria resistant neoprene. Off-set mouthpiece for comfort and convenience in long working dives. Internal mechanism has teflon coated high pressure seat, free-floating second stage seat, and low modulus diaphragms for low inhalation and exhalation effort. The ultimate for cold water enthusiasts, military and commercial divers.

Concerning the CVS, yes the tank buoyancy will change, and so will the buoyancy of the full wet suit. But I have done a lot of experimentation with the wet suits in fresh water at depth, and found that they won't change appreciably after about 45 feet of depth. In Clear Lake years ago, I simply took off my weight belt and swam with only the scuba at about fifty feet (I hooked it on the anchor line of a boat we had rented). I swam neutral and free without the weights. The CVS would also allow the same type of setting (CVS meaning "Constant Volume System"). Once set, the regulator for the system allows changes in pressure without causing a change in the buoyancy of the system, and upon ascending the pressure simply bleeds off. My take on the CVS is that it was pretty bulky, and therefore harder to move through the water than a simple, single tank system.

John