R109 lever and orifice

[hudson]

Guys,

Just picked up a R109 and the poppet needs replacing. I'd like to know if the lever needs replacing too, it's a little shorter than the one in my BA and the tabs have these notches in them. It *looks* like it should be fine with an s-wing poppet but I'm not sure.

Second question: the (brass) orifice looks perfect, but I can just about feel couple of tiny nicks on the edge. Is that an issue at all?

TIA!

 

[halocline]

I'm not sure about your lever, but with regards to the orifice the nicks could be a problem. I usually inspect mine with a 16X loupe, and I can sometimes see some sort of imperfection. If you can feel it with your fingernail, chances are it's significant. Usually it's on the plated ones, where some of the plating has worn off. My experience is that those still work fine but you can't tune them quite as well, no surprise there.

You could try cleaning up the edge of the orifice with some very fine sandpaper; I've used micromesh for that and for piston edges. I wrap a small piece of micromesh around a tapered stick, like a chopstick, for the inside of the edge, then lap sand a little with the micromesh on a flat surface, then clean up the outside. I use 3600 grit or something like that. If you have a sizable nick it probably won't work, and you might be forced to get a new plastic orifice.

 

[hudson]

Thanks... I think I have the same issue, chrome plating coming off. I'll try sanding it.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

That is the later style R109/G250 lever - given the slight step in the tabs. The older style has no step and is wider which causes clearance problems with the later style poppets. Basically, as long as it works, it works.

The nicks are a problem and will greatly increase inhalation effort as the orifice will need to be adjusted further in to increase pressure to stop the leaks that otherwise result from the less than perfect seal. And it will also shorten seat life due to the higher spring pressure on the seat that results.

Often a nick in an orifice results in metal beign pressed inward. I have had some luck working the brass back out from inside the orifice with a brass piston bullet. It gets the surface closer to being back to normal, then lapping the inside to sharpen the edge with a suitable abrasive compound is often enough to restore the orifice.

If not, the recourse is to get a plastic orifice, or buy a fairly inexpensive R108 of e-bay and hope the orifice is both metal (ie: has not been replaced with a plastic one) and is in good condition. The issue with the plastic orifice is that it is both soft and not very sharp, so it ends up working about like an almost worn out metal oirifice.

 

[hudson]

Thanks! Then I guess my BA has the older style lever since it doesn't have the step, if there are only two styles, but it works fine. Cool.