Rebuilding 1964 aquilon

[Joris Vd]

Dear people at scubaboard,

A while ago I posted for the first time because I found old diving gear in my attic. Among these items was a 1964 La spirotechnique aquilon. Since then alot has happened. Finding the old gear inspired me to start diving and I have recently done two small dives just to get started (like a 6meter padi introduction dive and a 12m 1 hour dive with an instructor). I know it's nothing, but babysteps am I right? From next week on I will join a diving club in my homecity and the rest will be in the future.

However, finding all this old gear also inspired me to the technical side of breathing apparatus, it's so simple, yet so vital that everything works perfectly. So I started rebuilding the scubapro 108 second stage and this aquilon. There is this one part that I can't seem to find a decent replacement for and I was wondering if there were more modern, reliable alternatives for it? It's basically the same as the thing as you find in the old scubapro's (eraser style poppet ?)
The middle is dented from the metal piston pushing against it.

PS: Just so you guys don't worry, I only want to get these functional because I want to learn more about them, I will not be using them anywhere except maybe in my home swimming pool to test if they work on 1 meter depth.

 

[northernone]

Thrilled you've returned to diving! Enjoy.

Until those who actually know arrive in this thread.... It appears a common size.

Maybe you could contact Bryan @OWIC647 as a source or recommendation of an equivalent replacement.

... If they are unattainable, some of us also flip them over for a second lease on life.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[Luis H]

I saw your earlier posts and I am very glad you decided to get into diving.

There is a group of us who enjoy restoring and using some of the early gear. You will find that some of the gear you inherited will perform just great.

The soft seat on that second stage looks like a standard modern seat. You should be able to pick the soft seat out by using a pointy brass pick and carefully inserting it into the edge. Measure the diameter and order a replacement from VintageDoubleHose.com

Good luck and have fun.

 

[Joris Vd]

The soft seat was indeed the same as a standard modern, I just swapped it up, put new o-rings and removed any corrosion with a vinegar water mix and a toothbrush. I tried to polish up the chrome with the good old coca cola and aluminum foil trick. It worked ok, but next time I will try a fine buffing solution to polish it up even more. This is a rebuild of the second aquilon I had laying around. I added some before pictures of the before at the end so you can see the amount of corrosion and grime buildup inside.
Sadly I think I will never try them because the aquilon's need hoses that are 'vintage' and the hoses I have haven't been used in over thirty, so I'm afraid to put them under pressure.
My next project will be the scubapro 108 and 109 second stages with the mk2 din I have laying around. I was thinking of trying to make it into a legit divings reg-set with the 108 as the octo and the 109 as the main
.

 

[Ghetto Diver]

The aquilon has an odd connector then? I have fired up old hoses before, barring obvious cracks, they held up fine. Keep in mind, the psi is somewhere 110-145, so not that great.
Great to see someone else getting involved first hand with their equipment.

 

[Joris Vd]

I have no clue to be honest, I'm very new to the technical aspect of diving, or diving in general. The dude at the diveshop told me he wouldn't test the aquilons because they have different connectors they don't make anymore and that he didn't trust the old hoses. Fun fact about the two Aquilons I have here, it might be an embellished story, but my mother claims that the first owner of these aquilons was a german bundeswehr officer, who had dived on the calypso multiple times and knew the old cousteau personally. Take it with a grain of salt, but still a fun thought to think about.
.

 

[northernone]

Great looking pics.

Glad to see you're progressing!

Views on and opinions of older regs and equipment use varies greatly between different people and shops. Some will swear old stuff will kill you, others quite prefer the manufacturing quality of yesteryear.

All in all it's quite likely the hoses are still fine and the regs would be great to dive when you're done with them. If they aren't you'll see it in testing. Do you have a local dive club where you could find a buddy who is experienced with older gear and could look it over and show you what to check for?

Can someone confirm the yoke is ok for 3000psi? I have a feeling it might be suited for 2400psi LP cylinders which could be what your local shop was suggesting.

Cheers,
Cameron

 

[Joris Vd]

Great looking pics.

Glad to see you're progressing!

Views on and opinions of older regs and equipment use varies greatly between different people and shops. Some will swear old stuff will kill you, others quite prefer the manufacturing quality of yesteryear.

All in all it's quite likely the hoses are still fine and the regs would be great to dive when you're done with them. If they aren't you'll see it in testing. Do you have a local dive club where you could find a buddy who is experienced with older gear and could look it over and show you what to check for?

Can someone confirm the yoke is ok for 3000psi? I have a feeling it might be suited for 2400psi LP cylinders which could be what your local shop was suggesting.

Cheers,
Cameron

I am currently in the proces of trying out several diving clubs (there's 3-5 in the town where I live) and looking at which one I will join. I hope to find other enthousiasts so I will be able to test them out rather sooner than later. I am trying to recover anything diving related from our family attic and praying I still find more treasure. My father and I threw away alot of my mother's old stuff a while ago when we moved.(she said she didn't want the stuff anymore) In one of those containers we threw a dräger viking drysuit with interspyro full face mask. Now that I started to get interested in diving. living in a cold region, I now realise I should not have done that.... I had a chance to get a free affordable high quality drysuit, guess I will have to start saving up if I ever want a drysuit...

 

[Joris Vd]

I don't know if this helps anyone, but it's supposed to be the french version of the US Divers Calypso J or Aquarius if I am understandign the whole US Divers La spiro patent thingy... so the pressure limits are probably the same as on the calypso J and aquarius

 

[Bob DBF]

Can someone confirm the yoke is ok for 3000psi? I have a feeling it might be suited for 2400psi LP cylinders which could be what your local shop was suggesting.

The predominant tank at that time was the old steel 72 with a service pressure of 2250 and being a new tank at the time would have a + and fill pressure of 2645#. In my experience with regs of that vintage, I have had no problem with using them on Al 80's at 3000#, however I tend to use them on old 72's as I have them and it is period for the gear.

All in all it's quite likely the hoses are still fine and the regs would be great to dive when you're done with them. If they aren't you'll see it in testing.

I use some old hoses I picked with used regs, one for sure had an original hose from the '60's and it works fine. Not to say I would trust it, but since I only dive it occasionally for fun I have not found it necessary to change the hose.

Although they don't make the hose anymore, the OP might look into whether they used standard industrial fittings that might still be in use today so a replacement might be made.


Bob