Refinishing HP seat

[Aqua-Andy]

Has anyone ever tried to refinish a HP seat in a diaphragm reg? I have moved to all HOG regs and was noticing when doing an overhaul the HP seat will only have a slight impression from the knife edge and there is plenty of soft material left to use. I figure the spring adjustment should take up for any difference in IP. Just a thought as the seat is the most expensive part of the kit.

 

[Fishpie]

You can on some double hose regs.

A groove in the seat is not a problem it's pitting in the seat material that indicates need for replacement.

 

[elan]

If your orifice is in good condition and does not have dings the chances are you can reuse the seat again and it will lock up well. One of the seats in my zeagles is 4 years old and survived 3 rebuilds. But their design is better as there is no grove developed and there i no performance lose.

 

[captain]

A piece of plate glass and some wet or dry sand paper. Put the sandpaper on the glass with a bit of soapy water. Use a figure 8 motion and keep the seat flat on the paper. Use a magnifier to check that the groove on the seat is gone, take your time.

 

[herman]

Same as Capt, I use 1500-2000 grit from the auto supply store and a surplus 12 inch square glazed tile. The tile is plenty flat but less likely to break. If the ridge is deep I will start off with 400-600 then move to the finer grades. I don't typically bother with modern regs since I can get the seat but I have done it a lot with vintage regs that the seat was not available for.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Thanks for the info, I wanted to make sure I was not crazy trying to do this.

 

[Centrals]

Would it work on Apeks seat?
One of my deco reg is NOT locking(IP drift) so I might as well give it a try.

 

[elan]

Would it work on Apeks seat?
One of my deco reg is NOT locking(IP drift) so I might as well give it a try.

Why not just replace the seat with a new one ? Like herman mentioned it makes sense to do it with the vintage but seems like too much work for a seat that comes with a kit and costs around $30.

 

[Centrals]

Why not just replace the seat with a new one ? Like herman mentioned it makes sense to do it with the vintage but seems like too much work for a seat that comes with a kit and costs around $30.

Totally agreed.
But it is good to know the trick just in case.

 

[Zung]

FWIW, Mares doesn't even include a seat in the service kit: it's inspect, and replace if required, but it has to be ordered separately.