SP pilot regulator

[Couv]

Very nice @Kupu !

Congratulations! Looks pretty.
But keep that chrome away from @couv. He has sticky fingers, I'm told.

I just got a couple of these in:

 

[Kupu]

Opening the poppet retainer was by far the biggest challenge. I found a 6 in 1 MIG tool that had perfectly sized section in the jaws to grip the retainer. The teeth were filed down with chainsaw file. After a weeks soak in WD40, it opened right up using thin blade small adjustable wrench to turn the stop while gripping the retainer with the MIG tool. Thanks to @Luis H for sharing repair procedures showing correct tool and @rsingler for the WD40 idea.

 

[Kupu]

Diagram taken from a Czech vintage scuba site. Fun site to browse through, I needed the help of google translate.

a) pilot valve open and main valve closed
b) main valve open

 

[rsingler]

A thread by our own @John C. Ratliff in another forum from 2019 gives the history of the Pilot in Tony Christiansen's own words.
He was the inventor.
I pulled this reference from @Kupu's Polish find above. Thanks, @Kupu!

https://vintagescuba.proboards.com/thread/4963/scubapro-pilot-regulator-came

 

[Kupu]

Here is another Tony Christiansen creation from the early 80's, a Seapro Zepher. It is in very good condition, I have not yet tried to open the pilot valve, shown on lower right

 

[rsingler]

Long live center-balanced designs!

 

[Luis H]

Here is another Tony Christiansen creation from the early 80's, a Seapro Zepher. It is in very good condition, I have not yet tried to open the pilot valve, shown on lower right
View attachment 613784

I have one of those.

Some day I will have time to play with it.

Thanks for the picture.

 

[Kupu]

I have one of those.

Some day I will have time to play with it.

Thanks for the picture.

I had noticed you picked one up a few years ago, and defiantly would enjoy hearing how it goes if you find time to check it out.
Mine performs decently, but I think not to its full potential. It has been a year since I last played with it, and now have a few new tuning and adjustment ideas to test out.

 

[thbcthomas]

Can someone help identify the scubapro reg?

 

[Luis H]

From the picture it looks like a Pilot that has been converter to an Air-1. From the angle it is hard to tell for sure, but the difference is that the cap on the top of the regulator is taller when the regulator was converted.

In the picture I am referring to the round cap to the right of the mouthpiece. If it is an original pilot, that cap is very flat and from this angle you would only see the edge. It seems that we can see a bit taller piece, but it would be best to see other pictures, to be able to make a positive identification.