SPG Faceplate dislodged

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TomP

Contributor
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Location
Burlington, NJ
# of dives
200 - 499
So, this SPG flooded on a dive. Inspection revealed that the faceplate had dislodged. I was a bit surprised to find that the faceplate is simply pressed on and not otherwise mechanically retained. It' not a new gauge but this is the first time its flown and I'm guessing that reduced cabin pressure in my 3 hour flight to the Caribbean may be the cause, but in any case I'm at the what now stage.
It's a simple matter to press the faceplate back on but it doesn't seem seat fully, possibly it's intended to be installed in a vacuum.
I know there are some amazing gear gurus on this forum so I'm posting this to see if there's a path to a reliable repair, or if not to give a heads up to others before they have to abort a dive.
 

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Most everything built in the last 40? years is pressed/crimped together.
That one is trash, sorry.
 
So, this SPG flooded on a dive. Inspection revealed that the faceplate had dislodged. I was a bit surprised to find that the faceplate is simply pressed on and not otherwise mechanically retained. It' not a new gauge but this is the first time its flown and I'm guessing that reduced cabin pressure in my 3 hour flight to the Caribbean may be the cause, but in any case I'm at the what now stage.
It's a simple matter to press the faceplate back on but it doesn't seem seat fully, possibly it's intended to be installed in a vacuum.
I know there are some amazing gear gurus on this forum so I'm posting this to see if there's a path to a reliable repair, or if not to give a heads up to others before they have to abort a dive.
I've never seen the face plate coming off like that, but I guess you are right that that happened on the flight.
I'd put the parts in a vise with padded plates and carefully press it together again.
It should pop into position.
I did that before, it works (another brand, but same o-ring seal). If not, the case rim might have gotten a hit.
Apart from that should the mechanism work also without face plate, but of course you would have to take care a lot that the indicator stays in the original position and you're not damaging the front of the SPG otherwise, so that would be advisable only in emergency.
 
It is possible that it's got a tiny leak in the high pressure borgen tube, which slightly increased the pressure inside.

If it was mine I would assemble the face plate and set it to zero and use a small amount of sealant and assemble it,
You may want to warm the body up like 180*F in a oven so that when it cools there will be less pressure in it,

You have nothing to lose in trying
 

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