Strange regulator failure

[HKGuns]

I only have two points and I'm not trying to be snarky.

1. Paragraphs are your friend. I really wanted to read your story, but get lost in the sea of text.
2. There is a reason "Know when to call a dive" is repeated so often in training.

 

[PBcatfish]

...A car interior can hit 145F in the summer easily. That could easily cause the lube to melt and spread and maybe even damage parts. ...

In Arizona, I've seen a thermometer in a car read 180F after the car sat in the sun for about an hour. That was hot enough to make me wonder what would happen to the case of water in the trunk if the temperature got up to 212F (100C).

 

[rdk1]

Unfortunately regulator issues can often show themselves right after maintenance. Test dives are often warranted after maintenance.

And not to pile on, but when you went under on your octo you decided that you and your buddy were comfortable with possibly buddy breathing on an octo that was part of a reg set that was acting finicky and was unproven since the maintenance. And did you tell your buddy that before splashing?

That said, I very much appreciate you sharing so that we can talk about it.

sorry, but I have a problem with this.. personally.

Unfortunately regulator issues can often show themselves right after maintenance. Test dives are often warranted after maintenance.

And not to pile on, but when you went under on your octo you decided that you and your buddy were comfortable with possibly buddy breathing on an octo that was part of a reg set that was acting finicky and was unproven since the maintenance. And did you tell your buddy that before splashing?

That said, I very much appreciate you sharing so that we can talk about it.

Sorry, I dont want to "flame" on this, but i have a personal problem with this.. "Unfortunately regulator issues can often show themselves right after maintenance. Test dives are often warranted after maintenance". This is why "we" take them is for service. If I cannot trust the work that supposed technicians perform, what is their value ? I have had equipment come back with hoses rerouted, BCD, and high pressure hoses not installed properly. This is garbage work. If these folks are to be trusted with life support, they need to perform this work with some measure of expertise. I'd do the work myself if I could get the parts, but manufactures wont sell it to "amateurs". You manufacturers know who I'm talking about. The last 4 times I've taken my gear to a shop (or sent in in..i.e., different shops) it had come back with operational issues. Opting for 1-2 hour "training" sessions via sales folks at DEMA or at a shop. Obviously, I feel very strongly about this as my life is on the line for baseline work. The last 4 times I've taken my gear to a shop (or sent in in..i.e., different shops) it had come back with operational issues. Why should I, after having my gear worked on by a "professional" have to find time to take said gear to a pool, go maybe 10 feet and declare "all is good" and then sink 95-100' into the darkness of a quarry ? The only time my gear has breathed correctly is when it was new. and that is from the "big" 2 or 3 and when I have even sent it back to factory for service ! Yes, I know they opt for soncervatism when adjusting crack and such, but not putting on a HP hose even past the o-ring ? Really ?

 

[lexvil]

In Arizona, I've seen a thermometer in a car read 180F after the car sat in the sun for about an hour. That was hot enough to make me wonder what would happen to the case of water in the trunk if the temperature got up to 212F (100C).

Nothing will happen, the energy needed to move the water 1° say from 211° to 212° needs over 900 time that energy to convert water to steam

 

[Bigbella]

sorry, but I have a problem with this.. personally.

Sorry, I dont want to "flame" on this, but i have a personal problem with this.. "Unfortunately regulator issues can often show themselves right after maintenance. Test dives are often warranted after maintenance". This is why "we" take them is for service. If I cannot trust the work that supposed technicians perform, what is their value ?

It is genuinely frustrating -- and the primary reason that I work on my own equipment.

Frankly, it's a bit like finding that dependable auto mechanic -- you know, "the unicorn." There are some who are genuinely gifted; and there are far more, who are just sloppy; or, simply, just go through the motions.

Keep in mind, that most manufacturer's certification classes, involve nothing more than asses in seats and a poorly-ventilated afternoon at a Sheraton or Marriott, with a bare minimum of drooling . . .

 

[cerich]

sorry, but I have a problem with this.. personally.


Sorry, I dont want to "flame" on this, but i have a personal problem with this.. "Unfortunately regulator issues can often show themselves right after maintenance. Test dives are often warranted after maintenance". This is why "we" take them is for service. If I cannot trust the work that supposed technicians perform, what is their value ? I have had equipment come back with hoses rerouted, BCD, and high pressure hoses not installed properly. This is garbage work. If these folks are to be trusted with life support, they need to perform this work with some measure of expertise. I'd do the work myself if I could get the parts, but manufactures wont sell it to "amateurs". You manufacturers know who I'm talking about. The last 4 times I've taken my gear to a shop (or sent in in..i.e., different shops) it had come back with operational issues. Opting for 1-2 hour "training" sessions via sales folks at DEMA or at a shop. Obviously, I feel very strongly about this as my life is on the line for baseline work. The last 4 times I've taken my gear to a shop (or sent in in..i.e., different shops) it had come back with operational issues. Why should I, after having my gear worked on by a "professional" have to find time to take said gear to a pool, go maybe 10 feet and declare "all is good" and then sink 95-100' into the darkness of a quarry ? The only time my gear has breathed correctly is when it was new. and that is from the "big" 2 or 3 and when I have even sent it back to factory for service ! Yes, I know they opt for soncervatism when adjusting crack and such, but not putting on a HP hose even past the o-ring ? Really ?

You having "a problem with this" is like having a problem with the weather changing. You may not like it, however it is what it is and how things happen.

I don't disagree that regulators "should" come back from service properly serviced, but they often don't.

 

[AfterDark]

I went over to the dark side of DIY reg service a few years ago. I had always had the same LDS service my regs for decades. Then one day the LDS owner told me he would not be able to service my regs anymore because SP no longer makes the parts and as a SP service center he can't / wouldn't use anything but SP parts.

So I brought one of my regs to another LDS to be serviced. They used the wrong spring for the adjustment knob in the 2nd stage. The 1st time I put it on a tank it free flowed, madly! The spring slipped out of position and held the lever down. I found this out because I brought it to the original LDS, the SP service center. He had the correct spring and fixed it for me. After that I decided there is only one other person I can trust to service my regs, me. If I can work on cars, tractors, washing machines, dryers, boilers, air tool compressors and everything else I own then I can do regs too.

After spending some money on books and tools and much advice and help from @herman @couv and others on this board as well as parts from Vintage Double Hose I rebuilt 4 SP MK5 1st stages, converted 3 SP 109 2nd stages to 156's and serviced the 4th 109 as a 109. That was 2017 and have had zero issues. Since then I rebuilt an old USD Jet Air double hose used it a bit and then sold it for a lot of money, enough to buy the parts to service and upgrade a USD Royal AquaMaster double hose that I use for photog. bubbles in the back is the way to go!

The only things LDS have that I don't are testing tools that cost too much for me to justify buying for 5 regs but that just means that it may take a dive or 2 to adjust things to my liking, where the LDS can do the same on a bench, to their liking.


@NickDanger think about it if you have any mechanical abilities at all and can follow directions you can service your own reg.

 

[AfterDark]

@NickDanger I'm not going to tell what you did wrong others have done that already, however as a general rule in life, don't try to live up to your board name, life will be longer, easier, and more enjoyable.

Don't dive with ??? breathing equipment or ??? BCD. It's a simple and easy rule to follow and one of the things that makes diving and life easier. I've enjoyed 51 years of diving because of that rule. I adapted it in my 2nd year of diving after making a CESA from 70FSW, in a high boat traffic area, without a diving flag, because my missing buddy had it. The same buddy that serviced the reg he let me borrow for that dive, the one that failed to deliver air after I exhaled and tried to inhale @70FSW heading for 100+FSW.

That was the only reg he ever F'd up or so he told me.

 

[txgoose]

I'd do the work myself if I could get the parts, but manufactures wont sell it to "amateurs". You manufacturers know who I'm talking about.

1) Do NOT go hanging out in the vintage community on SB where they can guide you to models and brands that you can work on yourself. Unless you're single, and/or your SO is even more addicted than you are.
2) Do NOT go hanging out in the DIY community on SB where they can guide you to models and brands that you can work on yourself. Unless you're single, and/or your SO is even more addicted than you are.
3) Do NOT go visit the websites of any vendors that may have replied to or quoted your post in this thread. They also allow for responsible work on one's own gear. Unless you're single, and/or your SO is even more addicted than you are.

I have done 1, 2 and 3, while not single or hitched to an addict. I don't lie. But I may occasionally avoid the truth.

 

[Bigbella]

The only things LDS have that I don't are testing tools that cost too much for me to justify buying for 5 regs but that just means that it may take a dive or 2 to adjust things to my liking, where the LDS can do the same on a bench, to their liking.

Frankly, you don't need most of them. A decent IP gauge; some full and not-so full tanks; some equally decent hand tools; and a trough of water, to futz with cracking effort; that, and a well-worn copy of Vance Harlow.

When I worked at a shop, back in the twentieth century, we often did the tuning and adjusting of IP with a cache of returned tanks, either full and / or drained to a specific pressure range, depending upon what manufacturers desired for testing procedures. All too often, the bench had been occupied; but when we got a chance to formally test them, before returning them to customers, they were always within specs.

It was some years of working on my own gear, before I purchased an actual fancy-schmancy portable test box, from an LDS (who took a Chapter-11 torpedo -- as so many do -- just below the water line), at "prices so low, they must be crazy . . ."