The Grail

[buddhasummer]

Was kinda thinking it'd be a nice surprise when you opened the box. Blew that I guess

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

That is okay because in my cursory Bonaire test it breathed better than the Jetstream it was mated with making me consider if I should move the Jetstream to secondary position and move the R190 to primary position, Air 2 or not. If something works, it just works. And since it is like an empty shell with one moving part it is likely to keep just working. That makes it the perfect back up.

As to an Air 2, frankly, in all seriousness, it would not take much to cause me to want one if it breathed as good as my R190. I would have to finally break free from my Hog-Think but it would be a minimalist move to shed some more gear.

When I had my drowning experience summer before this, whilst I was floating beside myself and contemplating how I had gotten into this poor predicament it then occurred to me two things:

1. I was not ready to die yet. And it turns out I am kinda hard to kill.
2. If I did not die I was going to get rid of a bunch of unreliable junk and relegate some other things to exhibition only status.

And, I deem the R190 to be reliable and trustworthy . And it, like the G250 and the beautiful beyond comparison CE stamped 156, it has the large exhaust valve!

There was a Seinfeld episode where in Art Vandelay was an importer but not an exporter (or vice versa?), I am both an importer and an exporter, of air that is . If a second stage does not exhaust as easily as it inhales, and that takes a minimum of 30mm exhaust valve IMO, I look askance at it as not being up to par. So the 109 fails for me and the R190 passes.

James

Near drowning!!??? What happened??
This is the first I’ve heard about this!

 

[Nemrod]

Near drowning!!??? What the hell happened??
This is the first I’ve heard about this!

I have relayed a condensed and incomplete version in VDH and missing various details. And a little in some other thread here. But I did not nearly drown, I did drown, I just did not stay drowned. Ingesting seawater also resulted in pneumonia afterwards that took two months and two courses of antibiotics to clear up.

Moving on, it seems there is some interest in flame/heat polishing of the G250 and similar GFR polymer Scubapro second stages. One of the things that makes Scubapro polymer second stages better than most others is their legendary toughness and this is because to this day Scubapro uses (30%) glass fiber reinforced polymer (G260). The frp stuff is tough but it is not immune to getting scratched and beat up.

I use the flame/heat gun as a final measure mostly on the edges of the exhaust tee and the top cover periphery. I start out with a worn piece of 600 grit wet/dry paper wet with water and Dawn soap. I then work up to 1000/1200 grit paying particular attention to edges but also being careful not to alter the contours. I may use a soft rubber backer for the paper. The idea is to remove the positive peaks that are raised when the polymer is scratched or dented (beside the scratch or dent will be a raised edge on both sides). If after the sanding the regulator is looking pretty good I move to burnishing (friction produced heat), it goes like this, Crocus cloth ---> 14 oz. denim ---> leather rough side ---> leather smooth outside (leather strop). Why am I burnishing the polymer? Well, because sanding the FRP second stage raises a fuzz of the fibers and causes the surface to take on a white or milky appearance. Somebody uses Neatsfoot oil to produce a gloss . And it works. But, I have found that washes off after many dives. So, I went to flame/heat polishing as the final step (optional) and often not needed. I uses the flame of a torch if doing a larger area or a heat gun and a lighter works for doing just one little spot. It takes a deft touch. I uses the heat exclusively on the exhaust tee edges that get beat up from dragging the regulators across the deck and other similar abuse to the periphery of the diaphragm cover. The heat is only applied very briefly and if done correctly will gloss the outer surface by melting it and allowing the fibers to be reabsorbed. I do not want to get the part hot!!!!!! I want to get only the most outer surface warm enough to allow the fibers to blend back in. Then a final burnish with leather.

I have nightmares of piles of smoldering G250 second stages. Be warned, this is an advanced method and a little bit is good and a little, tiny, bitsy bit more is ruined!

I have also used, with proper prep to remove silicone, oils, sunscreen and whatever else gets all over our dive equipment, all of which is generally removed by the process above, Spraymax 2K in crystal clear or satin. Only shoot the diaphragm cover, not the entire regulator. This stuff is tough! It is a two part urethane auto/industrial clear coat that is resistant to solvents, oil, whatever. If one is the sort who loves to drag their regulators across the deck, through sand and beat them on the bench then forgo the 2K as it will only make refinishing a second time more difficult. The 2K is a very hard and tough coating but nothing is resistant to abuse.

Edit to add, all of this is for cosmetics for the most part. A beat up G250 breaths just as good as a pretty one. But some of us like to be a sharp dressed scuba man! Otheriwse I prefer to look more like a surfer bum or better yet a cowboy hippie .

And a beat up old 109/156 also breaths just as good as an unblemished specimen but what is the point of a 109 if it is not pretty? A G250 on the other hand, battle scars are entirely acceptable
.

James

 

[Geo7]

And, I deem the R190 to be reliable and trustworthy . And it, like the G250 and the beautiful beyond comparison CE stamped 156, it has the large exhaust valve!

I second that: I dove twin R190s for 20 years before upgrading to "high performance regs". Dove them in cold water lakes, down to 200ft, under ice, etc. Overall great experiences, but obviously would recommend metal regs for that.

The way I used to adjust my R190 and with their strong venturi, they pushed air stronger than several G250s my buddies had that weren't serviced well (I now assume spring fatigue resulting in low lever height. Some techs just ignore it), but I guess you gotta be into such air delivery via strong venturi (not silky smooth). I also had Jetstreams for a while and they were amazing at 130 ft in a freshwater lake, but less desireable for the shallow part of the dive than the R190.

More recently, I compared Apeks and Atomics with unbalanced Mares Abyss that my buddies use, and after about 20 seconds I forgot what I was breathing from. Yes there are measureable differences, but at 200 feet and shallower unbalanced regs can perform as well as anyone would need (as shown by reg tests as well). Do we all need NORSOK certified regs (656 ft) nowadays? DIR cave divers made a point of using unbalanced backup regs around the neck. And I think Kirby Morgan regs were traditionally unbalanced?

And you can punch seats for unbalanced regs out of EPDM sheet, right? (Have not done that yet).

 

[buddhasummer]

@Nemrod has pretty much covered it. Lots of elbow grease, sand in a circular motion. I've found using too fine paper makes it shiny, I don't like that. I stop at 800. I use plastic polish. You can "flame" it or use oil, I use mink oil. I'm not partial to one method over the other, flaming or oil, both seem to net same results. I've found after a few dives using oil, one further application seems to do the trick and further/continued discolouration is minimal.

Slow and steady wins the race, need to be patient and take your time.

 

[James79]

And you can punch seats for unbalanced regs out of EPDM sheet, right? (Have not done that yet).

EPDM, Silicone, Neoprene rubber (not foamed), darn near anything. I have a 1 foot square sheet of duro 70 silicone I've been punching seats out of for 108s, 109s, 1085s, MR12s, DAAMs/RAMs, etc. for a few years. The softer silicone is more forgiving of an imperfect orifice, but only lasts about 2 years installed before it takes a set and needs to be flipped. But if I remember right the cost per seat ends up around a quarter of a penny each... so not a big deal. When I eventually run out of the silicone, I'll probably switch to duro 80 EPDM (I traded some silicone seats for some of those with someone to compare a while back.... I like those better). In fact, the silicone is so cheap per seat that if you DM me an address I'll send you a few to check out.

Respectfully,

James

 

[JP_SCUBA]

Here it is, the G250 Graphite:



Note that it is set as primary. These two are on a Mark X. They are my dedicated beach/shore divers. They replace a nice Connie XIV set that I gave away to a young feller diver.

The G250 regs are some sort of (30%) fiber reinforced polymer and sanding the plastic raises a fuzz and makes the surface milky white. I then polish it with a flame which I find more controllable than my heat gun. Woe unto he/she who holds the flame in one spot too long is all I can say. With some luck or skill and then some Neats Oil (per Buddasummer) all is well.

Thanks Nemrod ... That's good to know as I have a couple that are in need of attention ....

 

[Geo7]

Hey all, what is this black spacer on the adjuster of the 156CE that recently came into my hands? Is this for transport?

 

[axxel57]

Hey all, what is this black spacer on the adjuster of the 156CE that recently came into my hands? Is this for transport?

I think it has been in the G250s and BAs to prevent that one could accidentally turn the adjustment knob too much in, increasing the cracking effort into unacceptable ranges........
I couldn't see how it could help to protect anything while transported.

 

[Open Ocean Diver]

Mineg

Hey all, what is this black spacer on the adjuster of the 156CE that recently came into my hands? Is this for transport?has the same, it’s a hard stop limiter. Can you take a pic of your serial number want to compare to mine.