US Divers Metal second stages, Why not?

[Nemrod]

This reminds me on another one of my favorite metal second stages, the Voit MR12-II [Bullseye purge button]. One of the most beautiful second stages ever made, and with that Venturi tube a great performer. Mares continued the line for years, eventually morphing into the Abyss, all fine and well. However recently, probably because of SP, Mares started to add features that were not really necessary. By this I mean the adjustable breathing knob, which I will call an unnecessary complication to a near perfect design. IDK, just my opinion on the demise of one of my favorite second stage designs.

I sold somebody a beautiful set of AMF Voit MR12s with the rare tech covers. Was it you? I miss them but do not want them back, ha, ha .

 

[USdiver1]

I sold somebody a beautiful set of AMF Voit MR12s with the rare tech covers. Was it you? I miss them but do not want them back, ha, ha .

Wasn't me. prolly Greg Barlow, another AMF Voit MR12 aficionado. I have a couple of those rubber donut covers as well, but using them ruins the look of the regulator IMO. OTOH, a US Divers supreme [cold water silicone] kit works on the Voit MR12 first stage. Looks great too. Will upload a pic soon.

 

[USdiver1]

Standard Voit MR12 first stage

With US Divers Supreme cold/contaminated water kit installed

Another view

 

[lowwall]

That's pretty neat. I haven't seen it with the cold-water kit.

Time for a bit of trivia. A few years after Voit was purchased by AMF, Voit picked up Swimaster which was well known for its Duck Feet fins and other high quality snorkeling and spearfishing gear. By the time the MR12 was introduced, Voit was using Swimaster labelling to indicate their higher end offerings. For example in their 1969 catalogue, the most expensive Swimaster speargun was $59.00 while the top Voit was $34.95. Voit considered all their regulators to be premium products which is why the original MR12 had the Voit Swimaster label on the second stage.

However by the time MR12 II was introduced, AMF had decided to use the AMF Swimaster name for gear sold through dive shops with Voit gear being sold through mass market retailers such as K-Mart and Sears. As their top of the line regulator, the MR12 II was apparently reserved for dive shops and thus the AMF Swimaster branding. (Please correct me if anyone has seen a Voit-branded MR12 II.).

Except (as far as I can tell) in Japan. AMF had purchased Mares in 1971 and for some reason decided to use Mares branding on MR 12 II regs sold in the Japanese market. Here's a couple of photos cropped from a current Yahoo Japan auction.

Here's the auction:

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/l1136648365

A link to the catalogue: https://www.vsc-ds.cz/soubory/priloha/346/voit-swimaster-catalog-1969.pdf

 

[happy-diver]

It's magnificent that those that take this old garbage to the dump, didn't take this old garbage to the dump
and are able to waste their hard earned $1000 to $3000 per new the same reg set instead on other garbage

 

[Nemrod]

Standard Voit MR12 first stage

With US Divers Supreme cold/contaminated water kit installed

Another view

Problem there is that those integral yoke type firs stages were not built to modern standards and in some cases may not install on those combo DIN/yoke valves. And they have a lot of flex when pressured to 3000+ psi.

 

[Jcp2]

I sold somebody a beautiful set of AMF Voit MR12s with the rare tech covers. Was it you? I miss them but do not want them back, ha, ha .

T’was I. Also conshelf 14, not XIV.

 

[Nemrod]

T’was I. Also conshelf 14, not XIV.

Thanks, I forget who I gave/sold what to. I hope you have enjoyed it, it was a nice set.

 

[Green Frog]

Well, a very reasonably priced complete Conshelf 21 rig showed up on everyBody’s favorite auction site last week, so being able to resist anything but temptation, I pushed a few buttons and it was on its way. The C-21 first stage is my Goldilocks type with one large HP port and four LP ports the same size. Pair one up with a couple of 1085 brass seconds and the AL SPG of the day (with the built in analog dial thermometer) and I’m a happy frog (man).

I’m still using all classic/vintage gear, just shuffling parts around to get all the features I want. I now have all the parts for a complete set just the way I like it, parts to rebuild a matching backup set, and a couple of plastic body seconds I can cannibalize for internal parts. These are all user serviceable with minimal special tools. Life is good!

Froggie

 

[PartFish]

..........

The 1085 needs to make a comeback, in water adjustable model. Maybe with a composite or titanium shell. Keep the hard purge button, large diaphragm and no soft covers! Not necessarily a balanced but an adjustable. And please, an adjustable orifice. And integrate the exhaust manifold and tee into the body somewhat similar to the G250. But AL will never do that and especially now that they (and Apeks) are owned by a holding conglomerate.

Kirby Morgan offers a composite, adjustable version of the Connie, complet with hard boxtop and purge valve!

I have purchased the Kirby Morgan guts, specifically the diaphragm, roller demand lever, inlet seat and exhaust valve and Exhaust Tee; and installed them into my metal 1085's. I also purchased a new, OEM, Aqualing rebuild kit to get Apples to Apples comparisons of the KM and Aqualung parts and they match up. The KM diaghphram outer Edge is nearly 2x as thick as the Aqualung. It fits perfectly otherwise and works well but that extra material makes installing the box top clamp a bit more of a workout than normal.

I have a bunch of cracked plastic Connie 21's and one of theses days im going to buy a KM replacement body to see if i can assemble a set of "New" Plastic Connies to be my travel rig. Im realy curious to see if the original, threaded diaphragm cover on the old 21's screw into the KM housing to complete that full vintage look.