Used reg questions

[racerx_]

Found a decent deal on some used regs and had a few questions:

1. What should I look for when inspecting the regs before purchase? I thought there was a thread on this but couldn't find it using search

2. I found an aqualung Titan Lx second stage for about $60. That seems like a good deal to me. Can anyone comment on that? I couldn't seem to figure out where to buy aqualung online to compare and especially just the lx second stage

 

[USdiver1]

In regards to question 1, I'd determine first, do you want to dive these regs or just look at them? If you want to dive them, parts availability is the key. AQL/USD and SP are probably best at providing parts, Voits often use Mares parts, Healthways, maybe SP, probably not, Dacor, sadly Mares doesn't seem to keep on top of parts, Cressi, La Spiro, some, and it's downhill from there. If you have a cache of double hoses, well those will kill you, I can be persuaded to take them off of your hands, matter of public safety you see.

It's rubber and soft part availability that is impossible to get. Re-chromes are almost always possible for first or second stages.

 

[OldNSalty]

for $60 I wouldn't even think twice about it. Of course, you still need a good first stage.

 

[racerx_]

LOL sorry no doublehoses threatening my life at the moment.

Thanks for the info. Parts not a problem got an aqualung titan reg set. Wanted an lx but then found this second stage so its all good just wondering what to inspect on em to make sure they're not trashed.

 

[halocline]

You could find a regular titan 1st/2nd stage combo, then use the LX 2nd stage (balanced, I think..) as the primary 2nd, the regular non-balanced titan 2nd stage as the alternate. This would be a very nice regulator set.

Should be no problem at all to find parts for the titan.

 

[racerx_]

Yeah that's the idea. Again as per my original question, what should I be looking for as I inspect the second stage?

 

[Fishpie]

Watch out for a brittle crumbly purge cover.

 

[OldNSalty]

I am not an expert but what I have done in the past is to check for obvious external problems (cracks, crud, missing parts, etc). Then I usually have a pony with a reg on it and some tools. I will hook it up and take a breath or 2 from it. If it works I assume that anything that could be wrong with it at this point is replaced at service time anyway (which is where it is going after I buy it).

 

[KD8NPB]

Found a decent deal on some used regs and had a few questions:

1. What should I look for when inspecting the regs before purchase? I thought there was a thread on this but couldn't find it using search

2. I found an aqualung Titan Lx second stage for about $60. That seems like a good deal to me. Can anyone comment on that? I couldn't seem to figure out where to buy aqualung online to compare and especially just the lx second stage

Buy an IP gauge. Bring a BC hose + tank with you.

Hook it up, watch the IP. Most regulators are tuned for somewhere between 120 to 170 psi. Older regs are usually lower, Poseidons are on the high end of the spectrum. Most modern single hose regulators are happy around 140-150 psi.

If you hook it up, and turn the tank valve, then watch as the IP skyrockets to above 170, immediately purge the 2nd stage and shut the tank off...you have a HP leak somewhere.

When in doubt, if it is Aqualung, it can be serviced.

I am currently fiddling with an early 70s Aqualung Aquarius (piston 1st stage) I found in a box of "junk" regulators at the shop. A couple o-rings, and it was good to go. I need to pull it apart again and do a better job at cleaning it...it still has a slow creep of about +15 psi.

 

[halocline]

Yeah that's the idea. Again as per my original question, what should I be looking for as I inspect the second stage?

I didn't really answer because there's not much to inspect on a 2nd stage unless you have a working 1st stage and a tank with you. But, since you insist....you can cover the intake fitting with your thumb (where the hose attaches) and try to pull a breath, hopefully you won't be able to. That means it holds vacuum. If not there's a leak someplace, hopefully the mouthpiece but maybe exhaust valve or diaphragm. Take your thumb off, try again, you should get a little air with a fair amount of effort. That's what single hose regs would breathe like if there was no IP. You could take the cover off, assuming it doesn't need any special tools, and look inside to see if there's corrosion on the metal parts. You can look for cracks and/or damage in the case, but that's about it.

I buy (or used to, now I'm cured of my addiction) lots of used regs sight unseen because I know that I can fix more-or-less anything. The only thing you can't fix is severe corrosion on internal parts, and I think I've only seen one regulator like that; a piston 1st stage that had been left for months with salt water in the ambient chamber. My G250, supposedly from a 'professional' regulator tech, showed up at my house with about half the chrome plating left on the air barrel, a badly leaking VIVA vane, and the wrong diaphragm. Plus the case looked like it had been dragged around on the ground....now it works great with just a careful cleaning and rebuild.

Every document I can find lists the VIVA vane o-ring as an 008, and I have used those, but for some reason I'm thinking that the best size is a little smaller, like a metric o-ring with a slightly smaller cross section. For sure the 902 size works better on the orifice than the standard 010. Maybe some retired guy with time on his hands can find just the right size o-ring for the vane. I have a funny feeling that the original red SP o-rings were not typically standard size; like the big skinny one that seals the cap on the D series regs. An 021 or 022 works fine (I can't remember which) but I don't think it's the original size exactly. I tried to find a metric one for that spot with a slightly thinner cross section and I couldn't. I guess it's up to the DIYer to decide how obsessively anal he or she wants to be with regards to exact o-ring sizes.