Vintage Gear Question (Voit/Aqua-Lung)

[Nick_W]

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I'm kind of new at this whole internet board thing.

I have a friend who's dad passed away recently. His dad was into diving in his younger days (when he was in the Navy) and had some gear laying around. My friend didn't know what to do with it so, knowing I was into diving also, he gave me the box.

Now I have a whole setup here, the first stage, two second stages, and a two gauge console and I have no idea if any of it are usable. The second stages are a Voit Swimaster MR-12 and the other just says "Calypso J". I believe that was made by Aqua-Lung, am I correct? I think the first stage is a Voit MR-12, just by finding pictures online. It looks like this one here (this image is not mine, just one that looks the same):

Now, I'm not looking to fix them up and sell them. What I would love to do is get them into good working condition and use them. For some reason, even though I'm a younger guy, I really like older gear. I can't really explain it, but to me there is just something a lot cooler about the older stuff.

They seem to be in pretty good shape, so I hooked them up to test them out. They seemed to free flow a bit but otherwise seemed ok. I cleaned them up a bit so the metal parts look good. I have no idea how long they were just sitting there in the box, but some of the rubber on the exterior looks a little rough. I opened them up, I'm by no means an expert but I didn't see anything that really screamed problem.

Basically, in all my ramblings here, I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this gear, where I could get them rebuilt if needed, or where I could get parts for these things, and if they're still ok to dive. I took them to my local dive shop. I don't think they had even ever heard of Voit and looked at me like I had a third eye when I asked if they would be able to work on them.

So, sorry about the rambling and I would appreciate any help at all.

Thanks.

Nick

 

[oxyhacker]

Perfectly respectable, and divable, regulators.

Early Voit stuff was made under license from USD and the line was later sold to Mares so many parts are interchangeable with one or the other. So a good shop that deals in either (or preferably both) lines should be able to service a Voit regulator. Actually, with an old reg in good condition, it is often possible to get it up and running with no new parts, just by replacing the O-rings with generic new ones, cleaning and lubing the reg, and tuning it.

 

[Luis H]

The Calypso J was made by US Divers (now Aqua Lung). The second stage is a basic down stream second and the parts are readily available. The first stage is an early piston flow through design and the seat may be hard to locate.

I have a complete repair manual for that regulator that I may be able to scan and email if you need it.

That first stage is a Voit MR-12 (the name stands for: Military Regulator, 1 hose, 2 stages).
The Voit MR12 (like Oxyhacker mentioned) shares many of the same parts with many Aqua Lung regulators and I believe that even the second stage diaphragm of the new Mares MR-12 may fit it.

The person to talk to about Voit is Greg Barlow. He likes collecting, rebuilding, and diving all Voit regulators (both single and double hose regulators). Actually Voit has a big following.

For more information you should post on the Sea Hunt equipment section.
You should also post it in:
VintageDoubleHose.com and VintageScubaSupply.com.

In VintageDoubleHose.com there is a section specifically for vintage single hose regulators. Greg frequents all three of these sites and you will also get a lot of help from some of the other members.

Those are both excellent regulators. It is just too bad that the Calypso is not supported anymore and therefore if you need parts for the first stage it would have to be NOS (new old stock). Again through the vintage sites you may be able to locate parts and someone to rebuild them for you or get info on how to rebuild them yourself.

Many vintage equipment divers rebuild their own equipment. It is half of the fun, you know it is done right, and you don’t have to depend on finding someone that knows what they are doing and are willing to work on it.

 

[Greg Barlow]

I appreciate Luis's comments about my interest in Voit regs. As Oxyhacker mentioned, there are a considerable amount of similar parts in single hose regulators between the US Divers, Voit/Swimaster and Mares lines. Like they say, "If it ain't broke, then don't fix it."

While the earliest Voit regs were actually US Divers designs (with the exception of the Voit 50 Fathom), the single hose regs designed from 1964 on were all original Voit engineered items. The first Dolphin regs were actually the evolutionary ancestors of the MR12. The Trieste double hose reg was also a Voit design. The initial MR12 regs were actually marked as Titan II MR-12 models. A very serious collector, Karl Gehring, actually has one of the earliest ever made. It is anodized black, and was most likely created for the US Navy Experimental Diving Unit.

The MR12 was the first single hose regulator approved for the US Navy. Prior to its introduction, single hose regs couldn't pass the stringent standards due to their excessive exhalation effort.

So well engineered and built was the original MR12 that it can still meet the stringent European Union standards (EN250) for regulators. I have an early model that I rebuilt with original factory parts (no modern parts, such as a silicone diaphragm), and ran on the ANSTI Breathing Simulator. At 165fsw, and a RMV of 62.5lpm it scored a run of 2.15j/l. There are some modern regs that would love to have that number!

While I rebuild my own regs, and dive them on a regular basis, I am not able to rebuild regs for other individuals. To do so requires considerable insurance coverage, and I am not interested in doing so due to my heavy work load. Bryan Pennington of Vintage Double Hose and Dan Barringer of Vintage Scuba Supply - Antique Diving Gear Two Hose Regulators both do excellent work. I have dealt with both of these men, and they are both meticulous in their service.

Yes, my vintage diving passion is the MR12. In fact, while I love diving double hose regs, the MR12 is actually my favorite of all time. It should come as no surprise that the regs found on my cave diving rig are Mares MR12 first stages. They, like their ancestors, are a robust, simple to service, great performing design. With the introduction of the Mares tri-material HP valve assembly, they are about as reliable a first stage as money can buy.

Greg Barlow
Former Science Editor for Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine

 

[Nemrod]

I also have a custom set of MR12s on a newer Mares first. They are sweet breathers and oh so reliable when I foresake my prefrred double hose. I also have a Legend and a new Titan but the MR12s are awfully nice and all metal. N

 

[Thalassamania]

I dive a Voit MR-12 for nostalgia too, but it's a damn good regulator.

 

[Greg Barlow]

I dive a Voit MR-12 for nostalgia too, but it's a damn good regulator.

Think about the failure points...The second stage has a grand total of two O-rings, one of which is the swivel on the hose. The first stage is about as simple as a diaphragm design can be, and with the modern upgrades, it is a real winner.

My favorite version is the Voit Viking I, due to its physical appearance. I also like the Voit MR12 II an awful lot. It ushered in the VAD system that has been so successful on the Mares second stages.

Voit regs were very consistent in their machine work, and quality was held to high standards. I have measured many parts from their regs, and tolerances held to 0.001" are commonplace.

Greg Barlow

 

[Thalassamania]

My only complaint is that the large purge button is perfectly sized to get large grain sand in it and jam up when diving Monastery.

 

[Luis H]

I appreciate Luis's comments about my interest in Voit regs.

Greg Barlow
Former Science Editor for Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine

You are welcome, but I still don’t like Voit… it was sold in K-Mart!
in Puerto Rico back in the 70’s (when I worked at Divers Service Center).


Actually I didn’t like that you could buy US Divers at Sears (not much better).

And don’t get me started with Mares. My impression from Mares, Cressi, and Nemrod (we got them through the same European importer) is that they made good rubber products, but regulators and other hard goods...we didn’t what to touch it. You could never get parts, their designs were always changing and parts were never compatible, etc. etc.

Back then, it seemed that Mares and Cressi sold re-branded regulators from different sources (one of Cressi was a Scubapro Mk-2) and Nemrod’s designs were not only weird, but also they did share anything in common.


I do need to rebuild my Voit MR-12 and my Voit Titan and maybe I may change my mind about them. I bought both in the last year or so to check them out; after all this talk about Voit.

I did work on a few Voit back in the early 70’s (I think they all came from K-Mart or a local sports shop). We were not a dealer, but we were the only dive shop in the San Juan area.

 

[Nick_W]

Wow, thanks for all the info guys. That's a lot more than I expected. Now to see if I can't get these things up and running well.