Worst-case scenario for unserviced R109

[ericpitar]

do i need to take off the hose *before* opening the front cover? I might want to just look at the inside of the casing to check for rust in that area and not necessarily peek in the orifice.

 

[Packhorse]

No you dont have to.

 

[redacted]

To remove the heart, look back at the case where you will see a lever. Gently spread the legs of the lever and remove it. Turn the regulator so that the poppet will fall out of the adjuster hole. Now, you can finish removing the orifice by pushing a plastic stick (steal a stick from your kid's toy CONNECTS) down the barrel from the adjuster hole.

couv

I rarely remove the lever unless I'm going to replace it. Instead, I lift the lever all the way up and use a swizzle stick (thin plastic straw) to reach through th orifice and push the poppet out. With the lever at the correct angle, the poppet will pass by the feet of the lever with just a slight force. Reinstalls the same way. But I have to figure out which way is up for the poppet to engage the lever feet each time I do it.

After unscrewing the orifice, I use the plastic handle of a scubatools pick to push it out if it is brass. If it is a plastic orifice, I use a rubber eraser (R190/classic downstream design) or rubber eraser and the pick handle (S600/barrel poppet design).

 

[ericpitar]

What can safely be done to cleanup an old 109? Has anyone used GLO to shine/cleanup the inside and outside of the chrome parts? I wonder what harm, if any, that would do to the non-metal parts.

 

[mksmith713]

If I remember correctly, my AOW instructor down in Roatan was diving an R109 without an exhaust "Tee" on his.
What bad can come from this other than bubbles in your face?

 

[Couv]

For some people no problem...just bubbles in your face. But with some mask like the Mike Nelson oval and other older style mask, the bubbles just go around the skirt and not in front of the lens anyway.

Some people complain that the bubbles drum on the mask causing an annoyance and cause slight leaks in the mask. If bubbles are in your face, better get the tee or you will find it mighty irritating.

If you have to install a tee, take a tip from Matt and Awap, boil that sucker for a few minutes and with the help of carefully placed pliers quickly install it.

c

 

[halocline]

If I remember correctly, my AOW instructor down in Roatan was diving an R109 without an exhaust "Tee" on his.
What bad can come from this other than bubbles in your face?

Was it Will or Jose? Will's has an exhaust tee, Jose's doesn't. Will took his off one day to mess with the exhaust valve and I suspect, given how little he cares about his dive gear (he knows a lot, is a good dealer of dive gear, he just doesn't care about his personal gear) he just never put it back on.

Next time I'm down there I'll try to bring Jose an exhaust tee, but he doesn't mind diving without it either. The only possible problem other than bubbles in the face is that the exhaust valve, which is a very delicate piece of silicone, is pretty exposed.

It would not be too difficult to fabricate something that would work. It might be kind of fun....or maybe I just need to rethink my idea of fun.

 

[Couv]

Please don't tell my you left one of my babies in the hands of a ruffian.

 

[mksmith713]

It was Jose' who had the reg with no Tee.

 

[mksmith713]

Though I know Will from my trips down there, I've never dived with him.
In fact, I've never seen him on the boat so I wouldn't know if he's using the R109 without Tee or not.
I know for a fact that Jose was diving without one.
I dived with him 4 times the last time there.

As for myself.....I think I'll keep the Tee's on.