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Post by duck on Jun 19, 2006 21:28:18 GMT -8
I have one of theses vintage units that I am going to have to part with. My grandfather gave it to me a few years back and I don't and haven't been diving enough to try and use it. As far as I know it is complete. I even have the weights and hoses that go with it. If anybody is interested let me know maybe we can work something out. I would really hate to put it on EBAY so I am trying here first.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2006 7:21:54 GMT -8
single or double......not familiar with a nautilus!
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Post by duck on Jun 20, 2006 8:38:57 GMT -8
you can go to this website and see what I am talking about. It is the second picture down. The black back pack looking BC. bobsscuba01.tripod.com/scuba/ The website is not mine and I have no affiliation with the person but the picture is the same.
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Post by swimjim on Jun 22, 2006 18:14:26 GMT -8
I remember that gizmo. That was in the '77 Dacor catologe I used to have. I had a USD calypso at the time with the high tech power inflator, so I didn't feel the need to get one. Sounds like I had the better rig anyway.
Jim
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Post by duck on Jun 29, 2006 7:07:33 GMT -8
I thought for sure someone might be interested in this old equipment.
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Post by SeaRat on Jun 29, 2006 17:25:39 GMT -8
Duck,
I might be interested in it. I'm up here in the Portland area.
John
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Post by ceasefire49 on Jul 10, 2006 23:38:21 GMT -8
I have one of theses vintage units that I am going to have to part with. My grandfather gave it to me a few years back and I don't and haven't been diving enough to try and use it. As far as I know it is complete. I even have the weights and hoses that go with it. If anybody is interested let me know maybe we can work something out. I would really hate to put it on EBAY so I am trying here first.
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Post by ceasefire49 on Jul 10, 2006 23:47:20 GMT -8
Don't believe anything bad about these things I have Owned mine since new. Lots of people were scared of them but they are simple to operate. I still have my first one serial number 64. I have owned Scubapro Hard packs(Turtle Pacs) Standard Bc's the works I have over 2000 dives on that baby and all I have ever had to do is change the rubber and maintain the o rings. Bought it in the early 70's while in the military and dove all over the world with it. Saved my life in Hawaii when I was caught in the Molikai express Rode it out with another diver who was hanging on to it. When full its like having a Raft on your back. Had a fellow offer me 600.00 bucks for it not to long ago. Yes they are vintage and with that double lunger and Tripac you have you should shop it to collectors like on e-bay sell the works for 1000.00 but I have to tell you that stuff is starting to get hard to come by and in the future if it is maintained will be worth alot.
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Post by ceasefire49 on Jul 14, 2006 22:35:19 GMT -8
Yep thats a sweet looking setup. You can ditch the weights and use a belt, much safer if you have an emergeny ascent.. Nice lookiing setup indeed. I just lean back after popping the wagon tongue lean over and wait for it to fill and I am down. When you want to pop up just open the wagon tongue and inflate. Great way to compensate if you are carrying to much weight also. I switched to a Scuba pro MARK 5 REGULATOR With a AIR I in 1983 and have used the setup since.
Used to get all types of laughs from the Modern divers but those stopped when they saw the value in rough waters. I once blew to much air on some 70 ft dives on the north shore of Hawaii working the caves and Canyons at night at sunset beach for lobster on the north shore(Summer). When the crew I surface with was in the same position I was(over a mile surface swim) they never laughed again. Just get familiar with it and you will enjoy it. Mine still has the stickers also as I have reglued them over the years at the slightest hint of peeling. A great setup and this is the first BC I ever purchased and won't ever buy anything else. In the old days they didn't have them. Got my first certification at the YMCA in Vancouver wa. In 1964 and Certified at Yale Resevoir. Healthways and Scuba Pro all the way. Hahahahahahah
Good luck with that baby. Its a beaut.
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Post by ceasefire49 on Jul 14, 2006 22:43:26 GMT -8
By the way that tight spot was out from Hanama Bay. They used to let you drive down to the 'Toilet Bowl" and we used to go out the mouth and work the cliffs. We got a little greedy even though we could feel the tug of the current. Lobstering was good and before long I looked around shined my light and it looked like my partner had caught a freight train. Hahahahahaah I had to surface and finally caught up to him. Rode it all night and into the next day when the current brought us back to Waikiki. We were blistered and dehydrated. Ohau got real small It was nice to see the lights getting closer thats for sure. Hahahahahahahahaha. Needless to say the Greed thing came to a halt. The police and search folks gave us up for dead. The CVS saved us I am sure of that.
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Post by SeaRat on Jan 14, 2007 22:50:55 GMT -8
As you may have read, I was interested in Duck's Dacor Nautilus CVS (Constant Volume System), and arranged to buy it. I received it in good condition about two weeks ago, and put it into the water in the pool today. I used it with a Dacor Pacer regulator (a single hose, but all metal, and very good performing regulator).
It is a very different system, but once filled with water, and used as a BC, it swims nicely. It's about like having a set of doubles on. I did not overweight myself, and so cannot say how it will handle more weight, but I don't think that will be a problem. After 30+ years (it's in my 1977 & 1978 Dacor catelogs), the unit only had one slight LP leak, and that was fixed at home with the twist of a screwdriver (inflation system cap nut came slightly loose).
On the surface, it does ride you high and dry from your chest up, higher than any BC I've ever used. It takes longer than I'm used to getting the air out if it (and that may be me, without the instruction manual), but once down it was a nice unit. I bought it from Duck for two reasons: I wanted to have it for my collection of BCs and use it in my diving, and I also want to test the history of different BCs. I also will use it in comparison tests, possibly to improve on my own design for the Para-Sea BC.
I was favorable impressed with it today. Another instructor was coming in to swim just as I was leaving, and he thought i had a rebreather on, as did another diver when I was in the water. I'm still feeling it out, and will keep people posted on it. But it is a robust design, having not deteriorated over the years. To be able to take it and use it, almost without doing anything to it, shows that the designers worked hard on it.
William, when are you going to get yours wet?
John
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The Thud
New Member
"Who Dares, Wins."
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Post by The Thud on Jan 16, 2007 19:44:51 GMT -8
I just wanted to say I love the Nautilus. Ive got two of them. Been diving them since 1980. If anybody needs weights for these, I'll be making new ones in the next month or so. I've got to make the molds for 4 pound and 2 pound weights. My girlfriend is going to be certified with the nautilus in March prior to our trip to Fl in April to do the Manatee thing.
Cheers
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 1, 2007 5:52:51 GMT -8
This forum is really nice. Through it, I received the instruction manual for the Dacor Nautilus CVS, and I've had it in the pool again. It is a very interesting system, which works well in the water. I use it with them e-bay Dacor Pacer regulator (a complete regulator that I received for about $35 with shipping). JohnA sent me the instruction manual, and that was really appreciated.
This last weekend I practiced by setting it in the water, noting how well it floated (even with 8 pounds of weight on it's belt). I used the upper part of my wet suit with it, and another 19 pounds of weight so that I could be negatively buoyant and see how well it functioned to compensate for this. I would not do this in open water, as I don't believe in over-weighting myself. I was able to do the recommended swim with my nose six inches off the bottom through varying depths without a problem.
I also practiced getting into and out of the system in-water (both on the surface and at a depth of 18 feet--the pool has a competition diving area which is pretty deep). So I had some very nice pool sessions, and am about ready to take it to open water.
I hesitate to do that until I have made one modification to the system. Someone in its past history took away the compensating regulator for the system, and replaced it with a simple BC inflation hose. While this is okay in the pool, in open water it could compromise the system by not allowing the unit to be pressurized as I would dive deeper. It's probably okay for the river (as I only dive to about 25 feet, but it could be problematical if I were to use it in deeper diving. There are two solutions:
--Find a Dacor Nautilus regulator. Does anyone out there have one for sale? --Configure my own compensating regulator into the system. I've already figured out how to do this, by using an old second stage, blocking the exhalation valve, and attaching it to a Healthways double hose mouthpiece (using it is a "tee") and putting on a regular oral inflator to a short hose for the end. I may use my original Calypso for this too, as it has no exhalation port in the metal second stage (it exhales through the diaphragm). I could easily replace the exhalation diaphragm with a regular diaphragm, and simply attach it to the "tee" created with the Healthways mouthpiece.
Anyway, that's my update on the Dacor Nautilus Constant Volume System BC. I noted The Thud's post above, and while I don't have the weights right now, they are at the dive shop in Eugene, Oregon. All I need to do is drop by and get them, sometime later this spring or summer.
John
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 11, 2007 21:20:34 GMT -8
I had the Dacor Nautilus in the water again today, and again in the pool. I'm getting more used to it now. It does swim about like having doubles on, but maybe just a bit more bulky. The reason is that it must be worn high on the back, or it simply does not ride well. I also made the determination that it is not good for true vintage diving with a double hose regulator. First, it is pretty dependent upon having that power inflator. Second, the regulator is several inches further away from the diver's back, and the hoses will not be long enough. I used my Sportsways Hydro Twin, with longer hoses on it, and they still were too short. So I know that some have shown this Nautilus with a double hose regulator, but without hose extensions and without a power inflator, it should not be used except perhaps in a pool in this configuration. I used my single Aluminum 80 on the Nautilus, then switched back to a regulator backpack and my Para-Sea BC. The weighting was slightly off, but I had greater freedom of movement in the regular backpack than in the Nautilus, simply because of the bulk. But, the Nautilus has the constant volume feature, and that would prevent some recent accidents that have occurred. If you want to look at something which will cause you great concern, take a look at the video posted on ScubaBoard: www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=173570Also, there was a very tragic accident in the deep Arctic involving overweighted Coast Guard divers, and the Nautilus-type BC, in regions other than the Arctic and ice diving, could prevent these kinds of accidents if it is hooked up correctly (so could the BCs that the Coast Guard divers were wearing, if they had been hooked up to an LP inflator). This was a much more complex mishap, involving mistakes at all levels, but these kinds of over-weighting accidents are becoming more prevalent as divers forget the correct weighting schemes that we worked out years ago. John
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Post by SeaRat on May 14, 2007 15:16:19 GMT -8
Take a look at my 2007 Dive Log entry in the other forum. I dove the Dacor CVS in open water last Saturday, and it was not a good dive. I will perhaps not dive that unit again, or will only do so under some very strict conditions. The first open water dive was not one to help me gain confidence in the system.
John
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