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Post by nikeajax on Apr 25, 2019 12:02:51 GMT -8
PY, please check your e-mail...
JB
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Post by vance on May 6, 2019 9:54:33 GMT -8
Here's the second Titan all up in blue FX cans. This one has the new and improved lever. I'm tuning it up, and have run into a situation. I'm using different springs inside the 2nd stage, and screwing the body in and out to try to optimize the venturi. At this point, in turning the 2nd stage body in or out 1/2 turn, I'm getting a not quite enough venturi to maybe too much. With the body turned out a 1/2 turn, the reg freeflows if you take a hard breath and pull the mouthpiece out of your mouth. It won't freeflow if you hold the mouthpiece in your mouth and breathe normally, but I don't know what it will do in the water.... It would be great if I could get a 1/4 turn, but that isn't possible. I'll keep trying different springs to see if I can find a happy medium. I'm not playing with orifice sizes yet, as I don't want to mess up my 2nd stage body by opening up too big a hole! I remember John saying something about a regulator that freeflowed like this one, but don't recall what effect it had in use.
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Post by vance on May 28, 2019 14:16:27 GMT -8
A quick update: Here's a pic of the last lever I made for my homemade second stage. This one works great and has enough meat left on it for strength. I bent the ends for contacts, in lieu of teflon bumps, because I didn't think it worth the bother. The reg still has massive venturi action, but I am fooling around with venturi port position rather than adjusting the 2nd stage body in/out or lever adjustment.
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Post by vance on Jun 20, 2019 17:54:18 GMT -8
I got a third Titan II, super nice, and am in the process of turning a brass second stage for it. I made two others out of delrin for my other 2 Titans, and they are great, but I wanted to make one out of brass for this one. It is mostly done, only needing a little top hat insert to guide the seat holder. This little part simplifies the machining that would require a special tool that I'm not up to making at this stage of my machine-work education. No air jets drilled yet. I need to do some more experimenting with position and size before drilling this one.
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Post by vance on Jun 21, 2019 11:14:55 GMT -8
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Post by nikeajax on Jun 21, 2019 13:06:57 GMT -8
Hey, that's some nice work buddy! So do you set the clocking of the lever after you've got it screwed in all the way? JB
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Post by vance on Jun 21, 2019 13:58:46 GMT -8
Thanks, JB.
The lever is aligned by a set screw that holds the valve body in position. The valve body is not screwed down tight, but adjusted by unscrewing it until it leaks, then screwing in half a turn at a time until the desired cracking effort is achieved, like a DAAM/RAM. In/out adjusts the spring tension on the seat carrier.
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Post by vance on Jun 23, 2019 14:57:24 GMT -8
I drilled the 2nd stage air jets off center to get a good shot down the intake horn, filed the grooves along the sides for the set screw retainer, put it back in the first stage, and installed it in my blue FX boxes. It works perfectly, w/o free flow but with a good venturi effect.
Herman mentioned using the DSV mouthpiece to tame the venturi, which does work. I tried it on the regulator that had just a bit too much venturi, and it did calm it down to where I couldn't force a freeflow. Positioning the air jets a few degrees toward or away from the intake horn will also change the venturi effect quite a bit. It's a bit like the "sweet spot" on a Goldie diaphragm lever adjustment.
It would be good to figure out a way to pin the box in position so it doesn't get turned one way or another. But it should be adjustable a few degrees back and forth.
Back to the DAcor 400.....
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Post by vance on Jun 23, 2019 15:06:02 GMT -8
Speaking of Triestes, I was watching TV last night and coloring in my Trieste label with a Sharpie with the aid of a magnifier headband thingy. It isn't perfect, and I'll work on it some more, but it went from this: Not too bad from 3 feet away. It looks better in person....I'll do some more inking in with a fine tip Sharpie, and do a bit more razor blade scraping. Then I'll paint it over with clear enamel.
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Post by vance on Jul 16, 2019 17:15:20 GMT -8
CJ and I met up in Monterey for the first dive of the Titan II conversion. It did better than me, but it had a couple issues. My issue was being a pretty different weight (lost 20-ish) than the last time I dived (dove?) and I ended up too light and unable to get under very far w/o a struggle. The Titan delivered air, and I was satisfied with the second stage performance. Air delivery was adequate throughout the test, such as it was. That's very cool. But I wasn't thrilled. Unfortunately I have a possible water intrusion issue that I am a bit mystified by. It was breathing wet head down at first (and I spent a lot of time head down trying to get down!) I surfaced, and started the swim back to shore. On the way, I dove down several times on the return, and the wet breathing went away. I never got deeper than 10 feet or so. I'm wondering if it was just water from the open DSV. It might have been that I was just hyper-aware/concerned about how the Titan was going to work? Jim, of course, was the perfect dive buddy and was very patient helping me test out stuff. The vis was poor to middlin' so it didn't matter much that we didn't get in a recreational dive. BTW, Jim's Phoenixed up DAAM worked great. It's based on a very nice DA with an HPR 2nd, DBE, a Phoenix 1st, and a DSV. It really looks as cool as it works. I was impressed. I got my suspender weightbelt organized, and a couple of other fiddly bits arranged, so I was quite happy with the results of the day. I just need 5 more lbs on the belt.
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Post by SeaRat on Jul 16, 2019 17:26:50 GMT -8
CJ and I met up in Monterey for the first dive of the Titan II conversion. It did better than me, but it had a couple issues. My issues were being a pretty different weight than the last time I dived (dove?) and I ended up too light and unable to get under very far w/o a struggle. The Titan delivered air, and I was happy with the second stage performance. That's very cool. Unfortunately I have a possible water intrusion issue that I am a bit mystified by. It was breathing wet head down at first (and I spent a lot of time head down trying to get down!) I surfaced, and started the swim back to shore. On the way, I dove down several times on the return, and the wet breathing went away. I never got deeper than 10 feet or so. I'm wondering if it was just water from the open DSV. It might have been that I was just hyper-aware/concerned about how the Titan was going to work?Jim, of course, was the perfect dive buddy and was very patient helping me test out stuff. The vis was poor to middlin' so it didn't matter much that we didn't get in a recreational dive. BTW, Jim's Phoenixed up DAAM worked great. It's based on a very nice DA with an HPR 2nd, DBE, a Phoenix 1st, and a DSV. It really looks as cool as it works. I was impressed. I got my suspender weightbelt organized, and a couple of other fiddly bits arranged, so I was quite happy with the results of the day. I just need 5 more lbs on the belt. (emphasis added, jcr) Concerning the DSV (dive-surface valve), it is a rotation that closes off the loop, and prevents free flow. If it is slightly off (not rotated completely open for breathing), the hole that is in the tube outside the mouthpiece can let water into the mouthpiece. I have experienced that with my Healthways Hybrid Scuba and Trieste II (the regulators I have used the DSV on). Don't worry about the Titan conversion, it was probably the DSV not being fully open. You can easily test that by inhaling with the air off and the mouthpiece completely open, and seeing whether there is a air leak. If not, it was the DSV not being fully open. John
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Post by vance on Jul 16, 2019 17:28:57 GMT -8
Thanks, John. You're probably right.
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Post by vance on Jul 31, 2019 9:08:47 GMT -8
I discovered that my lever material, which came from a piece of a shower enclosure, rusts like nobody's business! Yikes! When I opened up my Titan II a couple of days after its maiden in Monterey, the lever was pretty nasty. I must have gotten a bit of salt water inside. Fortunately, everything else is fine.
I ordered some slightly heavier, better stainless sheets to make all new levers. I hope to get the material soon so I can get the things replaced, and make one for the Dacor conversion.
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Post by vance on Aug 1, 2019 16:54:26 GMT -8
Got the new sheet metal. Made a lever out of it for the Olympic 4/800 and it seems to be good.
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Post by vance on Jan 17, 2020 14:30:03 GMT -8
Just updating the thread. Made a new mod for the modded Titan II. Mods on mods. This is better than the FX cans, since I left a DA style locating tab on the can so the stage can't rotate. Also, the Mistral cans allow the use of a DBE which I prefer to a duckbill:
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