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Post by nikeajax on Feb 24, 2020 15:49:11 GMT -8
PY, very fun--thanks for sharing! Yeah, that does look nice doesn't it? JB
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 25, 2020 15:50:35 GMT -8
Wow, does that look nice, and my picture on the reg too! John
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Post by vance on Feb 25, 2020 16:14:58 GMT -8
John, Email me your address again, please, and I'll send you a couple of labels.
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 25, 2020 17:55:52 GMT -8
...and my picture on the reg too! John Now don't let it go to yer head there Ratliff! JB
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Post by vance on Jul 23, 2022 8:00:31 GMT -8
I'm reviving this old thread because the self-contained second stage idea I posted about in the first few pages is now figured out and working in the Dacor R-3 project. This simple second stage is just a threaded brass pipe with a hard seat soldered into the bottom and a cap that screws on. The mod to the Dacor 400 body is simplified because there's no need for the hard seat to be fitted at the bottom of the bore. All that needs to be done on the body is drill and tap a 1/2" hole and drill an LP air tap to direct air into the second stage. With reasonable care, a drill press can be used to do this. This regulator is a perfect chance to use a re-bent lever salvaged from a single hoser like I tried in a Titan II conversion. The Dacor HP spring retainer doesn't interfere with the lever as much as it does in this "Titeste". I'm going to machine another 400 and fit it with the new style second stage. Photos to follow!
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Post by vance on Jul 23, 2022 16:07:51 GMT -8
It's trammed and set up on the mill, ready for the plunge cut. I'll get that and the LP tap done tomorrow. I have a second stage ready to go. Photos are forthcoming!
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Post by vance on Jul 24, 2022 11:54:20 GMT -8
Here's the new one. There's still some chips and grit in the new second stage bore. You can see the new LP tap in the center. The other one feeds the LP ports.
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Post by vance on Jul 24, 2022 13:49:58 GMT -8
There are no box tab cutouts on the Dacor 400s b/c there was no need for them. I'm going to machine one into this regulator. Some time ago I modded an orphan USD single stage top box by cutting a big hole and tab for the Titan III project. The hole is the same size as the Dacor, so with the addition of a tab cutout in the right place, it should be perfect.
A tab or some other means is needed to keep the first stage from rotating in the box. This can happen when handling the tank and regulator or by improper assembly. If the jet and intake horn become mis-aligned a serious drop in performance will occur. Even seriously cranking down on the retaining ring doesn't guarantee that it will all stay where it's supposed to be.
I have some more orphan top boxes, so I'll cut another one for this regulator. I like the brass USD boxes better than FX boxes because you can fit a DBE, add a locating tab, and use a box clamp ring. Maybe someday I'll try a set of Dacor boxes, but I have a feeling they're too shallow.
I don't usually like to mod original and usable vintage parts, but this top is not so great and there's no matching bottom. It's being put to good use.
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Post by vance on Jul 24, 2022 15:15:27 GMT -8
This is where I did this (that's a Dacor 400 in a jig under the quill of the mill) and the many other mods I have posted over the years. You can see a drill chuck in the mill, but I almost exclusively use collet chucks on both the lathe and mill these days. I have a Grizzly mini lathe and a Central Machinery mini mill which do most of the work. I also have a modified bench drill press, a grinder, an arbor press, a Dremel, etc., to do the stuff I do. I've been having a lot of fun over the past few years, learning and making stuff. I hope I never get too old to care! IMG_5313 by Vancetp, on Flickr
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Post by vance on Jul 30, 2022 15:43:40 GMT -8
Here're a couple of photos showing the modded singlestage lever in place. It will clear the HP spring retainer/adjuster quite well, even if (when) it needs to be lowered. This two piece second stage body is so much simpler to make and install than the imbedded hard seat versions. In the unlikely event the hard seat needs to be replaced, a new lower can be made quite easily. Hindsight: I think Dacor should have made the Olympic 4/800 into a DH reg. It would have equaled or surpassed any other DH offering by any other manufacturer.
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Post by vance on Sept 20, 2022 17:17:09 GMT -8
I found some 1/8" thick x 2 1/4" internal diameter rubber rings that should work to pull the Dacor body back enough to make Dacor boxes work with this mod. I have already used one on the Titan II/Mistral box mashup to give the lever a bit more throw, so I'm confident it will work here, as well.
I have an R-4 or C-? top box that has already been altered for another prototype (by Old Mossback) which will be the guinea pig. It's toast already, so I don't mind cutting it up. The screw hole circumference is just enough to allow for a clean 2 1/4" circle.
First, I want to make a tab cutout for the first stage/box interface, but I haven't done anything about a jig for doing that yet.
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Post by vance on Sept 22, 2022 15:59:01 GMT -8
I decided I don't want to cut up the top box that I got from Old Mossback. It has been modded to fit a custom valve body I got from him that was an attempt to make a better Dacor DH reg. There's lots of good ideas but it falls short, unless someone can come up with a good second stage design for it.
It shares much with the OM Mark3 as it utilizes Conshelf HP parts, making it a balanced, multi-port regulator. I'll start a thread of its own, rather than continue on here.
The relevance to this thread is that I don't have a Dacor top box to mod for the 4/800 at this time.
Anyone have one languishing?
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Post by vance on Dec 12, 2022 17:13:26 GMT -8
SwimJim just sent me a report of his dive with the Dacor2020 I built for him. He dove it in cold water, 39 degrees, to 50 fow and it performed perfectly. Here are his comments: "Yesterday I took the 2020 diving up at Gills Rock on the Door County Wisconsin peninsula. Prior to the dive I opened the reg up and tightened the ring that retains the reg to the cans and made sure everything was clocked correctly. I'm going to make a rubber gasket that will fit between the cans and the reg. Perhaps that will help everything in place. While I had it opened, I checked the IP. I had it set at 120. I bumped it up to 140 psi. Before reassembly I put a piece of tape across the reg and the cans so I could easily tell if anything moved. We entered the water in the marina area. There was a little wet snow around but no ice build up. There were light winds out of the North, air temps in the mid 30's. The water temp was 39F top to bottom. No wave action to speak of. Viz was 50 foot plus. About as good as it gets in December in Wisconsin. The dive was 34 minutes long with a max depth of 50 feet. Most of the dive was spent around 30 to 40 feet. The reg performed excellent. Very smooth. I had all the air I needed plus some." Awesome! All I need now is a SwimJim or Aquala dive to +100fow! Box/first stage clocking is a critical issue for this regulator. I need to figure out a way to keep the box/first stage alignment rigid without inducing a water leak. As it is, without something to keep the alignment perfect, a bit of twist will make the reg perform badly. Thanks, Jim! I hope the 2020 performs well at all depths. Keep us apprised!
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Post by vance on Mar 1, 2023 16:40:10 GMT -8
I'm updating this thread with another Dacor 2020 conversion. This one resides in Dacor C-3 boxes that I cut for the Dacor Olympic 400/800 first stage. The mech side box that got cut is an already modified orphan, so no rebuildable Dacors were harmed (by me!) in this mod. I changed my mind about modding this box further (see above for agonizings over it). I lost hope for the Mossback MkIII style Dacor first stage it was originally cut out for, so I repurposed it for this all Dacor 2020. Luckily, the original 5 bolt pattern that holds the original Dacor regs together is just under the 2.25" hole that needs to be cut to fit the Olympic, so it works perfectly. I'm using a re-bent (double bend foot in the Trieste style) single stage lever, which gives plenty of lever throw, even though it eventually encounters the IP adjuster. You can see the 1/8" thick body gasket I'm using to space the first stage outward a smidge. It breathes very well, having good venturi action, even though the intake horn is a bit low for the jet. I limited the jets to two main with no bleed jets, thinking it would need a more forceful jet directed toward the intake. Seems to be good. Pretty stylin', if you ask me!
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Post by vance on Mar 1, 2023 17:16:47 GMT -8
This particular 400 is an early version that has one less LP port. That doesn't matter much, since a splitter can work well. I was unaware of this difference between early/later 400/800s.
I couldn't resist a BIN on eBay for two more Olys for <$30 shipped. More conversions comin' up! I have a couple of ideas for a different approach, second stage-wise.
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