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Post by vance on May 29, 2020 15:39:53 GMT -8
I have been thinking about this conversion for a long time. It should not be too hard to do. The SnorkleJet is a good start, but I think a screw on/glue on cover/venturi tube shouldn't be that hard to come up with. I'm on it....
I have a couple of extra, orphan valve bodies to experiment on. One is short, the other long. I've started with the short valve, for a first attempt and potential ruination. I like the long valves better because they can be modded with Conshelf balanced guts, but the short ones are, well...too short!
So no regulators will be harmed in this experiment! (Edit: I wish it could be this way, but it seems the valve must be modded.)
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Post by nikeajax on May 29, 2020 15:49:59 GMT -8
PY, I've been thinking about this too: make a plate and solder a tube to it. The tube would be drilled to the same specs as the GL...
JB
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Post by SeaRat on May 29, 2020 16:03:25 GMT -8
The Gold Label tube was drilled twice, once from each end. If you stick a drill bit into the hole, you'll see it has an angle to it; it doesn't come straight out the tube, but rather at a 10-15 degree angle. 'Just thought you'd like to know.
John
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Post by nikeajax on May 29, 2020 16:16:25 GMT -8
John, yeah I'm hip Daddy-o, that's why I said specs JB
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Post by vance on May 29, 2020 17:53:35 GMT -8
Yeah, there's some voodoo going on in that set up. I've been investigating with some magnification. It might not be easily replicated, since it seems they machined the GL valve body differently from the Scuba.
I thought that they might have just modded a scuba valve with a plate and tube soldered on, but I don't think so after a bit of high mag looking. The Scuba valve will need a trough cut into it to allow a tube to be laid in, probably at an angle, and a cover needs to be attached. I got some ideas.
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Post by nikeajax on May 29, 2020 18:26:03 GMT -8
Hmmmmm, perhaps a larger diameter tube is in order? I remember someone tried to replicate a GL and the venturi was was just too powerful. I'm thinking the diameter of one of the vents/sides: the Goldie was certainly a totally bad @$$ regulator JB
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Post by vance on May 29, 2020 18:31:52 GMT -8
It will need some calibration holes more'n likely. I think I can make a cover/tube that will replicate the GL's venturi w/o modding the valve over-much.
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Post by vance on May 30, 2020 14:13:09 GMT -8
I drilled a hole in the side of a valve body as like as I could to the GL. The Scuba and the GL bodies are machined a bit differently, so it ain't so easy to match. I made a stainless cover for the top and bolted it all together, and tried it without venturi tube, just a jet. It's a ways from the intake horn and too low, so there isn't an ideal shot down the intake. EVEN SO, this isn't your Daddy's Deluxe! There's a good blast of air and enough of a venturi effect to suck the diaphragm down and start a free flow. I will drill a small hole in the stainless cover to let some air shoot upwards at the diaphragm to help return it, just as the GL valve has, and see if the freeflow stops. Adding a tube (it isn't really a tube on the GL, its a bit of solid round stock) has kind of got me stuck. As John said, the drilling down the tube is not straight. It is angled upwards. And, a drill bit stuck in from the end will not pass the calibration hole in the side. It looks like the last 1/2" of the hole is angled downwards fairly sharply. I think the reason for the angles is to keep from breaking through the valve body since there is very little material to work with. I'm going with an air director rather than a tube since I wanted this to be a mod others could do w/o too much special equipment. I haven't given up on the tube completely, but here's quick and dirty Super Deluxe Rev1:
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Post by vance on May 30, 2020 15:14:03 GMT -8
This is going to be a Super Deluxe performer.
For a Deluxe.
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Post by nikeajax on May 30, 2020 17:24:40 GMT -8
PY, is that something from your plastic mouthpiece experiment you have in the can? Keep up the good work JB
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Post by vance on May 30, 2020 19:56:01 GMT -8
Yes, same idea.
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Post by vance on May 31, 2020 8:04:02 GMT -8
I drilled a 1/16" hole in the cover and glued it on. The venturi action is too much by far. I think it needs to leak around the cover a bit to help tone it down, or it needs another jet opposite the main one, or another hole in the cover, or the 1/16" hole enlarged. UPDATE: I took it apart again, cleaned off the RTV under the cover, and reassembled it to try it out before enlarging the top hole. With the leakage around the cover and the 1/16" top hole, it seems to be very happy. I couldn't induce overflow with a baffled mouthpiece, and it breathes great! It's as noisy as Mistral, at least, and it is a vast improvement over the stock Deluxe valve. Next is a long valve body that will get modded this way and get some balanced Conshelf guts stuffed all up in it!
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Post by vance on May 31, 2020 13:49:10 GMT -8
One idea I've had is to make the cover and venturi tube as a unit. A sheet brass cover would have a threaded fitting soldered to it that hangs over the side of the valve body and is lined up with the air hole drilled in the side of the body. The venturi tube would then screw into the fitting. A bit of air leakage around the tube end would be fine, since some air needs to be directed into the can anyway, but a gasket or some other sealing scheme could be used if the leakage is excessive.
Drilling a large enough hole in the side of the valve body to thread for a venturi tube is a problem. There just isn't much to work with and there's some danger of breaking through the body. Soldering the tube to the valve body could be done, same as Healthways did it, maybe.
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Post by nikeajax on May 31, 2020 15:57:06 GMT -8
My thought is to have the tube run parallel to the levers on one side and have the charging vent at the other end of the venturi tube... Just brainstorming here! JB
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Post by vance on Jun 1, 2020 7:43:33 GMT -8
My thought is to have the tube run parallel to the levers on one side and have the charging vent at the other end of the venturi tube... Just brainstorming here! JB That's a good concept, and I have been thinking about how to do this w/o any changes to the valve body. A brass sheet cover with square or rectangle stock (as the tube) soldered parallel to the lever ass'y would be the starting point. Couple of problems: The square tube would be running 90 degrees away from the intake horn. It'd need to be a Tee. A nozzle screwed into the side of a piece of square stock would be high enough to be aimed at the intake horn. There is very little room for the air chamber tap due to the shape of the top of the valve body. When the lever ass'y is screwed on, it covers most of it. You'd have to drill an angled hole in the square stock, while leaving enough meat to drill and tap the nozzle hole. Soldering the nozzle in could help with this.
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