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Post by drmchsrmle on Feb 10, 2021 9:40:48 GMT -8
Hello all. I am new to the forum, and very rusty but have my own "vintage equipment", and looking for information /recommendations. I was certified by NASDS back in 1991. I have not been diving in years, but carefully stored my Dacor 360 1st stage, with Dacor Pacer Aero and Dacor Pacer XP 2nd stages, Sierra scuba 3 way console, and my Dacor jacket style BCD.. I am looking at taking a refresher course thru Padi, and hope to use my current equipment. I was heartened to find this group, and other who believe the older equipment is as good or better then some of the new stuff. Anything I need to know before I take my equipment in for a once over at the local dive shop? Thanks! Emily Huf  |
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Post by cnotthoff on Feb 10, 2021 10:11:13 GMT -8
Welcome Emily,
You may run into some resistance from you local dive shop with Dacor gear. Dacor went out of business sometime in the 90's. That means parts required for an overhaul may not be available. It may also be difficult to find someone experienced to service your reg.
As a technician who has been servicing gear at a dive shop for 40 years or so, I can tell you that there are many reasons a shop may want you to dive with newer gear. Mainly, we want you to dive with safe reliable equipment. A long as it checks out, there is nothing unsafe about your gear just because it was made a few decades ago.
Keep an open mind. If you have a chance, check with a few shops. Look for some crusty guy with gray hair in the back room. There's still a few of us left.
Good dives,
Charlie
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Post by drmchsrmle on Feb 10, 2021 11:01:47 GMT -8
Thanks for responding, and for the info Charlie!
Emily
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 10, 2021 13:20:42 GMT -8
Emily, welcome to our humble commode  Unless you want to learn to work on your own gear, which is what most of us do, you will need to find a vintage-friendly shop. Dacor made excellent gear: here's my best buddy with an old BDC:   You can still find many of the parts to service your regulator, but unless you know what you're looking at, you may not see the forest for the trees. If you get stuck though, contact Dan here: www.vintagescubasupply.com/Your gear is just as good as nearly anything you can buy today, don't let anyone fool you  Jaybird |
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Post by technidiver on Feb 10, 2021 14:44:22 GMT -8
Hello all. I am new to the forum, and very rusty but have my own "vintage equipment", and looking for information /recommendations. I was certified by NASDS back in 1991. I have not been diving in years, but carefully stored my Dacor 360 1st stage, with Dacor Pacer Aero and Dacor Pacer XP 2nd stages, Sierra scuba 3 way console, and my Dacor jacket style BCD.. I am looking at taking a refresher course thru Padi, and hope to use my current equipment. I was heartened to find this group, and other who believe the older equipment is as good or better then some of the new stuff. Anything I need to know before I take my equipment in for a once over at the local dive shop? Thanks! Emily Huf Hi Emily and welcome to the forum. You’ll find lots of great information here. I know you want to use your Dacor gear for the refresher and well into the future, however I do have a suggestion. If you want a nice and easy start to regulators and rebuilding, try US DIVERS. I know Jaybird will give me trouble (as well as Phil) but I’m just trying to help! I learned several years ago myself and started on these regulators. I’m currently trying to thin my collection out. If you are interested, I have several conshelfs as well as US DIVERS second stages that I would let go for a bargain. Just send me a PM if you are interested! Good luck with the Dacors, and remember no question is a bad question! TD |
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 10, 2021 22:12:11 GMT -8
Hello all. I am new to the forum, and very rusty but have my own "vintage equipment", and looking for information /recommendations. I was certified by NASDS back in 1991. I have not been diving in years, but carefully stored my Dacor 360 1st stage, with Dacor Pacer Aero and Dacor Pacer XP 2nd stages, Sierra scuba 3 way console, and my Dacor jacket style BCD.. I am looking at taking a refresher course thru Padi, and hope to use my current equipment. I was heartened to find this group, and other who believe the older equipment is as good or better then some of the new stuff. Anything I need to know before I take my equipment in for a once over at the local dive shop? Thanks! Emily Huf Emily, First, welcome here! It is great to see new people here. A couple of things here. First, your Dacor Pacer Aero/Dacor XL Pacer/Dacor 360 first stage is one of the best regulators ever designed. Both second stages have huge exhalation ports with very large silicone mushroom valves for a very low exhalation effort. The second stage diaphragms are silicone, and nearly indestructible. The Pacer XL second stage is their last brass second stage, and highly evolved. The demand valve has an interesting little vane that dips down into the valves flow to limit the lever from continuing the downward push from the Venturi effect, and also has a second way for water to enter the second stage when out of your mouth, automatically prevent runaway free flow. The Pacer Aero second stage doesn't have the Pacer XL free flow prevention, but was designed purely for performance. The nozzle is pointed directly at Ava vane, which directs the flow into the diver!s mouth. The demand lever is lengthen for greater leverage too. In addition, the hose diameter is enlarged, so there is greater volume between the stages, which results in less interstate pressure drop during inhalation. Now the 360 first stage is a simple, balanced design, again with huge openings to lessen inhalation resistance. It also has three low pressure outlets, and one high pressure port for a gauge. Now if you look at its competitors from other manufactures, you will be pressed to find a competitor with the same characteristics at the same price and simplicity. What I am saying is that your regulator is more modern than you think, and a pleasure to dive. Now, since you are here, I'll give you some advice few others outside our vintage Scuba community will give. The first thing you need to do is to take the cover off on both second stages. Why? Well, it could be dirty inside, and all divers in my opinion should be able to remove this cover to clean the interior of the second stage. All you'll need is a small bladed screwdriver. Once the screw is loose and/or our, you'll need to remove the clamp by pulling the ends away from each other and twisting it slightly so that the clamp comes out of the cover/housing edge and slips off. Then pull upwards on the cover and it will come off. Peel the low pressure diaphragm off, and the interior is visible. I did this once years ago, and found a spider nest inside. Putting it back together is the opposite process of simply placing the diaphragm back on, placing the cover on top, then fitting the clamp The clamp is a bit tricky, in that you again have to pull it apart and twist it slightly, place one side over the edges, then move the rest of the clamp over the housing/cover edge. The Pacer Aero has one other characteristic, in that the groove for the diaphragm is not so pronounced, and it is possible to fold the diaphragm inside, making it not so airtight (I found this out the hard way on my first inhalation on a dive, which was mostly water; I simply used my octopus for the rest of the dive, then redid the installation). So once it's back together, put your finger over the high pressure area of the first stage, and inhale on the second stage. There should be no leaks at all. If there are, you need to figure out what happened, and correct it. But you will have a very difficult time breaking anything, so don't worry abut that at all. In short, keep using your Dacor regulator. There was a reason Mares bought the company; it was making great equipment.  IMG_0082 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here are both of your second stages with the covers removed, showing the cover, the diaghragms, and the clamp. The Dacor Pacer XL has the purge button depressor also there (these are good to keep the low pressure seat from taking a "set," as it releaves pressure on it).  IMG_0081 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here is your Pacer XL insides. Note the extension on the demand lever that goes into the air stream to "kick" it out and reduce the amount of free flow when it's not in your mouth. This is unique to the metal Pacer regulators. Note also the two soldered metal pieces in the mouthpiece, which allow water to enter the regulator while it is free flowing, again a patented Dacor exclusive feature. Note that I found some dirt inside this regulator, and I probably did not wash it enough last time I dived it (a few years ago). So it really does help to pull the cover off and look before breathing off it.  IMG_0080 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here is your Pacer Aero interior. Note that the lever extends slightly beyond the centerline of the regulator's diaphragm, giving a bit more leverage to this system. Just to the left in this photo is a vane which directs the air into the diver's mouth from that Venturi nozzle (the square-shaped thing right in the center). I also just found out that each of these regulators has the serial number printed on the top of the mouthpiece, so take note of that too.  IMG_0079 by John Ratliff, on Flickr A look at the interior of the Pacer Aero. Note that the two large exhalation valves are identical to the Pacer XL. The best way to get back into diving is to understand the mechanics of these demand valves, BCDs, etc. Concerning the BCD, it probably was not manufactured by Dacor, but by a third party. So check it for its ability to hold air, and that the overpressure relief valve is still functioning. If so, that's great. If not, maybe replace or repair it (replacement is probably easier, but BCDs now cost more than a regulator). John |
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Post by vance on Feb 15, 2021 18:46:29 GMT -8
US Divers SH and DH regulators are excellent. And so are many others. USD is a good place to start, but there are other choices. Once you get comfortable in the vintage game, you will expand outwards from the DAAM and begin to appreciate the amazing stuff that was offered in the early 1950's.
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Post by technidiver on Feb 16, 2021 6:38:35 GMT -8
US Divers SH and DH regulators are excellent. And so are many others. USD is a good place to start, but there are other choices. Once you get comfortable in the vintage game, you will expand outwards from the DAAM and begin to appreciate the amazing stuff that was offered in the early 1950's. I agree completely. To be honest, the DAAM is the best regulator as a learning reg. It’s an unbalanced two stage, so you learn about the innards of a two stage diaphragm regulator and benefit from the large pieces. I learned more from my DAAM than any other reg, and the Mistral is just a joke after you rebuild a DAAM  Plus, there are no o rings in either regulator to give you trouble. The o ring in the Mistral is just to hold the pin in place. TD |
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Unless you want to learn to work on your own gear, which is what most of us do, you will need to find a vintage-friendly shop.
