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Post by antique diver on Sept 1, 2021 14:51:45 GMT -8
Weather permitting, Seawolf and Antique Diver will be enjoying some Vintage Diving tomorrow with this "dangerous" old stuff.
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Post by broxton coalition on Sept 1, 2021 15:11:41 GMT -8
AND, Danger is our vintage business.....
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Post by james1979 on Sept 1, 2021 15:16:02 GMT -8
sure, couldn't do it when I was in the area!
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Post by SeaRat on Sept 1, 2021 15:57:25 GMT -8
You might want to take along a pony bottle with a 1960s Scubair attached. John
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Post by vance on Sept 1, 2021 16:10:49 GMT -8
sure, couldn't do it when I was in the area! How did the Texas dive go?
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Post by james1979 on Sept 3, 2021 10:24:00 GMT -8
sure, couldn't do it when I was in the area! How did the Texas dive go? Posted in it's thread (because we Never hi-jack threads here...... lol).
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Post by antique diver on Sept 3, 2021 12:31:05 GMT -8
We had a great time at Wheeler-Branch Reservoir yesterday. Weather was perfect but hot, and upper water temp was 87F. Visibility was widely variable, as low as 8', but up to 15 in places. Certainly enough to enjoy, and I was wishing I had my camera... so no new photos. Lots of fish and a few turtles. We both made dives using the Spaco and the Bendix O 2 conversion. There was some noticeable improvement on the breathing characteristics of the aviation reg, at least while going at a leisurely rate and sipping air normally for that pace at up to 24'. Got too cold below that with no thermal protection. It would still be a tough go if you had to swim hard, such as against a current. Could be dangerous at some point, but neither of us pushed to see at what point that would occur. We did add a Spare Air to our kit when diving the converted monster. Seawolf noted that it seems to breath better for him than did the Spaco when we switched out systems. I couldn't really tell much difference, but that still left me a little disappointed in the Spaco, so thinking I need to try adjusting it a little. Been several years since I had used it. It's not a simple task to raise the intermediate pressure since the retaining mechanism on the first stage diaphragm is NOT adjustable like later Aqualungs. To raise pressure, I have to remove the retaining screw and shim the main spring, and it's trial and error. But it needs to be done so I will tackle it before our next outing. In addition to raising the IP I noticed that the modern 2 stage demand diaphragm sits too high from the horseshoe lever, causing it to have too much free play before contacting lever. I will try making some simple modification that will result in longer tabs on diaphragm so contact will be made much sooner. The only ways I see to improve the Bendix at this point is trying to get the HP poppet open further with more adjusting, or maybe developing something internally to give a little venturi boost. Phil and I have been discussing this, and he is a step ahead of me at this time. I'm hoping he will have some suggestions on that matter. Even if I can't get better performance I am satisfied that we can enjoy shallow diving in easy conditions with it. BTW, I consider ocean diving out of the question due to corrosion issues that would likely show up due the dissimilar metals the beast is made of. I guess the designers never expected us to take them underwater. Seawolf also got to dive with my nice RAM, and of course that made a whole new world of difference in his appreciation of double hose regs. He really likes my double 27's and being able to easily keep track of his air supply with no pressure gauge. The valves are down for easy access during the dive. We dive them with right valve open and the left remains closed until breathing effort increases. Then the left is opened until the pressure equalizes, then closed, then repeated again later. Works out very well while keeping things simple Vintage style with no extra hoses. All in all it was a great day.
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Post by SeaRat on Sept 3, 2021 13:56:18 GMT -8
One thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that the Broxton (a DA Aqualung regulator) has extremely easy exhalation, which sorta compensates for the inhalation effort. My experience is that it is also a very quiet regulator.
John
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Post by vance on Sept 3, 2021 14:47:54 GMT -8
Thanks for the update. It's hard to believe the Spaco didn't deliver better than the diluter....
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Post by antique diver on Sept 3, 2021 15:30:43 GMT -8
Thanks for the update. It's hard to believe the Spaco didn't deliver better than the diluter.... I do remember it seemed to breathe better 6 or 8 or so years ago, and I hadn't used it since, so I think that's partly my fault for not getting it tuned a little better for this trip. I'll work on that a bit, but won't change the internal parts beyond as original as possible, except for the diaphragm. I have no choice there, as the original is long gone. I think the original demand diaphragm may have been shaped appropriately to activate the demand lever more efficiently, and I was just mulling that over with the reg in front of me when I saw your post. I have some ideas to try out when time permits, and welcome any ideas forum members may have.
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Post by vance on Sept 3, 2021 15:37:29 GMT -8
Who can tell YOU how to make a better diaphragm? Do you know Jeff Heaton out BC way? James might be able to help... We depend on you, my friend.
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Post by SeaRat on Sept 3, 2021 15:56:52 GMT -8
We had a great time at Wheeler-Branch Reservoir yesterday. Weather was perfect but hot, and upper water temp was 87F. Visibility was widely variable, as low as 8', but up to 15 in places. Certainly enough to enjoy, and I was wishing I had my camera... so no new photos. Lots of fish and a few turtles. We both made dives using the Spaco and the Bendix O 2 conversion. There was some noticeable improvement on the breathing characteristics of the aviation reg, at least while going at a leisurely rate and sipping air normally for that pace at up to 24'. Got too cold below that with no thermal protection. It would still be a tough go if you had to swim hard, such as against a current. Could be dangerous at some point, but neither of us pushed to see at what point that would occur. We did add a Spare Air to our kit when diving the converted monster. Seawolf noted that it seems to breath better for him than did the Spaco when we switched out systems. I couldn't really tell much difference, but that still left me a little disappointed in the Spaco, so thinking I need to try adjusting it a little. Been several years since I had used it. It's not a simple task to raise the intermediate pressure since the retaining mechanism on the first stage diaphragm is NOT adjustable like later Aqualungs. To raise pressure, I have to remove the retaining screw and shim the main spring, and it's trial and error. But it needs to be done so I will tackle it before our next outing. In addition to raising the IP I noticed that the modern 2 stage demand diaphragm sits too high from the horseshoe lever, causing it to have too much free play before contacting lever. I will try making some simple modification that will result in longer tabs on diaphragm so contact will be made much sooner.The only ways I see to improve the Bendix at this point is trying to get the HP poppet open further with more adjusting, or maybe developing something internally to give a little venturi boost. Phil and I have been discussing this, and he is a step ahead of me at this time. I'm hoping he will have some suggestions on that matter. Even if I can't get better performance I am satisfied that we can enjoy shallow diving in easy conditions with it. BTW, I consider ocean diving out of the question due to corrosion issues that would likely show up due the dissimilar metals the beast is made of. I guess the designers never expected us to take them underwater. Seawolf also got to dive with my nice RAM, and of course that made a whole new world of difference in his appreciation of double hose regs. He really likes my double 27's and being able to easily keep track of his air supply with no pressure gauge. The valves are down for easy access during the dive. We dive them with right valve open and the left remains closed until breathing effort increases. Then the left is opened until the pressure equalizes, then closed, then repeated again later. Works out very well while keeping things simple Vintage style with no extra hoses. All in all it was a great day. For this regulator, it’s pretty critical that the demand lever sit as high as possible to engage the diaphragm’s tabs. The higher without causing a flow when together, the better. For the DA Aqualung, which is the Spaco too, the only way to do this is to bend the demand horseshoe upwards on each side. That should improve the breathing. But realize that there is no Venturi with both is regulator, bas the output is channeled right into the box’s side, rather than down the horn. So air flow has to hit the side inside the box, turn 180 degrees, go around the box, and find the intake horn to get into the intake hose. This makes the regulator very quiet, but also very difficult to breathe under high flow demands. John
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Post by vance on Sept 4, 2021 8:51:41 GMT -8
I moved the veering off topic comments to a new thread concerning the care and feeding of the Spaco and Broxton regs. vintagescuba.proboards.com/thread/5621/spaco-broxton-regulator-minutiaePlease reply to the New Spaco/Broxton thread with regulator specific info/adjustments/mods posts to keep this one on topic! I am not fanatical about keeping the threads on topic "just because". Note where this one went careening off topic. Yup, it was me. The only reason I presume to interfere in these cases is to consolidate information on a particular piece of equipment so we can find it again. Who would know there's a very interesting and detailed discussion on the Spaco and Aqualung regulators under "Vintage Dives Tomorrow"??
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dead_dog
Senior Diver
It's what we learn after we know it all that counts. John Wooden
Posts: 79
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Post by dead_dog on Sept 6, 2021 15:03:54 GMT -8
I the first picture with the black tank, did you mount the regulator to the backplate?
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Post by antique diver on Sept 7, 2021 17:13:34 GMT -8
I the first picture with the black tank, did you mount the regulator to the backplate? Yes, it is mounted with two SS #10-32 screws, and relatively easy to remove and replace. The nuts are permanently mounted so I just have the screws to deal with.
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