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Post by vance on May 6, 2022 8:22:46 GMT -8
I thought I'd make a list of some of the parts that are available to use with Dacor DH regulators, as well as some ideas to get them working again in the absence of replacement parts. This stuff is already in other threads, but would take some doing to glean it all from all of them. This way it's all in one place and can be found with a simple search.
Please feel free to add other info!
Available replacement parts as of now:
Silicone main and exhaust diaphragms are being made by member James.
2500 series HP diaphragms are available from Doug via subseasports.com. He has R-4 prototypes that are cut and look good.
OEM duckbills are available from member Vance.
Substitution parts:
USD duckbills can be subbed for OEM. The exhaust diaphragm is unnecessary when replaced by a duckbill.
A standard second stage puck can be used in the later model second stages. One exception might be some C-2s with a smaller second stage puck holder.
Stainless steel body screws and cover screws and nuts are readily available.
Mods and other ideas:
The second stage lever on 2500 series regs can be modified to accept a standard puck by soldering or attaching a modified puck cup from a second stage poppet.
A later model IP adjuster bolt can be fitted in the 2500s by enlarging the HP diaphragm center hole and fitting a shorter adjuster setscrew to relieve interference.
HP seats can be resurfaced with care.
3D printing to replace sheet metal parts.
Cautions when servicing:
Do not overtighten box to body or cover screws. This can distort the boxes, cover, and exhaust horn ring. Distorted sheet metal should be pressed flat. A benchtop arbor press works great. A drill press with a suitable flat tool chucked up can be used to apply pressure.
Do not remove the HP valve body from the main body unless you must. They are difficult to remove, and are difficult to re-seal. It is not necessary for normal servicing.
If you must remove it to replace the yoke or valve body, use a torch to loosen the thread sealer, and a BFW (big wrench). The hex is easily rounded, so take care with this.
A better way to do this is to make a lever out of a piece of 1 foot long flat or angle iron drilled for 2 opposed main body screw holes to make "handles" that extend equally over both sides of the main body. Attach the handles with new screws so you don't bend the originals.
Hold the valve body hex in a vise with smooth jaws, apply lots of heat, and turn the main body out with the iron handles.
Use some kind of thread sealer when reinstalling.
R-4 and up HP pin is .477" long
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Post by Jim Perdway on May 6, 2022 15:53:49 GMT -8
This is great, thanks Phil!
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Post by tomcatpc on May 7, 2022 3:26:12 GMT -8
Great to see a growing interest in Dacor!
Mark
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Post by vance on May 12, 2022 15:15:04 GMT -8
Doug sent me a couple of sample R-4 and up HP diaphragms. They look good. I haven't yet assembled my R-4 using one, but will get to it tomorrow (probably). Will update this post then.
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Post by SeaRat on May 12, 2022 17:02:30 GMT -8
Phil and others, I have a challenge for you. Take a look at the lever system of the Dacor R-4 and Clipper regulator.  IMG_8525 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Note that very large "U" shape in the secondary lever. Now look at where it contacts the primary lever. As the secondary lever moves down on the primary lever, it also moves toward the fulcrum of the primary lever, decreasing the leverage as the inhalation get greater. This is the opposite of the lever systems for the Mistral and the Healtways Scuba models, in which without that "U" shape, there is an increase in the leverage as the secondary lever goes down on the primary lever.  Healthways Scuba Hybrid3 by John Ratliff, on Flickr  Healthways Scuba Hybrid5 by John Ratliff, on Flickr This is true of the Snark III too:  Snark III Baffle2 by John Ratliff, on Flickr When the Snark III, Mistral or Healthways Scuba regulator's secondary lever presses down on the primary lever, the point of contact goes down the secondary lever toward it's fulcrum, the opposite of the R-4 and Clipper's design. My challenge is to re-design the secondary lever of the Dacor R-4 and Clipper so that it mimics these other, proven regulators. I did this with my R-4, which I had converted from an R-3 with parts I bought from Dacor. I straightened the secondary lever to take out the "U" and then tested it in the Roseburg YMCA pool, and it performed better (though unevenly as I could not make a smooth surface with a hammer). I know that this improves the R-4's and Clipper's performance, but I do not really have the expertise to make it work. I think, with the folks here now, that this expertise does exist. Note that the R-1 through R-3 had such a lever system, as did the Dacor Dart single hose regulator, and my R-3 actually has a cracking effort that seems less than my R-4. John |
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Post by vance on May 13, 2022 7:19:54 GMT -8
I happen to have an almost complete R-4 that is missing the diaphragm contact lever (and has a badly damaged second stage body). I might take a whack at making a new lever. I can use the damaged body to fit the lever, but won't be able to test it until I find a good second stage.
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Post by vance on Jun 1, 2022 14:46:56 GMT -8
I assembled the R-4 with one of the newly repro'd HP diaphragms. The diaphragm has some minor fit issues, but nothing that would stop it from working well.
As mentioned above, the second stage body I have has been brutalized and the volcano orifice is sketchy. I did some polishing and it might hold, but I'm not positive since I've finally run out of compressed air.
I haven't yet made a new lever. There's some other issues (no air) I need to address before this project gets some action. But, I hooked up to a 300psig tank and it seemed ok.
My vintage friendly shop has not been allowed to fill tanks for about 2 years. Hopefully, he can now as things relax, but I haven't checked for a couple of weeks. Also, I need to get a bunch of tanks to the fire extinguisher shop to recertify them in hopes that I'll be able to get some fills.
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Post by SeaRat on Jun 8, 2022 18:26:24 GMT -8
I have just finished updating my Dacor R-4, with the new exhaust diaphragm. I hoped to post a photo of it, but my iPhone made it a video, and I'm having to figure out how to import it into Flikr. When I do, I'll get it posted here. But I put three short tubing pieces on it to keep the exhaust mushroom away from the cover, and now it's working great. I also re-bent the second stage lever, as it may have been hanging up on the diaphragm. Anyway, that regulator is now ready for the water. I may be able to get wet on Friday. I also re-adjusted the IP, and it seems to breathe better now too.
John
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Post by SeaRat on Jun 10, 2022 9:35:25 GMT -8
Well, today was to be the first day I'd get wet in a river. I had planned to go to the Tualatin River for a dive today, but it's been raining hard, and again today the "Atmospheric River" is causing a lot of water to come down. We've had a quarter inch of rain in the last 24 hours, and diving is not appealing to me right now. So it'll be later this month before I get my Dacor R-4 regulator wet. (Maybe I'm getting old  ) John |
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Post by SeaRat on Jun 10, 2022 22:13:37 GMT -8
Well, my decision not to dive is probably a good one; we had over an inch of rain today, setting all sorts of records. But I will get that Dacor R-4 wet soon! It’s getting exciting to get the two new silicone diaphragms into the water.
John
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Post by SeaRat on Jun 11, 2022 18:34:31 GMT -8
My dive site had Class 2 rapids going through it! There was a video of it in Oregon Scuba and Spearfishing’s Facebook page today. The Clackamas River apparently rose about 15 feet, and was at the top of the north-side cliffs. The lifeguards did not bother to set up their area, as the whole area was not swimable. I got my Dacor R-4 tuned about as good as a DA Aquamaster right now, with its silicone diaphragms, retuned first stage, and reset levers. John PS, This is why I didn't dive last week.  High Rocks at Flood by John Ratliff, on Flickr |
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Post by SeaRat on Jun 15, 2022 16:42:00 GMT -8
Here is that photo of the exhalation diaphragm I promised.  IMG_0659 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Note the three tubing extensions that I glued onto the diaphragm to keep the mushroom from being interfered with by the top cover. John |
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Post by SeaRat on Jul 26, 2022 15:38:43 GMT -8
I just got out of the water for only my second dive of the year, at High Rocks on the Clackamas River. Water temp was 74 degrees, and the weather is supposed to reach over 100 degrees today. I used my Dacor R-4 with the new silicone diaphragms today, The regulator performed very, very well. It’s not where my Trieste II or Royal Aquamaster or Mossback Mk3, but it’s close. The silicone diaphragms performed well, and contributed to a very nice dive. I was a bit worried about the R-4, as when it was on a tank at very low pressure it was leaking a bit. But this did not occur today. My tanks were at 2700 psig at the start of the dive. If you have an old Dacor double hose, these new silicone diaphragms will make them perform better than ever. I always now go down to the lifeguards and brief them on my dive plan, then dive, then come back to them and tell them I’m out. This is because the best dive is a drift dive from High Rocks to Clark Park just downstream, then walk back to my car in a semi-circularly process. While down, I found that the tree that has been at the upper rapids is no longer there, due to the extremely high water there a few months back (see the above post for a photo). The SUV is still there, and is not buried as deeply into the bottom; I will start a new thread so you car guys can try to identify the car. I will have photos and perhaps a VIN plate too (I recovered it years ago, and may have a photo of it I can access, but also photos of the wreck itself, with a very interesting, wrap-around bumper. That is coming. I got more photos of the sculpin, and both a video segment and a photo of a large-scale sucker too.  IMG_3311 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Prickly Sculpin, Cottus asper IMG_3305 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Catostomus macrocheilus, the largescale sucker. What a great way to keep cool (I wore a shorty wetsuit and hood is all). The Dacor R-4 was used on twin AL 45s, without any heigh tech components (no SPG, no LP inflator, etc.). I had six pounds of weight on, and with just a shorty wet suit, I had no need to use my Para-Sea BC as a BC. I was weighted just right, and a shorty doesn’t loose buoyancy as much as a full wetsuit. I also wore an old, oval mask by White Stag. To keep it defogger, I simply kept some water in the bottom of the mask, and swirled it inside as necessary. I found that the use of the oval mask did not give me a sense of missing anything. The old oval mask is actually still a very nice mask to use. I really didn’t miss my normal tri-view mask, but did miss my SeawicopeEY, as the Canon PowerShot SD500 in a case requires very close looking to see the settings on the screen, and I wasn’t very good at that today. The result was some blurred photos (and last week’s dive resulted in extremely short video rather than photos from this camera). I need more practice with it now. John |
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Post by james1979 on Jul 26, 2022 16:14:51 GMT -8
Here is that photo of the exhalation diaphragm I promised. IMG_0659 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Note the three tubing extensions that I glued onto the diaphragm to keep the mushroom from being interfered with by the top cover. John John, Can you let me know the length of your tubing extensions? I'm finally regaining some hobby time, and MK2 of the Dacor diaphragms could have that length done right out of the mold. Best, James |
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Post by SeaRat on Jul 26, 2022 17:08:43 GMT -8
Here is that photo of the exhalation diaphragm I promised. IMG_0659 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Note the three tubing extensions that I glued onto the diaphragm to keep the mushroom from being interfered with by the top cover. John John, Can you let me know the length of your tubing extensions? I'm finally regaining some hobby time, and MK2 of the Dacor diaphragms could have that length done right out of the mold. Best, James Sure. I'll measure it soon. The exhaust worked well with that mod. I thoroughly enjoyed today's dive with the R-4 and your diaphragms. Here is my R-4 with the silicone diaphragms in place:  IMG_3329 by John Ratliff, on Flickr And here is a rather scary photo of me with my Dacor R-4 in my mouth, and my White Stage oval mask in my face.  IMG_3328 by John Ratliff, on Flickr John |
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