Nemrod Snark III Octo

[clevelanddiver]

I just finished overhauling my vintage regs (Healthways scuba deluxe, Nemrod snark III, DA Aquamaster and a Voit trieste). The Heathways is the only one I have actually had a chance to dive and I am eager to get in the water with some two stage regs for comparison.

All have passed the bath tub-on-a-ponybottle test and the Snark III seems to breathe the best on land (my tub isn't deep enough to fit me with bottle & reg or I would have tried it).

After reading up on the Snark and how its second stage works, I understand the need for a pressure relief valve. I also figured out how an Octo would serve this function as well (as confirmed in other posts on the board).

For those of you who have equiped a Snark III with an Octo, what hardware did you use? Based on the position of the the threaded hole where the relief valve resides, it seems like an adapter would be needed to actually attach a hose as the nut after the threaded end is too big to allow the hose to connect to the hole.

Ideally I would like to run a tube up to a splitter and run an Octo off one side (mainly to serve as a relief valve) and an inflator off the other to allow me to get past the scuba police that require a BCD.

My reason for giving into the scuba police is that my vintage dives have been basically confined to the quarry because neither I, nor any of my friends, own a boat. The charter boats all have certain gear requirements that make diving vintage gear difficult.

I can get around the requirements with my other regs through the use of existing ports or utilizing my H- valve equiped tanks. However, the Snark's yoke will not fit over the fat head of the H valve.

Thanks,

Mike

[bsea]

I'm in the process of doing the same thing to a snark III super. I took an old 1st stage hose & filed the edges off the nut on the hose that attaches to the reg. I let enough for the wrench, but it allowed me to connect it directly to the snark. I needed an o-ring to get a good seal. I did this just to be sure I didn't have a high pressure leak. My next step is to do what you are suggesting, so I can run the inflator and a safe 2nd. I'm also using a pony bottle just as additional safety. I think I'm going to get an attachment made, and then use one of those swivel T attachments. That way I know the hoses will be positioned correctly.

For what it's worh, my snark breathes much better than my DA (on land), but I haven't had it back in the water yet. I'm still waiting on some parts. Do you know anywhere to get spare parts for a snark? I currently have an aqua lung mouthpiece connected. That's the way I got it from e-bay. I know the one way exhaust & cages are different on a nemrod mouthpiece. I'm assuming that's the reason the previous owner went with the aqua lung pieces.

I'd like to have it as close to original as possible, and would like to use the a nemrod style mouthpiece if I can find the 1 way valves & cages.

[clevelanddiver]

I still have the original hoses and mouthpiece with valves and cages. I have no idea how anyone changes out those valves with out ripping the mouthpiece. I put a small rip in mine trying to get to the valves, I sealed the rip and just let it be.

That said, operationally the Aqualung design appears to be superior as the hoses are wider at the mouthpiece allowing for bigger valves and easier breathing (in theory anyway). The Snark hoses feel heavier duty, but, as you noticed, replacements parts are not as readily available.

I have not seen the one way valves, cages or mushroom valve exhuast valve listed anywhere. If I do I let you know.

[SeaRat]

A couple of points here.

First, the hoses for Nemrod have a metric sizing, and so nothing else is compatible. My Nemrod mouthpiece was still flexible enough that I was able to get the cages out of it with relative ease. You might want to put silicone on it and let it sit for a week or two, then try again to get the non-return cages out (but if you've already ripped it, that can be risky too). The USD hoses are better than the Nemrod for breathing, as the openings are larger, so if you have it equipped that way, I'd keep it that way unless it's just for show.

On the adapter, several people have mentioned needing one for the LP port/overpressure relief valve to attach a second stage (downstream, of course, to retain the overpressure relief feature that is necessary for this regulator). My LP guage for measuring interstage pressure came with a metric adapter that I use for this purpose. It should still be available, as there are a lot of metric regs still out there, and the need to measure the interstage pressure is still there. You might try Poisiden, or this European web site for diving:

www.forum-mergulho.com/index.php?showtopic=1475&st=75

John