Calypso IV rebuild

[fishnbeer]

Although I am a dedicated DH diver, I've been looking for a USD Calypso IV regulator for sometime to rebuild for fun. Recently I found and purchased a Calypso IV on EBay. It was in pristine exterior condition and at a great price. It only had mild corrsion inside the 2nd stage. Vinegar and a green scrubby took care of that. I then bought the 1st & 2nd(1085) rebuild kits from Bryan. Once apart, I found the regulator did not have the castle seat bushing from the recall update 1979. I ordered one along with the rebuild kits. I rebuilt the regulator and set the IP for 130 psi. I discovered it had an IP creep from 125 to 140+ psi. After several attempts to surface the soft HP seat, the IP continued to slowly creep up. I took it apart and took out the brass cone from the seat and switched it to the other side. After flipping the HP seat and putting in a new master spring shim --Bingo! The IP pressure locked and held at 130 psi. I cycled the reg for about 75 cycles and it held there through the night. I now have a great looking & working Calypso IV to play with. It will now join my single hose fleet of SP Mk2, Mk5, and my beloved Cyklon 300. Thanks Bryan for your instructional video on the Calypso IV, it was very helpful on my rebuilding project.

[ScubaLawyer]

Very nice Jerry.

[antique diver]

That's a nice looking regulator, and I think you will like the way it dives. If it needs a little boost there are shims for the first stage spring to raise the IP to get it breathing about as easy as anything else since it was made. If you ever want to convert it to a Calypso-J I have new old stock factory kits. (but then your pristine looking Calypso IV decal wouldn't be correct).

BTW, the first two digits of the serial number on the second stage body designate the year of production. I'm curious what year that is.

Back in the early seventies I sold a lot of Calypso J regs. Seems like they were going for about $170 back then. One of them was sold to the owner of a local Army-Navy surplus store, and he never used it. I saw it for sale in his store in the 90's and bought it back for $25. Still in my collection... still never used, but I have another one almost as nice that I dive occasionally.

[fishnbeer]

Very nice Jerry.

Thanks Mark, it was a fun rebuild and I'm thinking of doing another sometime.

[fishnbeer]

That's a nice looking regulator, and I think you will like the way it dives. If it needs a little boost there are shims for the first stage spring to raise the IP to get it breathing about as easy as anything else since it was made. If you ever want to convert it to a Calypso-J I have new old stock factory kits. (but then your pristine looking Calypso IV decal wouldn't be correct).

BTW, the first two digits of the serial number on the second stage body designate the year of production. I'm curious what year that is.

Back in the early seventies I sold a lot of Calypso J regs. Seems like they were going for about $170 back then. One of them was sold to the owner of a local Army-Navy surplus store, and he never used it. I saw it for sale in his store in the 90's and bought it back for $25. Still in my collection... still never used, but I have another one almost as nice that I dive occasionally.

The serial # on the 2nd is- 76 29012, so I guess its from 1976. Thx for the info on the serial #. the serial # on the 1st stage is 615674. Is it possible the first # on the 1st stage stands for the year 1976?

[antique diver]

The serial # on the 2nd is- 76 29012, so I guess its from 1976. Thx for the info on the serial #. the serial # on the 1st stage is 615674. Is it possible the first # on the 1st stage stands for the year 1976?

I don't know the details on the first stage serial number. Hope someone can enlighten us if it has any meaning.

[Ron]

If you convert this to a J, which is super easy, then it becomes one of the best vintage single hose travel regs ever. You can literally pack it with just 1 second stage, rent an aluminum 80, and then dive. The J valve is end user adjustable, so I set mine to 500 PSI. It's probably the smallest regulator setup you can pack for travel. I've taken this with Allan's travel harness and packed all of my scuba gear for Hawaii into a carry-on backpack. That includes fins, mask, weightbelt, etc. You just show up, rent weights, and rent a tank.

Nice looking reg

[ScubaLawyer]

Picked up cheap a Calypso IV in good condition that I want to learn to rebuild. I used that model reg a lot in the 70's and loved it. I got it cheep because the seller (who got it from an Estate sale) said the attached pressure gauge did not work (it only registered a very small amount of air pressure even on a full tank) and the LP B.C. hose cracked lengthwise when he put the reg on a tank. Neither was a problem for me as I really didn’t want to need the pressure gauge or BC hose anyway.

So I get the reg and the first thing I see is that the pressure gauge (an old 3/8" model) was screwed into one of the L.P. ports. I put it on a HP port on another reg and it works great! Then I saw that the BC hose was screwed into the 3/8" HP port! No wonder it split!

Gonna put this reg in the box of TO DO projects for now.

MarK

[ScubaLawyer]

Broke the main retaining c-clip on the LP swivel getting it off. Are these a specialty item/size or readily available at the local hardware store? Thanks for your input. Mark

[antique diver]

Oops! See if I ever let you work on my Calypso.

Shouldn't be too hard to find a clip like that, but a corrosion resistant one may be harder to find. I assume the original is a SS alloy.

[antique diver]

https://www.mcmaster.com/#retaining-rings/=1d13y0l

McMaster-Carr has a pretty good selection of SS retaining rings. Not exact style as the Calypso, but something there will do the same job. Let me know if you need any help picking one or sizing it.

[ScubaLawyer]

Hi Bill,
Guess I don't know my own Herculean strength. The c-clip on the filter broke too. Had to drill a small hole in the filter and lift it out in pieces so that I could get a pair of needlenose in to pick out the c-clip parts from the groove. Anyway, the swivel clip looks to be a 3/4" ID clip. Found a thin one at the hardware store that would fit but it is not stainless. All ideas appreciated.

[Bryan]

Bill, if you send me the McMaster Carr part # I'll buy them and send Mark one so he does not have to buy 20 or 50 of them. I can put the balance of them in the website store.

[ScubaLawyer]

Bill, if you send me the McMaster Carr part # I'll buy them and send Mark one so he does not have to buy 20 or 50 of them. I can put the balance of them in the website store.

Cool!

[antique diver]

Bill, if you send me the McMaster Carr part # I'll buy them and send Mark one so he does not have to buy 20 or 50 of them. I can put the balance of them in the website store.

Good idea. I'll get a Calypso out later this morning to take a good look and measurements of the clip, then check the closest part from McMaster.