Broxton Chuck overhalls a Broxton!

[Bryan]

Here is the quick easy way to do a quick good overhaul on any of the Da
Navy regs, and Broxton Aqua Lungs. This little demo is to show you how
simple it is to do, but how many special tools you DONT need! First look
at the layout of tools for the job. Screwdriver with fine blade, Mallet,
3/8 allen wrench, large crescent wrench, vise grips with good square jaws,
punch, snap ring pliars, pencil, 5/16 6 point socket, and tube of Dow
Corning 4 compound silicone lube! First, remove the hose and mouthpiece
assembly. Take it all the way down, and let soak in hot soapy water, and
scrub the hoses out with a bristle brush. Air dry all parts and set aside.
Next open the cans by gripping squarely with a good vise grips, and the
clips will EASILY come right off. Set aside in a tray for cleaning. Open
the cans, and remove the duckbill, if its in crummy condition. Set aside.
Pull the pin out of the horse shoe, and throw away. Next, put your fingers
down holding the shoe and springs, and remove the springs and special
screws. Put them in the tray also. Next, with a 3/8 allen wrench, unscrew
the adjusting screw in the center of the body. Next remove the spring and
pad, and place in tray. Next remove the spring retainer with the large
crescent wrench, carefully gripping the horn on the reg body for support.
Unscrew it, and place in dish. Flip reg over, and put crescent wrench on
the nozzle, and grasp the reg by the horn for leverage. It will come out
easy. Set aside for now. Next push out the diaphragm, and place the reg
unit against your leg, with the horn resting there for support. Place the
drift against the ring, and with a few whacks of the mallet, your regulator
will come right apart. Set the body in the cleaning tray. Next take the
snap ring pliars, and remove the clip from the nozzle and all the parts
will fall out. Put them all including the seat into the cleaning tray. Now
cover the parts with CLR cleaner. This stuff will remove all corrosion in a
few minutes, and not hurt anything. Even parts with severe corrosion will
come out looking like new. See the pictures. While the parts are soaking,
clean up the boxes ever so carefully with NEVER DULL magic wadding polish.
This will remove crud, but not hurt the patina on and old reg, or the
label. I never polish a reg. I leave the patina on, as I feel this is the
character of the piece. Wipe the regulator cans inside and out. Then clean
off by wiping with a soft towel. By now all your parts will be clean. NO
need to scrape, polish or whatever. ALL corrosion will be gone. Remove
parts from the tray and wash in HOT water. Air dry them. If you don’t have
an air source you have one on your tank. Open the valve and blow out all
passages and hoses, and other parts, and examine them under a bright light
for flaws. To put it together, just set a new gasket on the body, and coat
the threads with 4 compound. Place through the box, and screw down the ring
with your fingers. Whack it into locking position with your punch and
hammer. Next put in a new diaphragm, and the pad and spring retainer
gasket. Smooth silicone 4 compound on the threads, and FACE of the retainer
where it bears down on the diaphragm, and gasket. Tighten with the crescent
wrench. Next put in the spring, and after coating the threads of the
adjusting screw with 4 compound, screw it in lightly 2 turns to keep in
place. Set the reg aside for now. Next eyeball the nozzle for flaws., then
drop in the hp seat, spring and crown. Put the screen in, then set it
upright on a solid table, slip the clip over a pencil that has never been
sharpened. place this dead center over the screen and push it down into the
nozzle. When in place, use the circlip pliars to position the clip
perfectly, with the Flat side up, so it holds in the groove. Next put some
4 compound on the threads, place a new gasket onto the nozzle, and then
place the pin and its support into the nozzle. Then fit it up through the
yoke. Still holding the yoke and nozzle pointing up, screw these parts into
the reg body from underneath until finger tight. Next tighten snugly the
nozzle with the crescent wrench. Flip the reg over, and get ready to set
the IP pressure. You can do this with a gauge as in the picture, with the
tank at around 1800 to 2000 psi. Set the reg to 100 psi. with the 3/8 allen
wrench in the adjusting screw. Watch the pressure. Screw the thing in past
the pressure you want, and then go back to your target a couple times, this
will reduce spring wind up, and settle everything just right. If you don’t
have a pressure gauge, Ill tell you how to get a right on set, after we get
the reg together. Next Pry the seat out of the horse show, and clean out
the pocket. Put as tiny dab of wetsuit glue in the pocket, and on the back
of the rubber seat. Press the seat into the horse shoe, and push in the lip
of the seat so its flat and even. NOW coat the threads of the screws with 4
compound, and put a day in the area on the horse shoe where the pin rides
on. Put the springs in the pockets, and with your two fingers push down the
shoe, and springs and align the holes. Screw in the screws with your
fingers, and after that run them down to the bottoms of the threads. Bring
them back out 1 1/2 turns from the bottoms to position the shoe correctly.
If the screw slots are not exactly even at the bottom position, if it’s
ABOUT aligned, then back out from that point. Place the long end of the
pin into the far screw first while still pressing down to align. Next slip
in the short end, When in place, STOP, and press the seat down HARD with
your thumb to seat it. Next connect to a tank and place the diaphragm over
the fingers, and breathe through the horn. It ought to breathe perfectly.
If you didn’t set the IP with a gauge, forget putting in the diaphragm yet,
and connect to a tank with about 300 to 500 psi in it. Screw in the
adjusting screw until the seat lifts off and free flows air. Then repeat
this several times to make sure of the point where this occurs. Then back
the screw off about 1/4 turn. Your done! Put the diaphragm across the
fingers, and breathe through the horn. It ought to be fine. If you have a
bad diaphragm, get a new one from Bryan or Dan. The old originals set low
into the reg, so it rested right on the horse shoe. Some of the later ones
have a lot of slop in them, but they are ok as the water pressure positions
them correctly once in the water. Take the bottom can, and place a new
duckbill in it, and touch the back of the bill, and the box with a dab of
suit cement. Blow on it once or twice, and push it down to anchor it in
place. This will keep it from shaking all around when exhaling. Next remove
the reg, and hold the reg careful as you position the diaphragm perfectly.
Put the boxes together, and slip on a new VINTAGE DOUBLEHOSE CLAMP RING.
Some guys file these out to fit, and some stretch the hell out of them to
make them clamp good, but correctly fitting them is so simple. Once in
place lightly tighten the screw until its snug, and then tap around the ring
from the center top, down each side, while applying hand pressure. Then
tighten up the slack in the screws. Repeat, and then repeat again. You will
know the right tension when the ears are tight, but NOT bending. If you
start to bend them you are defeating the design. Next assemble your
wagon wheels with new one way valves, silicone the stems of course so you
don’t tear them when installing. Install correctly into the mouthpiece, and
set aside. You will next install your hoses onto the cans, and you will
notice they have a "set" in them. Position them so they are in a position
as comfortable to the diver as if he had his reg on, ready for use. If you
have new hoses, they will lay best in a particular way, so connect them
right. Next assemble the mouthpiece with 4 compound on the connections and
hold the hoses up, and rotate the mouthpiece to it will fit comfortably.
When you take your reg out to dive on land it will be hard to breathe, as
your breath is creating a vacuum against all that area of the hoses and
sloppy diaphragm...... however once your in the water, the diaphragm will
go right into place, and all you need is a breath, to create the vacuum
that lets the water do the work. Then your reg will breathe beautiful. I
have had my broxton, and navy type DA down to 125 feet and they work fine.
I am proud to own them, and use them on every trip. All the parts used in
the overhauls are inexpensive, and can be got from VintageDoubleHose, I
never had a bit of trouble out of any of Bryans parts. The stuff is the
best available. Happy diving! Broxton Chuck

[kgehring]

WOW! That is a great description! I can't wait to go dive it! Thanks Chuck.

[1969ivan1]

Karl, you should not dive that old stuff...It is dangerous!

[kgehring]

Yea... so is being a Law enforcement officer! When it is your day... it is your day! What a better way to go, doing what you like!

[kgehring]

Just got back from Blue Springs in Indiana and Robo did the first dive with the Broxton and I used the 1956 DA Navy. Dive 2 Robo used his Royal and I used the Broxton. They worked great. The Navy seemed harder than the Broxton to breathe. All in all, agreat day of vintage diving!

[simonbeans]

Lucky you guys. I just got off the phone with Rob and was just green with envy. I spent yesterday in a swimming pool assisting with confined water dives 1 and 2 for some students. Yuck, I am getting to hate chlorine. So far this great weekend has been spent doing the household stuff, boring. My Royal is starting to get dusty. Next weekend for sure. Good luck on the Viking auction. I will be watching.
Allan

[kgehring]

We missed you today Allan. I ditched the new fangled BC today and dove Robo's double 72's. Now I gotta have a set! I will probably need your expertise to cahnge the straps to a fat guy size. Thanks and enjoy the great 3 day weekend!

[1969ivan1]

We had a great time. I really appreciate Karl letting me dive his BROXTON even before he had! It breathes a lot harder than a ROYAL, but it is way COOL. Karl looked like a pro wearing those twin 72s with the military harness (made by SIMMONSBEANS!!!!).....Maybe he will post some of the pics I took of him in the set up??????
The summer warmth is leaving us very quickly...We need to make the most of these last few weeks of nice weather and dive the quarry a few more times...

[BROXTON CHUCK]

Rob and Karl: I would make every effort to dive with you guys at the quarry next week day. Sure those old regs breathe a little different, but they offer a silence of operation that gives a real peace to your vintage diving. They are just like your vintage 57 chevy........... good for about everything, but not for the indianapolis 500. Get back to me guys.

[pclarke1]

There would seem to be either photos or a video that relates to the first post. Is there anyway to see this? Do they still exist.