New Mistral HP Seat

[1969ivan1]

You should just give me that Mistral. That old gear is dangerous.

[Bryan]

[quote="treasureman"]Here is the seat from my Mistral . ther are no wear marks on it at all. virgin as it were, but the seat has clear ring around it from sitting I guess.

That ring is 99.9% of the reason that Mistrals leak. And the ring you are looking at is the normal wear mark on them.

[JES]

Here's the Mistral I scored yesterday on eBay:




As soon as it arrives I'll be sending it to Bryan for an overhaul.

[duckbill]

treasureman,
When Dan did a survey of Mistral serial numbers amongst forum members he had 26 entries. Yours would have come in #5, starting from the lowest. Here were the lowest five:
102764
101944
101359
101017
10701
That lowest number is questionable, as I believe it is mostly thought that Mistrals started at 100000 and DAAMs (serialized) at 200000.

I have been somewhat keeping tally on eBay USD double hose regulators for a while now, and the highest Pico addressed Mistral I have on record is 115754. W. Pico addresses represent Mistrals from the years 1958 to August 1960. That still places yours pretty low.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe, nice Mistral you won! I just found out that Mistrals also went through an unserialized beginning like the DAAMs did. That's news to me! I didn't know that (Like my Dad use to tell me, "You'll learn something new every day, if you're not careful!"). Robohips has a very nice one in his collection currently up for auction on eBay.

[JES]

...Joe, nice Mistral you won! ...

Thank you! I'm looking forward to actually receiving it.

[treasureman]

My Mistral seems to have a tube that extends and points to the inhale hose. It is about an inch or so long from the end of the nozzle. Are there longer versions or rather variants? Is this what has been referred to as a venturi?

Oh yeah.. I broke down and took it all apart., oprdered a overhaul kit and some mouthpiece valves. The originals are actually in excellent condition extras wont hurt.

As I write, it is all soaking in the regulator cleaner i got from Bryan, should do a great job.

Looking forward to getting new seats when they become available.

[Bryan]

Venturi nozzles are the same on all domestic Mistrals. They are longer and are a big improvement over the short nozzle on the Stream and Jet Air's.
Quite a few Over Pressure Breathing, Stream and Jet Airs were converted to the Mistral venturi nozzle. You will see some late production Stream Air's with Mistral Stickers on them as well as the red Stream Air label because of this change.

There are a few issues of HDS that explain the why and how of Gagnans venturi nozzle modification on the single stage regulators. You should have copies of all of them as they explain A HUGE amount of history on USD double hosers.

You really should have a copy of the USD manual to service it.....

[JES]

... You really should have a copy of the USD manual to service it.....

Or better yet, send it to Bryan for service.

Bryan's regulator service includes disassembly, cleaning re-assembly with new reproduction parts when available and setting to factory specifications. On U.S. Divers double hose regulators a complete regulator service kit is used. All work is carefully documented with digital photos. A copy of these photos will be returned to you along with your used parts.

http://www.vintagedoublehose.com/store/ ... ducts_id=8

[duckbill]

As I write, it is all soaking in the regulator cleaner i got from Bryan, should do a great job.

"ALL"!?
I hope the paint on your ID plate came through O.K.

[Bryan]

I'm about 99.9% sure that the regulator cleaner would not bother the paint on a lable if used correctly....I put that on there as a "CYA" for people that can't follow directions.

[treasureman]

The plate was pristeen, so it was carefully removed, and given a cleaning with alcohol and a soft cloth. I used the soft cloth to rub the plate, and the alcohol was to help keep out the coming winter chills.

Dopes the CD you have on the site Bryan go into details about repair of the Mistral???

[treasureman]

hope the cd, not dopes the cd. (big fat fingers on such a tiny keyboard make many mistakes

[Bryan]

Try using the edit feature to correct your typing errors after you post them. It is available for everyone now.

The repair procedures on the CD are from the USD manual they are not my own.

I would not be surprised if you get a few private E-mails from folks offering tips on Mistral rebuilds that involve bathroom cleaners, silicone grease etc. Some of these clowns are not even aware that the Mistral has an O-ring in it or how to remove/replace it properly.....Always take the source of that kind of info with caution.

[seakrakken]

Bryan,
How are the endurance tests on the new HP Seats coming along?
I curious to know how well they are holding up to such abuse.

[Bryan]

Bryan,
How are the endurance tests on the new HP Seats coming along?
I curious to know how well they are holding up to such abuse.

THANK YOU for getting us back to the topic of the original posts!

I have put these seats under as much stress as I can with my limited testing ability. Normal cycling does not bother them at all, 3500 psi cylinders seem to be no problem even if you slam the air pressure on and off to the regulator. Letting them set under pressure for days at a time does not seem to matter……What I really want to see happen is for one to come apart just so I can find out what it takes to make that happen!
Remember, I did not look to modify or re-design the seat; my intent was to reproduce it as exact as I could.

I say we give them a little while longer to be abused and then I will have them for sale at a very inexpensive price.

My biggest concern is that inexperienced folks will have a Mistral that leaks, get a new seat from me and it will still leak and they end up blaming me for defective parts……When in reality it is leaking due to a damage volcano orifice and NOS nor reproduction seat would make a difference.

Thank for the question.