Banjo Fitting ??

[diverdown1955]

I SEE THE PORTABILITY OF THE BANJO IS NICE AND DEFINATELY A PLUS IN THE TRAVELING DIVERS ARSENAL OF TRICKS. IN FACT I OWN ONE THAT I PURCHASED IN 1963 . UNTIL I GOT INVOLVED WITH THIS FORUM IT JUST RATTLED AROUND IN MY KIT BAG. NOT LONG AFTER I BOUGHT THE BANJO THE VALVES CAME ON SCENE AND FOR ME, THEY FILLED THE BILL.THE TIMES I VENTURED OFF ONTO THE BIG BLUE I USED MY OWN BOAT, GEAR AND WAS NOT CONSTRAINED BY THE WHIMS OF SOMEONE ELSE DIRECTING MY DIVE. I DON'T THINK I WOULD LIKE THAT IN ANY CASE.
THE PHOENIX IS THE ANSWER, AS I SEE IT. I LIKE SCREW IN BETTER THAN CLAMP ON. AS MY DADDY SAID "THAT'S WHAT MAKES HORSE RACING!" A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION.
BANJO'S FOR EVERYBODY.......HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

JERRY
DIVERDOWN1955

[duckbill]

DACOR AND SELPAC, SHERWOOD GOT IT RIGHT WITH THE DOWNSTREAM HP PLUG FOR YOUR SPG. WHY WOULD YOU SCREW AROUND WITH A CLAMP IN SUBSTITUTE, SUBJECT TO TWISTING PULLING ECT?

I like the Dacor valve, but unless you have one SPG attached to each tank then you would need to install and remove the SPG between tanks whenever you change. Be sure to have spare o-rings on hand.

With a banjo, you only need one SPG and it only needs to be screwed in once.

I wonder if problems with banjo/valve interfaces is why Bryan's pattern banjo was bent. Could it have been done on purpose by the previous owner? It seems like it would have solved a lot of the problems being discussed here. I'm sure that Bryan doesn't want to assume the risk of bending the SS and compromising the strength of the metal. That's understandable.

[Nemrod]

Now here is a pic of the Mistral mounted to a USD steel 72 with vintage USD J valve, again, perfect fit and function. This vintage valve has no provision for direct connection of an spg. This Mistral has the long yoke borrowed from a DA, other that that it is stock issue. The spg is a vintage SeaVue. Note the pressure reading. Thai is with the air cutoff after 30 minutes, no reduction in pressure.



James

[Nemrod]

Oops, me bad, here is the Mistral with banjo.



Nemrod

[Bryan]

James I have tried my reproductions on the same valves as you are using the brass ones on. They seem to function fine on those valves.....Why don't you have that Faber at 3400???
The banjos DO NOT like the short Sherwood valves that you see most commonly on 80cf rental cylinders...It does not like the manifold on my 30cf doubles with the DIN fitting. I'm hoping the FINAL change in the fitting fixes that. Either way they will be for sale on the 24th. I think 99% of you will be happy with them.

I will get a sharp stick in the eye for this one......But what I really like is that I can use a 7/16" adaptor with this banjo attached to my Oceanic wireless sender and if you rotate it correctly you can't see it. Makes it look like no SPG at all.....

[standingup]

WARNING:This post may contain items including, but not limited to, sarcasm, irony, hyperbole intended to bring humor to this discussion. Those of you who are overly sensitive or who have no sense of humor are better off ignoring this post.

What, now we have disclaimers for posts- what a world-

[Nemrod]

I spent an hour yesterday on the bottom of the Y pool with my DA breathing from the Air Buddy without a mask--attempting to drown myself. I have to get trained up on that thing. Anyways, I stopped to the LDS to refill my tank and saw that he had a new shipment of 80s in. They were all equipped with the Thermo brand valve. This particular valve and clones of it seem to be becoming very popular. Good thing is that it works exceptionally well with the banjo fittings. It is a little thick from front to back for use with the heavy yokes but even with the heavy yoke I can install the banjo. Your super thin banjos will do even better. The Thermo is a good valve I am told, It has a failrly long post which helps on an aluminum cylinder because compared to most steel tanks they have a broad, almost flat shoulder which crowds the HP hose. The longer post helps to provide more room, distance from the shoulder. Yeah, yeah, I know we vintage divers hate aluminum tanks but that is what you find for rental most all the entire world over.

Some of the valves I have, vintage types, have the HP port to the RH side, was it common practice back then to carry the spg on the right?

Put me down for two super thin banjos, one to use and one to loose--lol.

James

[Bryan]

Machinist and I were just discussing the last change to the new banjos. He is taking a bit more off of the valve side to allow it to fit the tight tolerances on the 80cf valves. With his attention to detail my hopes are that we have a winner that will work for everyone!

[Bryan]

Finally they are done and I am very pleased with the final cut!!! WOO HOO! Now I can stop talking about them and start selling them. This run fits better than ever and I'm 99% sure they will work for most of the valves out there.
A photo to show the progress of the project and a shot of the new stainless banjo next to the brass one. THERE IS NOTHING AT ALL WRONG WITH BRASS BANJO FITTINGS. The stainless just fit a whole lot more regulator/valve combos and the cost about 1/2 of a brass one.

[standingup]

they look great, are we still looking at a 11-24 release date?

[1969ivan1]

Wow the side by side comparison of the brass to the stainless is really neat. The difference in size is something else! I have a lot of long yoke regs, but I really did not want to mess up my broxton with a long yoke and now I can dive it with a banjo. Thanks Bryan.

[Bryan]

they look great, are we still looking at a 11-24 release date?

They are all individually bagged with spare O-rings on my shelf right now.....Just waiting for sale.... 11-24-2006@00:01hrs

[Bryan]

CentralTxDiver



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 15

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 4:49 pm Post subject: Using a Banjo Fitting


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I have been extremely happy with my "new" vintage Royal Aqua Master I got from Bryan. I've checked it out in my pool without any extra's attached and am a thoroughly happy camper. I love the way it breathes and how quiet things are with no bubbles in your face and ears. I have subsequently tested it with an octo and a power inflator hose attached to my bc and also found it performs wonderfuly. Thanks again Bryan for the great work you did on my Royal Aqua Master.

Now, yesterday I finally got my 3/8 male to 7/16 female HP port adapter to attach my new Zeagle SPG to the great looking banjo fitting Bryan included with my regulator. I got everything connected (SPG, new adapter, and the banjo fitting). I noticed that the one face of the banjo easily attaches to my Luxfer 80cft K valve the other face of the banjo fitting (where it has the o-ring) is smooth faced and is where the Royal Aqua Master nozzle sets against it. I had a couple of times during several setups where the O-ring on the banjo fitting blew out under pressure... I must not have completely aligned the banjo fitting with the Royal Aqua Master nozzle correctly. I would say out of 10 tries I blew the same o-ring about 4 times. I never had a problem with the tank valve side of things as I have read others having. I chalk my connection failures up to my first experience using a banjo fitting. Is this a normal experience for first timers? Any suggestions? I did manage to get a couple of decent connections that didn't leak and/blow the banjo o-ring. All in all I am a very happy camper...just learning a new way of things and appreciate any comments or suggestions? I can definately see why the Phoenix is such a great idea and I will have to send in my form should there be another run of the Phoenix. In the mean time I am happy learning how to use my Royal Aqua Master with the banjo and just need a few pointers from the more experienced among us

[standingup]

CentralTxDiver



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 15

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 4:49 pm Post subject: Using a Banjo Fitting


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Now, yesterday I finally got my 3/8 male to 7/16 female HP port adapter to attach my new Zeagle SPG to the great looking banjo fitting Bryan included with my regulator. I got everything connected (SPG, new adapter, and the banjo fitting). I noticed that the one face of the banjo easily attaches to my Luxfer 80cft K valve the other face of the banjo fitting (where it has the o-ring) is smooth faced and is where the Royal Aqua Master nozzle sets against it. I had a couple of times during several setups where the O-ring on the banjo fitting blew out under pressure... I must not have completely aligned the banjo fitting with the Royal Aqua Master nozzle correctly. I would say out of 10 tries I blew the same o-ring about 4 times. I never had a problem with the tank valve side of things as I have read others having. I chalk my connection failures up to my first experience using a banjo fitting. Is this a normal experience for first timers? Any suggestions? I did manage to get a couple of decent connections that didn't leak and/blow the banjo o-ring. All in all I am a very happy camper...just learning a new way of things and appreciate any comments or suggestions? I can definately see why the Phoenix is such a great idea and I will have to send in my form should there be another run of the Phoenix. In the mean time I am happy learning how to use my Royal Aqua Master with the banjo and just need a few pointers from the more experienced among us

The banjo sold by Bryan is a special thin style. There is a brass style banjo that only works with long yokes. The brass is easier to install as the banjo seats inside the tank valve and the regulator seats inside the banjo. BUT FOR THIS CONVENIENCE YOU ARE LIMITED TO USING THE BANJO ON LONG YOKE REGULATORS. The steel banjo from Bryan works I believe on all regulators and most valves. Install it slower and when you open the valve do so slowly. You should be able to catch any O ring troubles before they blow. Also after a short while I'm sure you will be installing with no trouble what so ever - just takes a little time. I agree with you about the PRAM but I still can't try mine since neither of my dive shops have plugs or hoses.

[CentralTxDiver]

Thanks for the info. I am very quickly beginning to understand some of the fundamentals and am very happy with things thus far. I was just curious what other's have experienced and whether or not I was doing something basically wrong. Since I did meet with about 60% success I must have been doing something right and just realize it will take a little extra effort to make sure all is lined up correctly using Bryan's banjo adapter. I am slowly but surely coming along and want to thank everyone for the help, info and encouragement. I love my "new" Royal Aqua Master. While its different than my Scubapro MK17 S550 its no slouch performancewise in the linited test dives I've made. I'm definately a convert to the doublehose and am glad I went with the Royal Aqua Master over Aqualung's newer Mistral reg.

Jim