Christmas Came Early

[capn_tucker]

Well, Xmas came in October this year (or maybe there really is a Great Pumpkin!) Found a package on the front steps, and in it was a Voit VR-1..
Finally and at last, the Holy of Holies is mine.. Somewhere, Mike Nelson is smiling...

Here's a pic of it: http://www.vintagedoublehose.com/forum/ ... temId=1066

[standingup]

condition looks great -- how clean are the inards? post a pic PLEASE
Then I will really have envy.

[capn_tucker]

condition looks great -- how clean are the inards? post a pic PLEASE
Then I will really have envy.

Well, you may not be quite so envious of the innards. The bottom can's gonna need re-chroming eventually, but the mechanism looks to be in good shape. God knows when the last service was, but even with the old diaphragm & mushroom valves, and just a new duckbill it breathes darn good! And the price was right; it didn't come from eBay, so no "Voit feeding frenzies" (which I couldn't afford) were involved... All in all I think it's a nice, solid and very diveable VR-1. And it's all mine..
After Bryan takes it down to parade rest though, it'll be "ten feet tall and bulletproof", and "standing tall before the man"..
I'm not super familiar with VR-1 internals, but the nozzle seems awfully small. I've seen exploded diagrams with both small nozzles and long Mistral-style venturis; I'm guessing this is one of the very early ones?
Will need to have Bryan weigh in on whether a "Mistral upgrade" is in order..

[standingup]

Thanks for the photo. If there isn't much difference between a VR1 and the mistral why the vast difference in price ?

[capn_tucker]

Thanks for the photo. If there isn't much difference between a VR1 and the mistral why the vast difference in price ?

4 words: Sea Hunt & Lloyd Bridges. I'm sure if USD had been the sponsor of Sea Hunt things would have been very different. But Voit was much more aggressive in pursuing its sponsorships; witness two very popular tv shows (Sea Hunt & Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), and two James Bond movies (Thunderball & You Only Live Twice)...

[Bryan]

The nozzle is the non venturi version that was used on Stream Air and Jet Air USD regulators. Quite a few Stream Air regulators were left over when the new improved Mistral venturi nozzle came out and a lot of the new nozzles were installed in the older regulators before they were sold That's why you see a lot of Stream Air regulators with the big yellow Mistral sticker on them....And in the one auction there is an Overpressure Breathing regulator with a sticker on it. .....The improved venturi nozzle did make quite a big difference in the ease of breathing.....When I get home I'll post some side by side photos

[capn_tucker]

Thanks for the info Bryan! I intend to dive this reg a lot, so it sounds like a Mistral upgrade will be the way to go if parts are available. It'll be on its way to you after the 1st of the month...

[Greg Barlow]

Very nice example. I really like the Mistral/VR-1 design. Properly tuned, they are about the nicest breathing reg available once the pressure drops down below around 1,500psi. Rock solid reliable, and utra-simple to service. I do prefer the lever plate of the Polaris 50/Blue 50 Fathom V-55 unit over the Mistral/VR-1 style though. The Voit lever plate is moved horizontally to adjust the levers' height, rather than the adjusting nut system of the Mistral design.

I made a dive with Rob's VR-1 a couple of weeks ago. It, too, was tuned by Bryan's skilled hands.

Greg Barlow

[capn_tucker]

Hi Greg,
Yeah, I think I got a good deal on this VR-1. Much cheaper than the ones on eBay, and it's in good working order. After one of Bryan's overhauls & upgrade it should be awesome..
Just one more reg to get (a Trieste) and my collection will be complete.. Then it'll be time to get busy and dive all these treasures...

[JES]

Congratulations on your new acquisition! I'm sure that you'll really enjoy it.

[capn_tucker]

Congratulations on your new acquisition! I'm sure that you'll really enjoy it.

I'm sure I will. Can't wait now to locate the green hoses and the rest of the Sea Hunt rig..

[Bryan]

Sorry I forgot about this till just now…..The nozzle on the left is a venturi nozzle and is the most common one found in most USD/Spiro and Voit regulators. Some of the early model USD and Voit had the Non venturi assist nozzles like the one on the right. Many Stream Airs were converted to this new venturi assist nozzle and that is why they have the Mistral sticker on a lot of them…..A few folks are still doing some research on this….Many will argue that the venture assist nozzle is one of Gagnans most important inventions…..In a very very basic nutshell it works like this. As you create a vacuum through the mouthpiece the diaphragm starts to move down and compresses the demand lever and airflow starts. At the point the air starts to flow a vacuum is started through the holes on the sides of the venturi nozzle and that vacuum pulls the diaphragm down making the work of breathing much much less. When you stop inhaling the drop in vaccum stops the action and the diaphragm reverses direction….On the non venturi regulators you had to suck em all the way down with no assist. So by changing just the nozzle the breathing dynamics of the regulator were greatly improved…..Some of the HDS articles Phil has written explain the principal and how it applies to regulators much better. I know that Luis and some others are working on a post about this subject for the Technical Questions section of the site…..Sorry to be so long and boring!!!

[capn_tucker]

Hi Bryan,

not boring at all! Very informative. My VR-1 has the small nozzle on the right. Which would indeed make my reg identical to a Stream Air. I think I'll definitely be wanting the Mistral conversion done though. As is my VR-1 breathes OK, but nowhere near as good as my Polaris...

[standingup]

Hi Bryan,

not boring at all! Very informative.

I second the above statement - thanks for all the great info