The board has been a little dead lately with few technical threads so I thought I would put a few “ How I do it” threads up . I have several in mind that show steps I go through when servicing a DH reg. I encourage you to give me your comments and any alternatives you have. The first one is how I remove rock hard or gummy duckbills.
Old duckbills tend to come in one of 2 conditions in old regs, rock hard and bonded to the cans or a gooey mess that sticks to everything. This method easily removes both of them.
I first remove any easy to get off rubber, then soak remaining rubber in denatured alcohol over night. I found an old quart alcohol can cut off makes a prefect container to hold the can. I slide it into the can horn down then pour enough alcohol into the can to submerge the horn and any other part of the duckbill that remain. I find alcohol to be an ideal solvent, it’s inexpensive, fairly safe to use and I kinda like the smell.
After soaking overnight, the rock hard rubber gets very soft and comes off easily from the horn, any gooey rubber just melts away. I use an old tooth brush to scrub out the rubber remaining in the horn and finally I wipe it down with a paper towel soaked in clean alcohol. Although the alcohol is stained, I reuse it a number of times. As an added benefit, the alcohol cleans all oils off the horn so it’s a perfect time to install a DBE.
I have several more of this type of tips I plan to post in the next few days/weeks. I encourage you to do the same.