Voit 40 Fathom Rebuild

[georgeaustin]

Interesting thread- please post up a jpeg of the first stage - I'm taking out my little Voit Avalon single hose into the icy depths of the sea for probably the first time in half a century on Friday so I'm wondering as well what IP should be. TomCat, what is your IP with the 40 Fathom? After I put a new hp seat in mine it was at 100 psi and haven't cycled at all so I thought 100 psi is too low. I installed a .040 shim in in there and it's 125 psi now - doesn't leak but I read somewhere the little Voits are kind of better with lower IP

[TomcatPC]

I have no idea what the IP is, that is technically over my head at this point...and that is an understatement. Also, I don't physically have the reg. yet as it is some between here and Philly. PA. Looking forward to getting it though! I will share a photo when I get it.
Mark

[TomcatPC]

This is the one I bought.
Mark

http://www.northeastscubasupply.com/vin ... regulator/

[georgeaustin]

Very cool little reg

[TomcatPC]

I think it would be a nice little inexpensive "entry level" Voit Reg? Sort of like my first car...1967 Ford Mustang Coupe with a 200 straight six cylinder engine, not a Fastback with a 289 HiPo, but still a 1960's Mustang. It might not be a Voit 50 Fathom double hose, but still a Voit... Hope that analogy came out right?
Mark

[antique diver]

First stage is diaphragm type with a funny unique set of activating levers. I do have new seats for these, but even a new one can be a little tricky and take some time to seal up and hold intermediate pressure sorta steady.

The plug in the side is a high pressure port, and is a tapered 1/8" pipe thread on all that I have seen. Won't fit modern hp hose ends, but there are ways around that if you really want to dive with a gauge. The air inlet orifice of the main body, where the tapered HP seat seals is so small that you will probably get a pretty good warning of air being low, due to increasing inhalation effort.

[TomcatPC]

It got here today and in a couple days I'll take a good look at it. We are in the joyful process of moving into another place right now, so this might take a few days to get to it.
I'm glad it can take an SPG and sure finding an adapter would not be a big deal, but I'm getting more and more confident of diving with just a J-Valve. However I don't think I'll be taking this regulator out of the small Ohio flooded stone quarry anytime soon?
One thing I think is neat is the grey mouthpiece and clamp for the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is slightly hard at this time, but is decent shape if it were to be a shelf piece. I am going to replace it for use, but I'm guessing I would be hard pressed to find a new mouthpiece in light grey? This is the epitome of "First World Problems"...
Anyway, I'm stoked for my first Voit!
Thanks
Mark

[georgeaustin]

You can make your own mouthpiece if you're handy - go to you tube and look at making molds for silicone - it is easy and fun

[SurfLung]

Long Awaited Follow Up/Update...

- I think I mentioned that I hated the original Voit first stage because it constantly stuck out and hit me in the back of the head when my Dad let me dive near the dock with his full size Voit 72 cf tank... Back in 1961-62 ( I was in 2nd-3rd grade). So when I finally got a good diaphragm and exhaust valve, I tried it out with a Conshelf 1st stage (above). It worked, but not very well. Kind of catchy breathing. Later I discovered I had the top of the Conshelf unscrewed by a turn or more... (screwing up the IP?). But I wasn't happy with it anyway and just got tired of messing with it.
- But last weekend I finally got the Voit 40 Fathom working PERFECTLY. Rich (50,001 Questions) and I tried it out last weekend at our monthly pool dive and were both amazed at how well it worked. It breathed easily and smoothly. Rich said it was breathing easier than his Snark III. I had it adjusted pretty sensitive when I put it together. And so it not only breathed easy, it free flowed easy when you took it out of your mouth. BUT, the free flow turned off quick by turning the mouthpiece down or putting it back in your mouth. Anyway, here are the things that brought the project together (finally).

The Big Break-Throughs That Made This Possible:
1. I found an original 40 Fathom diaphragm on Ebay advertised by Herman.919. It was flexible like new and had the exhaust hardware in the middle to accept a mushroom valve.
2. I found the proper mushroom valve in the VDH store for sale online (I just bought all of them) and one of them fit perfectly.

3. And finally, I swapped out the original first stage and installed a later generation Voit Swimaster first stage.

- I didn't do anything to this first stage. Just screwed it onto the hose with the 40 Fathom 2nd stage and took it diving. Worked perfect.

We put a good hour of use on this regulator and were both impressed at how well it worked.

BTW - Does anyone else notice the original free Photobucket photos are visible again in this post?

[Herman]

Minor correction, that is not a Conshelf, it appears to be a later model Aquarius or Calypso. In any case, it's a piston reg, Conshelfs are diaphragm regs. And yes, having the spring cap unscrewed any will effect the IP.

Glad the diaphragm worked for you.