Pony Regulator died.

[ancl]

When kitting up yesterday at Stoney, put the pony setup together, turned on the air, as I put the pony onto the floor, heard a loud air rushing noise from the second stage ( Dacor ) for about a second as if the purge button had been pressed.

Tried to purge the reg, nothing happened, turned off the air, tried to purge the reg again, air back on, tried to breathe from the regulator, couldn't get the reg to work.  Couldn't remove the first stage as it was still pressurised ( thinking about it I guess I could have slackened off with a spanner the hose slightly to clear it out )

3l cylinder was full as recently filled by a dive shop, so I knew it wasn't that.  

Took the pony setup into the shop at Stoney who said leave it with them for half an hour, on my return they had replaced the regulator and first stage which was cool.

I'm curious to know what would have failed to cause such a fault ?

regards
Andy ( ancl )

[Dave Crampton]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (ancl @ April 05 2004,17:36)]...I'm curious to know what would have failed to cause such a fault ?

regards
Andy ( ancl )

<font color='#000080'>So am I as I bought a pony setup from Kent Diving last Birmingham Show ad use it for my alternate air.

Dave C

Bought as a kit,
Faber 3l Steel,
Dacor Eagle First and second stage,
Remote console,

[NeilB]

Aint regs meant to 'fail safe' these days? For the second stage to have no air but the first stage still to be presurised then there is a failure somewhere in the first stage valve (doh!). My best guess whould be the pressure spring on the back of the first stage (behind adjustment screw). If this broke there would be no back pressure to open the valve to let the air into the second stage.....course depends on what type of regs you have.
It does this on a Mares....I know because I did it this weekend diagnosing my leaky first stage valve seat. In my case though I had taken the spring out and had hoped the air pressure would blow the seal out. It didn't. All it did was to pressurise my first stage. To purge I had to press the back of the valve. Oh well....repair kits on their way, just have to wait a few days.

[Darren27]

If it was a Dacor Fury then enjoy it while it lasts.

Got two from Stoney, both failed after a couple of dives (first after 3 dives the second after 7) both only used as pony reg so never actually breathed off for any length of time. &nbsp;Took them back, both had faulty valve seats. &nbsp;I asked for replacements and Stoney refused, they claimed I had to give them 5 chances to fix it first before they could offer a replacement. &nbsp;First stage now used as a paper weight, thats all its good for. &nbsp;You get it serviced and it will start to free flow after 5 or 6 dives, the only way to stop it is to reset the interstage presure in the first stage.

[daz]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (NeilB @ April 06 2004,08:14)]Aint regs meant to 'fail safe' these days? For the second stage to have no air but the first stage still to be presurised then there is a failure somewhere in the first stage valve (doh!). My best guess whould be the pressure spring on the back of the first stage (behind adjustment screw). If this broke there would be no back pressure to open the valve to let the air into the second stage.....course depends on what type of regs you have.
It does this on a Mares....I know because I did it this weekend diagnosing my leaky first stage valve seat. In my case though I had taken the spring out and had hoped the air pressure would blow the seal out. It didn't. All it did was to pressurise my first stage. To purge I had to press the back of the valve. Oh well....repair kits on their way, just have to wait a few days.

IIRC, &nbsp;it is a bit of a white lie saying all regs are failsafe.

I believe the real truth is that most 2nd stages are fail safe and designed to fail open. &nbsp;However some 1st stages can fail close.

Actually giving it further consideration, the phrase &quot;Failsafe&quot; is actually complete tosh. &nbsp;How safe would you feel if your 2nd stage went completely nipples skyward and free flowed at 30m!. &nbsp;

Daz

[NeilB]

Daz

Well....gushing air at 30m is better than no air at 30m....so in that way, I suppose, it is safer....even if only for a short while.

You are of course right, it is the second stage that fails open not shut. As I said I created my fist stage failure by removing the spring but the same could happen if it broke etc.