16 Feb 96 22:06, Laurence Charlot wrote to Dennis Seavey:
 LC> The inflator I use on my BCD's (the "generic" Trident unit for around
 LC> $39.00) is probably non-repairable. The barrel is injection molded
 LC> plastic and the guts of the inflate/deflate valves are pressed into
 LC> place at the factory, and they don't look like they could be
 LC> dissasembled for repair without breaking something.  Of course, I
 LC> could be wrong...I have tried the likely things like unscrewing the
 LC> valves, but there is no obvious flat places to use a crescent wrench
 LC> to turn them with, and I hesitate to clamp a pliers or visegrip on a
 LC> molded plastic component that has nothing wrong with it.
Get a piece of flat rubber like those "helpers" people use to get open jars 
that are too tightly sealed and use that to grip it.  Then take the hose 
clamp off where it attaches the 1" diameter hose to the barrel of the 
inflator mechanism.  Depending on the make of your inflator, there may 
possibly be a thin cable attaching the inflator to a dump valve on the other 
end of the 1" hose (ala SeaQuest BCs); but by your description I doubt I will 
be there.
Once you have that open, you should see where you can put a small wrench or 
nut driver.  Be very careful at this point.....these things are made 
notoriously cheaply and shear off easily.  Just see if you can get the valve 
apart.  Metal parts can be cleaned in vinegar, rubber and plastic parts with 
a clean cloth. Lube the rubber parts *sparingly* with silicon grease (don't 
use spray or WD40).
Put it back together and see what you have.  If you fixed it (and don't have 
any extra parts left over).....great!  If you didn't, then what the hell.... 
it was broken anyway.
 LC> NO piece of dive gear has un limited lifespan, I think. I wore out
 LC> my first BCD in my first 150 dives. Specifically what wore out
 LC> was the stitching. One day while getting ready for a dive, I was
 LC> loading the weights (it's a SeaPro At-PAC, which is a weight-integrated
 LC> BCD system), and one of the four weight pockets on the BCD vest
 LC> tore completely off of the jacket. On close inspection, I discovered
I always hated those things.  They dived nice, but carrying them caused you 
to develop a hernia.  Now that my arm is plated, I doubt I could even pick 
one up
without working some of the screws out of my bone.  You needed a golf caddy 
to move them around.  And diving doubles.....you needed to rent a crane.....
Jay
PADI M-9033
--- FMail/386 1.0g
(1:379/41.5)
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