AMF VOIT Swimaster Titan II MR12

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Diver1985

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Hey, I was wondering if anyone can tell me about my regulator. I bought it from a friend and I know nothing as far as the year it was made and possibly its current value. Also, what can I do to check and see if it is ok to use... I need it to go diving in the Keys. Thanks - T. Bender
 
As far as s/n 300 I'd say late 67 or early 68 as I have two that the voit rep gave me when they came out in late 67with s/n 185 and the other 212. Parts are mostly available today and value wise depends on condition. Id guess $25 to $75 depending on how and when serviced etc. Only problem I see with them today is parts are expensive (around $17 for a HP seat) and the general comment would be to have it looked at by someone who knows regulators......
I have at least 6 or 7 and they are damn good and dependable units.
 
I am a very avid restorer of the MR12 series. I was fortunate to have interviewed one of the chief designers for Voit a few years back for an article that I did for the Historical Diving Society. Your reg was probably built in 1969 as the full production of regs marked only as "MR-12" was reportedly started in late '69 and marketed as a '70 model according to records. I looked through the '71 Voit/Swimaster catalogue and the MR-12 was listed as a "new" model in '70.

BTW, the name MR-12 stands for Military Regulator, one hose, two stages. It was the first single hose model to pass the stringent US Navy breathing machine standards. As they say, the rest is history.....

I have completely restored many of these regs over the years. Unfortunately, the name plates cannot be restored to their original condition as the aluminum plate was cast with a die. It was then painted black and finally surface ground to create the final effect. I have followed the same technique, but precious little raised surface is available to work with.

I can give you any information that you might need. I also have the original data sheets that the factory produced from their initial breathing machine tests.

The reg would probably sell for around $50-75 in the condition that you described. I have a very early one marked MR-12 that is in mint condition.

I was also blessed to have worked for Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine for a few years. We ran some of my vintage regs on the breathing machines to compare their scores to the newer models. That was the funnest piece I ever worked on.

Let me know if I can help in any fashion.

Oh, don't dive that reg! Either rent or buy a new model! The Mares MR-12 models are the great grandchildren of the original, and are excellent choices.

Greg Barlow
 
Greg!!! You are the man! I bought a back issue of Historical Diver just to get your MR-12 article. The original style MR-12 is a fantastic regulator. I love that big external intermediate pressure adjustment.

You had said in the article how Voit had designed a new smoothed out 2nd stage for the MR-12 with bigger exhaust ports, and it was the first single hose regulator to be approved by the Navy. That had me puzzled because my earlier Voit Titan II had exactly the same smoothed out 2nd stage. And a 1967 advertisement for the Titan II mentioned how they had designed "the worlds finest single hose regulator. Not just in their opinion, but in the opininion of all who have tested it. Including the Navy." I kind of guessed that the Titan II became the MR-12, but the picture of this guys "Titan II/MR-12" confirms it. The MR-12 just featured a more compact re-design of the balanced diaphragm first stage. My Titan II is a fantastic regulator. It breathes light and smooth and delivers all the volume that I can ask for.

I am going to post two photos showing my attempted label restoration of a MR-12. I used a fine point "Sharpie" permanent marker. A table mounted magnifying glass would have been a big help. Attached here is a "Before" shot.
 
Here is the "After" shot. It's not perfect, but it is an improvement over what it initially was. The paint comes off the old Titans and MR-12's because the temperature change when the regulator goes in cold water causes the metal to contract. The paint comes off in flakes. You can preserve the original paint (if it is there) by spraying over the label with clear lacquer.
 
Greg Barlow once bubbled...
<snip>

I was also blessed to have worked for Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine for a few years. We ran some of my vintage regs on the breathing machines to compare their scores to the newer models. That was the funnest piece I ever worked on.

<snip>

Greg Barlow

What came out of that?

R..
 
having owned a dive shop from 11/63 to 2/69 and having been a dealer for Voit/Swimaster amongst others, One day the sales rep called and tauted the virtues of their new reg. Up til that point I pushed USD conshelfs and the basic Calypso but nothing special from Voit. Jack Chappell showed up with two of the MR12s as I stated in my other post and that may have been early 68 but I believe late 67 and I gave him an order for about 50 units and sold the hell out of them for 68 through Christmas and then sold the shop so I know the time frame pretty well. (I had known Jack for about a year and a half and only knew of his early sales career and that he had been a u/w photo of some repute)
I have used and abused them for now about 35 yrs and they have been reliable and easy breathing under the ice, on deep air NJ wrecks, and anything else they have been called for. I have never really taken good care of them, rebuilding them when they started a ip creep or mushroom leak and really dont understand the comment about not using them. I have tried some of the newest latest and greatest and though some seemed slightly easier no real diff worth a tinkers dam and the only diff tween my first ones and the latest is the integration of the hp module and the vortex tube. So Greg what was your experience?
 
I'm with you, Quimby. The original MR-12 is a fantastic regulator.

Question: I know what the first stage of a Titan II looks like. And I know what the first stage of an old MR-12 looks like (see the attached photo). Does the first stage of a "Titan II - MR-12" also look like the one in the attached photo?

Thanks.
 
The world is indeed very small, Quimby...

Jack Chappell is the individual that I interviewed while working for Rodale's. He "told" me that he was the chief designer, but I later heard from reputable sources that he often would inflate his stories a wee bit. As was common with any design, the MR-12 was not revolutionary, but evolutionary. I have a Dolphin II which also used the balanced diaphragm design. It is very similar to that of the Waterlung Navy model. Anyway, it was very overly complicated, especially the HP balancing system along with the diaphragm assembly.

One of the problems with early single hose models was that the exhaust valves were so tiny in relationship to the internal case volume. The exhaust tees were also small and narrow. This wrecked havoc with the exhalation effort.

The Titan first stage was actually nothing more than the housing for the Trieste double hose reg. In fact, if you pull the cover off of the Titan, you can see the blanking plug used to seal off the port used for the Trieste. Voit even pushed the modular concept on this for a time, as a sort of conversion unit.

I also have found that Voit switched over the IP valve assembly while bringing in the MR-12 name plate. The pin assembly that pushes open the valve became considerably shorter in the new units. These were not interchangable as I found once when putting a "long" pin in a short housing. When I charged the first stage, the pin was permanently bent by the IP pressure. What is strange is that the cut off on this change made no real rhyme or reason. As some later units use the earlier design. This was probably due to parts being left over.

Another evolutionary change was that of using a thinner second stage diaphragm that was more flexible. I have even gone as far as switching these to a later silicone type, and that reduced the breathing effort a noticable amount.

So.....as far as your dates go, I would say they are accurate. The switch over to the MR-12 name was one that appears to have covered at least 500 specimens or so. I am guessing that the Voit reps pushed many of these onto the more presitigious shops across the country.

My early version marked MR-12 uses a first stage that is marked "patent pending". It also has more squared off edges rather than the common more rounded contours. It also lacks any LP or HP stampings. The yoke sides are also noticeably thinner.

The Swimaster label was used for dive shops, while the Voit labeled versions where sent to the sporting goods stores. That way they could market to both sides. Interestingly, the Voit models used the cheaper to manufacture metallic labels rather than the fancy painted die cast pieces. Little did they know that the Voit varieties would wear so much better. I have a few Voit regs with the unbalanced piston fist stages that are still in the factory boxes. I also picked up a beautiful Voit Viking II that was the equivalent of the MR-12. It is probably my favorite reg.

I sure do like the HP balance chamber that came out with the MR-12 III design. The original had to be replaced due to the O-ring and nylon spacer being crimped into place when the unit was finished. I have tried to figure out a way to replace the O-ring without any luck. If you can think of any viable method, I would be most grateful.

Another prize is one of the first MR-12 II models. This uses the vortex tube. The first stage has 3 LP ports rather than the common 2 that were found on the original. I also have two that use the original first stage. When Rodale's ran the piece, we ran a '73 edition MR-12 along with a MR-12 II with the vortex tube. The tube does make a difference in creating a low pressure area that assists in holding open the valve. The initial cracking effort was about the same, but the tube and gas deflector made a noticeable improvement. The tilt-valve Little Gem reg was terrible. No wonder why nobody wanted to use one below 40' or so. I refer to their upstream valve design as a "cork in the bottle".

You might also find it interesting to note that when the MR-12 III was rejected by the latest Navy tests the engineers simply changed the exhaust valve to a more supple silicone and enlarged it by more than 30% in area. These two changes allowed the next edition, the Voltrex, to pass with flying colors.

My reasoning for recommending not using vintage regs is purely from a liability issue. I dive with mine under controlled conditons, but I certainly can't advise others to do so.

Yes, my respect for the MR-12 goes very, very deep. I use the latest Mares ones for all of my diving. From exploring wrecks to the springs of your home state, you can always find me using them. BTW, the HP valves from the newest models are the ones I use in the vintage ones. When you find a great design, you stick with it. Like I said, the MR-12 is evolutionary, not revolutionary.

Quimby, thanks so much for adding to my knowledge of the MR-12. I certainly am not am expert, but I love to hear from those with the early first hand experience. I began diving in '75, but used almost all Voit gear. I still have almost all of it. A close friend and I make several vintage dives a year. For those who haven't had the pleasure it is a pleasant touch with yesterday. There are many times while gearing into doubles, dry suits, and deco bottles that I think of days when it was much simpler.

I certainly hope that you can share more of your knowledge with us. Veterans such as yourself are too far and few.

Best Wishes,

Greg
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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