109 BA

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OK, it's a bit late as the issue seems to have been solved, but here are a few pictures of a 109/BA/G250 lever (small foot) before and after correcting the lever angle.

First a picture of Herman's lever height correcting tool.


After correction, the lever has an angle of 140 degrees.


Before tuning, and without the orifice touching the poppet, the lever height above the case was .295 inches. After tuning, the lever height above the case was .210 inches.



or use 60 pages of Regulator Savvy as a feeler gauge. (Yes, it's an autographed copy. :) )



Note the diaphragm fits perfectly in the case with no gaps around the periphery.



BTW I also tried a new clear diaphragm. While it worked just as well as the one in the picture, there was a gap between the lever and the disc which I just don't like, but again, the cracking pressure was about the same or slightly less.
 
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Rubber covers are reversed..... With your issues, I'd check that the orifices are also switched (or wrong). There is a shorter one I've documented in other threads. S-Wing can be tricky as an upgrade, and there is much discussion around here regarding that regarding levers. I assume you also changed the spring with upgrading to the S-wing? That 109 lever is at the wrong height, it's too low. You sure you have it in correctly, and the feet of the lever engaged correct? If it is upside down, issues similar to this happen...

How long are the different orifices?
 
FYI... the G-250 worked today with zero problems, zero squeaking.. 95 feet of water. Working on a video.. it's a little bloody.
 
I'm having trouble understanding why the length of the orifice is an issue. You simply screw it in/out until it stops leaking. What difference does it make if the o-ring end of the orifice is in a different position in the tube? Am I missing something?

Once you get the minimum orifice-to-seat pressure needed to stop it flowing, you need to adjust the lever height with herman's tool or get a lever that sits at the correct height so that when you install the diaphragm and cover, it doesn't push the lever down, causing a leak. That's when you end up tightening the orifice more to drop the lever, which raises cracking effort unnecessarily.
 
Using OEM levers (any & all versions), it would not tune. Maybe some day I might buy Herman's lever bending tool, but problem was solved with the "correct" orifice..... I've done so many of these I don't recall the symptom of this one. It just remember it wouldn't work.
 
I'm fairly certain the range SP gives for most s-wing poppet designs is 1.0 to 1.4 inches of H2O. Therefore you are right in specs. But the beauty of a user adjustment is having the ability to set it very low. If you find it's too low, simply crank in on the adjustment knob. All of my personal regs are below 1.0 Yes, they slightly freeflow with the knob all the way out, but a 1/4 turn stops it. One advantage in doing it this way is that there is minimal pressure on the soft seat while not in use.
 
That's a good idea. I bought a magnahelic and mouthpiece along with some other tools and Regulator Savvy. Got them this week.

First time I used a magnahelic in years, usually just use the pan of water method.

I like that idea, a slight freeflow at all the way out.

I think I met Pete at my Scubapro class in 99 at the Bluestone Quarry near Thomasville. Bob Outlaw hosted it. I purchased my first custom tools at the end of that class.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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