Aqualung Titan Environmentally Sealed 1st stage service.

[JMicah]

Hello,

I've got an Aqualung Titan 1st stage.
Inscriptions:
HP
CE0078
EN 250
>10 degrees Celcius

This regulator has an environmental membrane.
Before we get down to the question I would like to pre-filter the responses.
I do have experience servicing non environmentally sealed 1st stages. I do understand that an environmentally sealed 1st stage is more difficult to work with and is best left to professionals. I understand the risks of working on it myself. I am not interested in responses that tell me not to work on my regulator.
Thanks

So, I have taken off the the bottom cap and found the ambient pressure tension spring, and expected the piston to come right out. It, however, does not, because it has an environmental membrane around it.
I took off the yoke connector and am now looking at it from the other side. On the intake, there is a snap ring that holds a flow restrictive plate/ring and a filter.
I am considering taking that apart to see if there is a way to remove the piston from that side.

The whole purpose of this exercise is to replace the valve seat. Does anyone have any expertize in this area that they would be willing to share?

Thanks for your time and help.
-micah

 

[redacted]

Are you doing this without a manual? They can be very helpful when you are not sure what you are doing.

http://www.frogkick.dk/manuals/aqualung/

 

[herman]

It sounds like you went one level too far. If the spring came out, then you dissembled the main body of the reg and not the environmental chamber. In an environmentally sealed Titan you remove the end cap (takes a WIDE screwdriver) to remove it. The enviro diaphragm and piston will then come out. Behind the piston you will find the hex spring adjuster, which is the next thing to take apart. If you look into the piece you removed and see a 3/8 hex opening, you def went one level too far.
At this point (if you dissembled what I think you did) you need to dissemble the environmental chamber so you can replace the end body, spring and spring adjuster.
Dissembling the HP stage is fairly easy, just remove the circlip and everything will come out......and past your head if you are not careful. You will need the Oring and backup ring for the balance chamber in addition to the HP seat.....and if you are changing the seat for a unstable IP, odds are the balance chamber orings are the culprit and not the HP seat. Replacing the oring and back up ring is not easy and you can mess up big time if you scratch the inner wall of the balance chamber.....it can be replaced but it is another part you will need. Now for the real fun. Getting the HP stage back together is a royal pain in the rear unless you have a HP assembly tool. It is possible to do without the tool but it's a difficult task. I have done it without the tools before but now have the tools to do it correctly.

Before proceeding, I suggest you get a copy of the service manual. The Titan is not a difficult reg to service and the enviro seal is simple but you do need to have some idea of what you are doing.

 

[Hallmac]

JMicah

The high pressure seat is reached from the "intake side" as you referred to it. There is no piston other than the plastic one used in the dry seal system. The Titan is a diaphragm regulator.

Down load the service manual linked above and don't scratch the sides of the High pressure poppet when trying to remove the o-ring.

 

[Zung]

... Getting the HP stage back together is a royal pain in the rear unless you have a HP assembly tool. It is possible to do without the tool but it's a difficult task. I have done it without the tools before but now have the tools to do it correctly...

herman is too much of a gentleman to mention that he makes the assembly tool. If you PM him and ask nicely, he may consider a lowly monetary transaction.

 

[keyshunter]

Herman,
I would be interested in seeing your Titan assembly tool. Currently, I am using a thin wooden dowel to remove/install the "filter stack", in conjunction with the circlip pliers. The trick for me seems to be, since I have no way of safely holding the body steady (I don't trust the bolt-in-port-in-vise for this), someone to hold it upright on the bench while I do the installation.

 

[knowone]

My friend are the aluminium jaws I made for my vice and a few layers of cloth.
But a couple of bits of aluminium sheet folded around is quick.

 

[herman]

herman is too much of a gentleman to mention that he makes the assembly tool. If you PM him and ask nicely, he may consider a lowly monetary transaction.

Thanks Zung....I did not want to sound like a comercial. One of the reasons I make the tool is becaue I got tired of fighting to install the parts in my double hose regs. By the way Zung, I looked at the SEA manual more and you could use the tool to install the circlip and filter but it would be just as easy to use the pliers.

Herman,
I would be interested in seeing your Titan assembly tool. Currently, I am using a thin wooden dowel to remove/install the "filter stack", in conjunction with the circlip pliers. The trick for me seems to be, since I have no way of safely holding the body steady (I don't trust the bolt-in-port-in-vise for this), someone to hold it upright on the bench while I do the installation.

I am selling them on ebay, you can see it there. US Divers/ Aqualung High Pressure stage assembly tool - eBay (item 110596790190 end time Oct-17-10 04:41:45 PDT) If you, or any other SB member wants one just PM me. $20 shipped to US( other countries may be a little higher depending on shipping). It takes all the fighting out of the installation of the parts. Just drop the HP seat in making sure it is on the pin, drop the spring and balance chamber on top, set the tool in place, drop in the filter, washer (if there is one) and the circlip. Press down with the plunger until you feel it snap in place. It took me longer to type that than it does to do.

 

[JMicah]

Thanks All, for your help!

I actually have that manual already. Unfortunately, it does not go into the detail that I was looking for.

Thanks Hallmac. That was what I was hoping to find out. It boggled my mind thinking of how a piston would fit through the intake port, so I kept focusing on how to remove the diaphragm. Of course, if the diaphragm were meant to be removed from that end, there would be some place to grip it with a tool of some sort.
I've gotten a better understanding of the shape of the internal parts, and will now proceed to removing the snap ring and filter.
Thanks for the caution against scratching the interior. I will use soft metal hooks to take care of that.

Thanks again.
I'll let you all know how it goes.

-micah