Late 60's early '70s? Dacor Dart Reg Worth Holding on To?

[jim T.]

Wow everyone! Thanks so much for your fast and very detailed replies! I have been in a little bit of a dilemma as I could use another reg for a pony, but I'm not a huge fan of Mares' business model so far so I'm not chompin' at the bit (mouthpiece to trade in for one. It is somewhat tempting just because scuba money is short. It's mostly the availability of parts in the U.S....that concerns me.


I have been inclined to keep it and see what happens as I've already collected other things and have that interest in general. It sounds like the value wouldn't increase much but I guess I can stay open for offers. Perhaps trades...

Does anyone have a link for older Dacor serial numbers? I haven't tried with any of my LDSes yet to see if they have any but will try after the Holidays. Thanks again! Jim T.

 

[Wayward Son]

You can try these guys. Found a place that has parts & can service older models! You might want to save this info, you may be able to just get yours serviced:

Older Dacor parts are still available. Scuba Repair Express in Tavernier has plenty
of parts as posted earlier on this site. Mares bought out Dacor as stated in earlier
posts to take over a greater share of the US market. They immediately dropped all
of the older "Dacor" products and replaced them with all Mares made units.
That's why similar products are marketed under different names. We stocked up on
older Dacor parts and still have them in good supply. The regulators and BC's are
all servicable. I would imagine there are others in the industry that did the same
thing so it would just be a matter of finding who has the parts for your particular
regulator. If you have difficulty in finding someone that can service Dacor models
back through the Olympic line give us a call at 1-800-649-4659. Our technicians
are factory trained, we have all the specifications and "factory" parts.
If you're coming to the Keys you can mail your regs to us and we'll have it ready
when you get down here. If you're not coming to the Keys, mail it down and we can
have it back to you within about a week to 10 days depending on how busy we are
at the time. Don't give up, help is only a phone call away.

 

[Nemrod]

"The regulators and BC's are
all servicable."

You woudn't happen to have a line on the upper bag for a 1974-76 Dacor horsecollar SeaChute BC? These had a lower bag that was power inflated and an upper bag that was CO2 inflated. the upper section was orange and the lower section was charcoal black. It is my favorite BC but the upper bag is starting to go. What is up with that, it is only 31 years old! They can put men on the Moon but they cannot make a BC that last forever! N

 

[Wayward Son]

Don't ask me, I just passed on the info. Give them a call.

 

[Hammerhead]

I did have a nice old red label Calypso single hose, the one with the exhaust valve in the diaphram. I made mention of it somewhere, maybe here, anyways, I got an email from a Japanese fellow that I found hard to refuse so never say never about value--lol. That is a design by the way I think should be revisited
N

Not the same as yours, but I picked this one up off ebay for a song




and this...



Boys and their toys eh?

 

[Nemrod]

Purplehammerhead, I cannot resist answering you. I spend way to much time on this computer--lol. The USD regulator you have there is very nice. I have a 1966 Calypso J just like that one that I bought just after completing my scuba course. I used it for a long time and it still works and I often team it with one of my RAMs as an octapus. No, that is not the red label Calypso that I was talking about. I am trying to find my pics but I seen to have erased that flash card. The main problem with that regulator is the very small exhaust valve. BTW, the red label Calypso was used for the scuba diving depth record--yes--it was.
Another thing, JFYI, your regulator has the exhaust Tee on upside down. I don't know why people flip them over that way, it is quite common, but if you look in USD catalogs and manuals you will see them corrrectly installed. They should curve up--not down. It will improve the performance somewhat to correctly install the Tee. Hey, really nice units there, cool, love that Avalon. N

 

[John C. Ratliff]

A couple of comments on the above posts:

--The exhaust tee of the USD Calypso shown is a great little regulator, very rugged, and easy to use. It is the second generation of the Calypso second stage. Unfortunately, it has one design feature which needs to be mentioned--it's exhaust is too small to meet Navy standards. The MR-12 was the first single hose regulator to meet those standards, and when that happened, USD came out with the third generation of the Calypso second stage, with a much larger exhaust opening. This could definately be used as a safe second, but realize its limitations. Whether the exhaust tee is right-side up or upside-down cannot overcome the exhaust opening limitations, but can allow air to leave the diver's mouth more easily is most dive positions.

--I have a photo of me with the AMF Voit Viking regulator I had in the 1960s (the V-11), with the metal exhaust tee.

--The Dacor Dart has an unbalanced diaphragm first stage, so the interstage pressure increases throughout the dive. The interstage pressure needs to be set on a tank at pressure of about 500 psi in order to get it right at low pressures.

SeaRat

 

[jim T.]

Wayward Son,
Thanks for the parts availability info.! Sorry it's been so long for me to respond. Between the Holidaze and a very nasty cold, I've been out of communicado forgetting which threads I need to check back on, in my dis-ease

I don't know if I'll repair/tune up this reg right now as I don't plan on diving with it and unless there's a buyer/collector/demand for it I probably will spend dough on gearing up my current rig for now.

It's great to have this info./contact to consider for "down the road" though.
Thanks very much! Jim T.

 

[Wayward Son]

I passed that on to one lady who sent them a reg last year. She got back to me & said they turned it around quickly & she was happy with the service.

I know that parts for the older ones are scarce, but clearly there are some shops that still have some.