I picked up a regulator set for mostly the gauges, and wonder what the opnion is of an Air 1. Is it a good regulator, worth the cost of a rebuild? For a backup set it is between the AIR 1 and a 109 adjustable. Have both a early MK V (two LP port) and a later 4 port MK V for a first stage.
Opinions of a Scubapro A.I.R.1 (Darth Vader)
- Thread starter smithrjd
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That is quite the vintage set up you have there. I have not had the priviledge of personally working on an AIR 1, but would have a concern for finding parts for it. In the current literature I have there is no reference to parts kits for them, although SPs Tech Service Department has come through for me with some old R109 parts. You may want to give them a call to check availability of parts for it. They do however, look similar to the D350-400 series regs and perhaps they have some commonality as far as internal parts. That may another question to ask tech services, should you decide to give them a call. Good luck.
LDS says parts should be available. There is a rebuild kit on ebay, for the later D series but says same for AIR 1. Looking at a backup set, wondering what people who have used the Air 1 say. 109 adj has lots of info, find little to nothing about the Air 1. Appears that the MK V 4 port was original to the Air 1, the 2 port MK V was original to the 109 adj.
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Not planning on a "hack" rebuild, might have to trust my life to this.. LSD is a Scubapro certified dealer if that means anything. Have the 109adj rebuilt ready to go, seems to be very little info on the A.I.R. 1, successor to the Pilot which set the deepest dive for the USN (club card member with 20) other than that very very little info. I'll hang on to it, perhaps have it rebuilt to try for myself. Will report my findings.
Ron
Ron
halocline
Contributor
Check out this thread. If you really want to rebuild and dive it, I'd send it to DA Aquamaster, he's an expert with these regs.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/112156-looking-parts-my-scubapro-air-1-a.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/112156-looking-parts-my-scubapro-air-1-a.html
I have a couple of them and they are good regs.
They were a replacement for the excellent performing Pilot. The Pilot was superb in terms of performance but was fairly complex and the pilot valve was very hard to adjust properly. The Air 1 was designed to offer essentially the same performance (it comes close, at least to sane depths) but with a much less complex and easier to adjust center balanced valve design. In fact Scubapro made "upgrade" kits for the Pilot to convert them internally to Air 1's to reduce their finicky behavior and improve real world reliability. The Pilot was only around for about 2 years before being replaced by the Air 1 that remained in production for several years with substantial overlap with D300 and D350 production.
The Pilot and Air 1 oddity is that there is no exhaust valve. Instead the diaphragm lifts off the case to act as an exhaust valve. This requires a metal clip around about 1/3rd of the valve as well as an adjustment of the lenght of the pin that connects the diaphragm and lever.
It works very well and does not produce the leaks on inhalation that you would expect. There are however 2 potential downsides:
1. It breathes a bit wet given that the diaphragm/exhaust valve is on the upper side of the case in a face down position (they reversed this in the D300/D350 an D400 that use the same poppet and center balanced design).
2. Unless the tech is VERY careful, it is fairly easy to poke a hole in the diaphragm with the metal clip when servicing the reg as the case does not come apart and removing the diaphragm and clip to service the internals is a bit tricky. This was not a big deal when it was designed as SP routinely provided new diaphragms at each annual service, however SP discontinued parts and service support several years ago and new diaphragms are no longer available.
If you just bought an Air 1, plug the inlet on the first stage or remove the second stage and plug the hole in the hose or inlet fitting with your thumb and try to inhale. If you can draw any air at all there is a good possibility the diaphragm already has a hole and if so finding a new one will be extremely difficult.
Scubapro has ony discontinued parts and service support on three models - the Pilot, the Air 1, and the first generation Air 2 (the really ugly and clunky looking version of the Air 2). But given that they no longer provide support, a new diaphragm is not a possibility. The D300/D350/D400 annual service kits work fine as they sheare the same poppet. So as long as the diaphragm is good and the large o-ring that seals the purge cover is in good condition, the reg can usually be returned to service.
My caution here is that many techs have never worked on one (very doubtful that they have ever done so if they are under 40 years of age and virtually impossible if they have not been doing reg repair for at least 10 years or so) but a lot of techs would probably like to work on one to see how they tick. Also, despite any tech interest or ability, some shops may not encourage it due to the liability issues that may come up from servicing a reg that was discontinued by Scubapro. When Sp discontinued them, and original owners would have gotten a free replacement with a comparable performing reg like the D400, G250 or G500. (same with the Pilot and similarly with the 1rst generation Air 2 where a newer Air 2 would have been provided under warranty.)
I personally do not work on customer Pilots or 1rst gen Air 2's. In the case of the Pilot it is partially a liability issue and partially the fact that customers are virtually certain to be unhappy with periodic tuning requirements that are almost endemic to the design.
With the first generation Air 2, they were before my time and I just don't have any real experience with them on top of very limited parts availability. I am just not comfortable putting them back into service, especially given the better performance of later generations and their availability used for around $100 or less.
They were a replacement for the excellent performing Pilot. The Pilot was superb in terms of performance but was fairly complex and the pilot valve was very hard to adjust properly. The Air 1 was designed to offer essentially the same performance (it comes close, at least to sane depths) but with a much less complex and easier to adjust center balanced valve design. In fact Scubapro made "upgrade" kits for the Pilot to convert them internally to Air 1's to reduce their finicky behavior and improve real world reliability. The Pilot was only around for about 2 years before being replaced by the Air 1 that remained in production for several years with substantial overlap with D300 and D350 production.
The Pilot and Air 1 oddity is that there is no exhaust valve. Instead the diaphragm lifts off the case to act as an exhaust valve. This requires a metal clip around about 1/3rd of the valve as well as an adjustment of the lenght of the pin that connects the diaphragm and lever.
It works very well and does not produce the leaks on inhalation that you would expect. There are however 2 potential downsides:
1. It breathes a bit wet given that the diaphragm/exhaust valve is on the upper side of the case in a face down position (they reversed this in the D300/D350 an D400 that use the same poppet and center balanced design).
2. Unless the tech is VERY careful, it is fairly easy to poke a hole in the diaphragm with the metal clip when servicing the reg as the case does not come apart and removing the diaphragm and clip to service the internals is a bit tricky. This was not a big deal when it was designed as SP routinely provided new diaphragms at each annual service, however SP discontinued parts and service support several years ago and new diaphragms are no longer available.
If you just bought an Air 1, plug the inlet on the first stage or remove the second stage and plug the hole in the hose or inlet fitting with your thumb and try to inhale. If you can draw any air at all there is a good possibility the diaphragm already has a hole and if so finding a new one will be extremely difficult.
Scubapro has ony discontinued parts and service support on three models - the Pilot, the Air 1, and the first generation Air 2 (the really ugly and clunky looking version of the Air 2). But given that they no longer provide support, a new diaphragm is not a possibility. The D300/D350/D400 annual service kits work fine as they sheare the same poppet. So as long as the diaphragm is good and the large o-ring that seals the purge cover is in good condition, the reg can usually be returned to service.
My caution here is that many techs have never worked on one (very doubtful that they have ever done so if they are under 40 years of age and virtually impossible if they have not been doing reg repair for at least 10 years or so) but a lot of techs would probably like to work on one to see how they tick. Also, despite any tech interest or ability, some shops may not encourage it due to the liability issues that may come up from servicing a reg that was discontinued by Scubapro. When Sp discontinued them, and original owners would have gotten a free replacement with a comparable performing reg like the D400, G250 or G500. (same with the Pilot and similarly with the 1rst generation Air 2 where a newer Air 2 would have been provided under warranty.)
I personally do not work on customer Pilots or 1rst gen Air 2's. In the case of the Pilot it is partially a liability issue and partially the fact that customers are virtually certain to be unhappy with periodic tuning requirements that are almost endemic to the design.
With the first generation Air 2, they were before my time and I just don't have any real experience with them on top of very limited parts availability. I am just not comfortable putting them back into service, especially given the better performance of later generations and their availability used for around $100 or less.
DA Aquamaster,
Thank you for the very detailed explanation. The tech at my LDS is an older guy, he rebuilt an old 109adj that I had, he actually really likes them. Converted it to the balanced piston. I may have him look at it for an opinion and perhaps I will donate to the collection of vintage equipment they have on the wall. Got a whole bunch of stuff at a garage sale a few months ago and several items are now on the wall, Dacor sewer drain first stage and matching second, U S Divers horsecollar BCD old Luxfer tank and backpack etc. I was looking for a backup gauge set, and it came with the AIR 1 and a MK V. May use the newer MK V instead of the older 2 port and swivel.
Thank you for the very detailed explanation. The tech at my LDS is an older guy, he rebuilt an old 109adj that I had, he actually really likes them. Converted it to the balanced piston. I may have him look at it for an opinion and perhaps I will donate to the collection of vintage equipment they have on the wall. Got a whole bunch of stuff at a garage sale a few months ago and several items are now on the wall, Dacor sewer drain first stage and matching second, U S Divers horsecollar BCD old Luxfer tank and backpack etc. I was looking for a backup gauge set, and it came with the AIR 1 and a MK V. May use the newer MK V instead of the older 2 port and swivel.
Got the regulator setup in the mail today, bought it for the gauges. The AIR1 is actually in very very good cosmetic condition. No rust, couple of small scratches. Switch and label like new. Tested the unit on a tank and got a slight freeflow. Hosed disconnected and covered no air flow so think diaphragm is good. Will see what LDS says.
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