Why is a Conshelf so reliable long term?

[oldschoolto]

Apparently you have not seen the videos where they crash new cars into old cars. N

Yes I have... Years ago they didn't understand that letting the car crumble and leaving the body tightly belted in the cage of the passenger compartment would work better then building the car to take all the impact... That almost all came from racing car builders.. Then moving in to the DOT and crash testing of cars and highway designs.. I still have the straight shaft steering box in my 55 Bel-Air... You know the one before the "D" shaft collapsing rag joint used from the 60's to this day...

I don't want to sound like we should stand still.... But, It's hard to beat good old school engineering of a lot of stuff.. I still use the 1960 metal case craftsman skill saw my grandfather gave me... See if the new skill saws last more then a few weeks building houses... I still have and use the 1950's metal case cake mixer that I got from my grandma... Sometimes, They just built it right....

Jim...

 

[redacted]

The difference is that automotive engineering has put a lot of effort into safety and efficiency, often forced by government regulation. Scuba regulator engineering has mostly focused on how to manufacture at less cost and higher profit including more bells and whistles. I suspect they are also putting quite a bit of effort into building in obsilesence.

 

[fmerkel]

The concept is "building down to failure" . It's common now. Start with that which works and holds up, then start scaling back for manufacturing simplicity or cheaper material until things start failing. It's rampant across industry.

My fridge door latches failed in 5 years. Investigation found 2 small pieces of cheap plastic. I fixed one of them in 5" with a chunk of bamboo rod better than they made it. Fridge latches 30 years ago would last 50 years.

 

[Nemrod]

I love Bakelight and Nylon 6. N

 

[buddhasummer]

I used to restore from the ground up vintage Vespa scooters, up until about 1978 almost everything was was metal and glass. Modern vespa are mostly plastic . They will never be the classics the old ones were and will most certainly not have the same longevity. Sounding like an old person, they don't make stuff like they used to. Not saying it's always a bad thing but...it seems like things are now made with a definite shelf life and the cynic in me says it's to ensure future sales along with the accepted idea that you don't have it fixed, you throw it away and buy a new one. Shopping, the hunting and gathering of "modern" times.

 

[Centrals]

Now as to the HP seat if you make the seat harder/tougher you need to make the contact area where the HP metal seats meets the polymer seal sharper to effect a seal.
If you indeed do make it sharper it improves performance granted but indents into the polymer and reduces seal life. If you then reduce the spring load tension to lessen the polymer indenting you then loose performance and the valve is sluggish and overshoots.
Conversely if you increase spring tension you need to compensate by increasing the contact area of the poppet to reduce indenting permanent set”
If you reduce spring tension for a better performance you need a sharper contact area to effect a good seal and you back to the beginning.
I guess the reason why engineers should design regulators for diving and not divers.
Just a pity when they do and finish a design diving companies find no reason to retain there hire.

I just have to service my Apeks every couple of yrs then!! Luckily, they are pretty simple.

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

It is all about profits and return business. Few decades ago, companies realized that it does not make sense to build stuff that lasts forever. What is the point producing a fridge that lasts 40 years when you can build a lesser quality one and have people keeping coming back to buy new ones. It is all about bottom-line nowadays. Cars as well. I don't understand why we need all these bells and whistles. It is one thing to upgrading and add on the safety features, but Wifi in the car? I can roll up my sleeves and work on pretty much any car that is pre-2000 with a tool kits from Sears where as now, I cannot even crack open the engine cover because I will need special screw bit to unscrew it and get to the rest of the engine compartment.

Regulator manufacturers are not immune from this. Guess they feel that it does not make sense for them to build regs using parts that will last forever.

 

[northernone]

Curiosity bested me. Took a peek inside after a 36 year service interval with maintenance consisting of fresh water soaks. I think this may answer the thread well.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[tech3324]

Took a peek inside after a 36 year service interval with maintenance consisting of fresh water soaks.

So is it time to service it yet?
I love my Conshelf. Also the best single tank hose routing I've found.

 

[northernone]

So is it time to service it yet?
I love my Conshelf. Also the best single tank hose routing I've found.

No sir! Provided I didn't disturb anything unduly by poking around inside it appears good for a while yet. I'll stick it on a tank tomorrow and set the IP and check for leaks. Love them, in fact finally picked up another pair before Christmas with DIN adapters as my cave diving regs.

Regards,
Cameron