YOKE Retainer come loose after service

[timz]

Well, as the title stated. I sent my Atomic B2 for service in February before my trip to Komodo Island. Just to avoid any trouble diving at one of the high risk place.

Tested on land, everything works fine. And for the first few dives, everything were fine too... But in one particular dive, turning on the valve on the tank, there was strong leakage from the first stage. I removed the yoke and realized the retainer came loose.

Then I finger tighten it and it worked fine for the rest of the dives with regular check before dive.

After that trip, I forgot about the leakage and I went to Tioman for some weekend dives. Before my 3rd dive, when I turned on my air, the same incident happened. But this time, the worker used an adjustable spanner to tighten it for me...

So, last month. I visited a shop to do pressure chamber test for my camera housing. I saw the manager servicing a regulator and I mentioned the issue to him. He said this is common. You can use blue loctite to hold it. Not the red one.

But since it was spanner tightened on my last dive trip, I guess it's be ok. And recently, i went for 2 dive trip. Nothing happened on the first trip with 10 dives. And the most recent trip, the yoke retainer came loose again.

Do anyone think it's a good idea to use a little bit of loctite to hold it..? Cause it has never happened for more than a hundred dives before the service.

TQ in advance.

 

[guruboy]

This is not common and there’s no need for loctite. They messed up the service and didn’t tighten down the yoke retainer properly. The adjustable wrench helped get it tighter, but it probably still wasn’t tightened to spec, which is why it eventually came loose again.

Find a new shop if you can.

Also, make sure you purge all the air from the regulator before trying to remove it.

 

[KeithG]

This is not common and there’s no need for loctite. They messed up the service and didn’t tighten down the yoke retainer properly. The spanner helped get it tighter, but it probably still wasn’t tightened to spec, which is why it eventually came loose again.

Tightened to spec? Maybe different regs need different treatment?

My yoke retainer has been finger tight for the last 20 years. As long as the retainer nut is threaded on far enough to not fall off & retain the yoke, tightening the yoke knob will provide a seal. This is a Sherwood. Are Atomics that different?

 

[guruboy]

I don’t have the latest repair manuals, but the copy I have says Atomics yoke retainer is 21 ft-lbs

Most regulators I’m familiar with have a torque spec. Also, on those regs, the yoke retainer is one piece that goes through the yoke and into the regulator body, not just a nut. Below is a random photo of a yoke retainer I pulled off the Internet.



What happened to the OP would be analogous to having whatever your yoke retaining nut screws onto coming loose from the regulator body (assuming that is possible on your specific model, I’m not familiar with Sherwood).

 

[timz]

Tightened to spec? Maybe different regs need different treatment?

My yoke retainer has been finger tight for the last 20 years. As long as the retainer nut is threaded on far enough to not fall off & retain the yoke, tightening the yoke knob will provide a seal. This is a Sherwood. Are Atomics that different?

Atomic is balanced piston. I am not sure abt Sherwood. The air is sealed by a small Oring touching the surface inside the yoke. 1/2 turns of the yoke retainer can cause the leak. But happened when turn on the air... So, it's pretty much noticable.

 

[KeithG]

Atomic is balanced piston. I am not sure abt Sherwood. The air is sealed by a small Oring touching the surface inside the yoke. 1/2 turns of the yoke retainer can cause the leak. But happened when turn on the air... So, it's pretty much noticable.

The Sherwood is stupid simple. The body seals against the oring on the tank valve. No need for another oring.

 

[KeithG]

 

[herman]

First off, you broke an important rule, never had your reg serviced just before an important trip. Sad to say but the majority of issues happen just after service. Always put a number of dives on a reg after service but before a trip.

It is possible that the reg was in fact serviced properly and the yoke nut tightened to spec but a "helpful" DM may have attempted to straighten your reg while it was under pressure. This can easily loosen the fitting and after a couple of "helpful" adjustments, it is entirely possible the nut was loosed enough to leak. This is why I stay with my reg and have a hands off policy. DM's are not allowed to touch my equipment ever.

As for Sherwood, that is a totally different connection. The Atomic (and many others) yoke nuts are dual purpose, they hold the yoke on and serve as a flow path with an oring seal, the Sherwood is just a simple nut to hold on the yoke. As long it's nut is screwed down almost all the way, it will function fine.

 

[lexvil]

Older Sherwood’s are pretty simple, not saying that any other Regs aren’t really simple too but perhaps a little less simple. The Sherwood SR2 looks an awful lot like an Atomic to my eye but haven’t had a chance to handle one.

 

[Scared Silly]

This post is spot on:

I don’t have the latest repair manuals, but the copy I have says Atomics yoke retainer is 21 ft-lbs

Most regulators I’m familiar with have a torque spec. Also, on those regs, the yoke retainer is one piece that goes through the yoke and into the regulator body, not just a nut.

The specs have not change:

TORQUE TO 21 FT-LBS
DIN: Use 1/4" hex
YOKE: Use 1" yoke socket

For the OP, many people attempt to tighten the yoke retainer using an adjustable or 1" wrench. However, the flats of the retainer are not very wide and undoubtably the wrench will slip and mar the retainer. That is why one should use a 1" Yoke Nut Socket.