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Scuba Forum / UK Scuba / January 2005M25 tank valve replacement
First a bit of history, I guess... I recently acquired a pair of 15.1 liter 230 bar steel tanks that were made by Aqualung / Spiro... They have the M25-2 threads on them... Unfortunately, FedEx managed to drop one of them on the valve and bent it so much that not only will the DIN insert no longer come out, a yoke clamp will not seat properly, thus I need to replace the valve and insert... It has the modular valve on it, so I would like to find a replacement and the isolation tube that would allow me to convert the two tanks into a set of manifolded doubles (I think that you call them "twinsets")... I have not been able to find *any* M25-2 threaded valves in the US, much less one that would allow me to connect the two tanks together while reusing the one valve that is still good... FedEx will pay for a replacement valve and DIN insert, but probably not enough that I could just buy a new manifold and replace both valves... Shipping from Europe to the US is rather expensive, but I would expect them to handle it in-house and as such they wouldn't be paying *me* for it... Any suggestions or links to UK (or European) online dive supply sites would be greatly appreciated... Aberdeen watersports have 4 makes of M25 valves in stock. www.aberdeenwatersports.com Any identifying marks on the valve, or picture to identify the make of valve, rather than just the base thread to identify the valve manufacture. I think the aqualung / spiro is a stamp on cylinders identifying a batch of cylinders bought and sold by spiro, rather than manufactured by them, so identifying the valve would not be easy by simply the cylinder make and thread size > First a bit of history, I guess... > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Any suggestions or links to UK (or European) online dive supply sites would > be greatly appreciated... > Any suggestions or links to UK (or European) online dive > supply sites would be greatly appreciated... You could try the UKRS Links page: http://www.ukrecscuba.org.uk/links/links03.html I would have thought that the best place to start would be somewhere like Divers Warehouse: www.diverswarehouse.co.uk or Kent Diving: www.kentdiving.co.uk I assume you know that European valves do not have burst disks and therefore (I believe) run foul of the US DOT regulations. In other words, you may have problems getting fills. HTH Iain > I assume you know that European valves do not have burst disks and > therefore (I believe) run foul of the US DOT regulations. In other words, > you may have problems getting fills. Australian valves are metric and have burst disks. Jason  Signaturehttp://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/ for Aussie diving reports including Stradbroke Island, Terrigal, Jervis Bay and Portsea I think you will find that all of the Spiro / Aqualung steel cylinders are actually mad by Faber, most of which are supplied without a valve as many shops buy in their cylinders and fit their own valves, this allows them to fit standard DIN/A clamp valves or manifoldable vales to the cylinders as required. You should have a manufacturers stamp on the valve itself. The most common brand of valves in the UK are : MDE (Midland Diving equipment), Apeks, Beaver, and all the others which are mostly made in Italy, including the Scubapro units. have you contacted the place you bought them from to see if they carry the correct valve or at least know what type it was? Why do you need the exact same type? Uess you're going to twin them up with a manifold then its not important, in which case I'd recommend the MDE units which seem as rugged as they get. The one important factor is to buy a Balanced valve not Unbalanced as otherwise the more pressure in the valve the stiffer they are to turn. > You should have a manufacturers stamp on the valve itself. Spiro is stamped on the valve... Actually, it is raised letters... Here's a photo of an undamaged valve: http://webpages.charter.net/grumman581/spiro-valve-before-shipment.jpg > have you contacted the place you bought them from to see if > they carry the correct valve or at least know what type it was? Not an option... Got the two tanks off ebay and the person selling them really didn't know what she had... Got them both for a total of $115 (which included shipping)... > Why do you need the exact same type? Uess you're going to twin > them up with a manifold then its not important If it had turned out that the valves were not the modular valves, I wouldn't have worried about it, but since they are, then it does give me the option of converting them to a set of doubles as long as I can find the appropriate isolator piece... I'm beginning to get of the opinion that this is just wishful thinking and I should just be satisfied with an undamaged valve as a replacement and run them as independents instead of manifolded doubles... I checked around last night on the German and French ebay sites and it looks like there might be some valves for sale... Of course, I speak neither German nor French, so understanding the listings is rather sketchy at best... Luckily, when I sent them a question, they understood English... One of the individuals quoted 30 euros for shipping to the US, another quoted 9 euros... Another option would be to have an adapter plug made for the tanks to convert it from the M25x2 to the 3/4"-14 NPSM threads and then just use the US valves... I did that so that I could get the tanks hydroed, but I'm hesitant to put the extra O-ring in the system and add the potential extra failure point... These adapters also cost $75 each to be made from stainless steel... > Another option would be to have an adapter plug made for the tanks to > convert it from the M25x2 to the 3/4"-14 NPSM threads and then just use the > US valves... I did that so that I could get the tanks hydroed, but I'm > hesitant to put the extra O-ring in the system and add the potential extra > failure point... These adapters also cost $75 each to be made from stainless > steel... I agree that it would be a mistake to put thread converters into these cylinders. I think that your best options would either be to simply use then as independent cylinders, in which case, any good replacement M25 thread valve with DION conversion, would suffice or you could get a pair of new M25 thread modular valves. The valves with the best reputation for ruggedness and reliability are either the Scubapro / Halcyon type with twin barrel O rings on the manifold /isolator bar (both of which are made in Italy), or the UK made MDE (Midland Diving Equipment) item which is very rugged and used one facing O ring and a single barrel O ring on the manifold / isolator bar. In all cases the manifold / isolator bar is available in different lengths to suit different cylinder diameters and the spacing from different makes of the twinning bands. Probably the best and most expensive bands are the Highland Mill ones, which are made in the US, although over here in the UK we also have alternative bands which are made are made in the Czech Republic to a similar pattern but at a much lower cost. I am sure that a Scubapro or Halcyon dealer in the US should be able to get you the M25 valves, or you could place an overseas order to one an overseas dealers which use Metric sizes (UK / Europe, Australia, far East & Asia all use metric threads, in fact the US is a bit by itself on this matter). I strongly suspect that their would be no difference of the thread on the manifold itself between the Imperial and Metric valves, but you might need to confirm this with the manufacturers, otherwise get the three items as a kit (which is how they are most commonly sold anyway). http://www.divebooty.co.uk/dive_equipment.asp?cid=39&pg=6 Regards, TonyH |
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