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Discussion of diving methods and equipment available prior to the development of BCDs beyond the horse collar. This forum is dedicated to the pre-1970 diving.
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antique diver
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Re: Servicing a Calypso Depth Gauge

Thu Nov 02, 2017 12:00 pm

ScubaLawyer wrote:
SurfLung wrote:baggie full of AntiqueDiver Joy Juice
Not sure I would have phrased it quite that way... :shock: :D
"Joy Juice"?

That makes me think you have added an extra ingredient to my original formula! 8)
The older I get the better I was.

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ScubaLawyer
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Re: Servicing a Calypso Depth Gauge

Thu Nov 02, 2017 12:03 pm

antique diver wrote:
ScubaLawyer wrote:
SurfLung wrote:baggie full of AntiqueDiver Joy Juice
Not sure I would have phrased it quite that way... :shock: :D
"Joy Juice"?

That makes me think you have added an extra ingredient to my original formula! 8)
As long as it doesn't take off the chrome I say go for it!
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

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SurfLung
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Re: Servicing a Calypso Depth Gauge

Wed Nov 22, 2017 10:33 am

Not Working Yet...
- Well, Rich and I took this depth gauge to the High School pool last weekend in a baggie submersed in vinegar. I let it sit on the bottom at 12 feet deep for almost two hours. Returned to it every now and then with the GoPro to see if the needle moved. But it didn't.
- Each time I tapped it and moved it around a little in case that would help. Toward the end, I saw a small bubble in the baggie and maybe that meant the vinegar had finally gotten in and replaced some air? Rich said I needed to leave it in longer than 2 hours. As AntiqueDiver has suggested, the pressure at 12 feet is probably not sufficient to push the "Joy Juice" into the bourdon tube.
- I think my next trick will be to try this on an 80 foot dive at Fortune Pond next season.
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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antique diver
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Re: Servicing a Calypso Depth Gauge

Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:27 pm

SurfLung wrote:Not Working Yet...
- Well, Rich and I took this depth gauge to the High School pool last weekend in a baggie submersed in vinegar. I let it sit on the bottom at 12 feet deep for almost two hours. Returned to it every now and then with the GoPro to see if the needle moved. But it didn't.
- Each time I tapped it and moved it around a little in case that would help. Toward the end, I saw a small bubble in the baggie and maybe that meant the vinegar had finally gotten in and replaced some air? Rich said I needed to leave it in longer than 2 hours. As AntiqueDiver has suggested, the pressure at 12 feet is probably not sufficient to push the "Joy Juice" into the bourdon tube.
- I think my next trick will be to try this on an 80 foot dive at Fortune Pond next season.
Could be something else causing the problem, but I wouldn't give up until you give it the "acid test" at 80' with the joy juice.
Any chance of leaving it at that depth for a while before retrieving it?
The older I get the better I was.

swimjim
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Re: Servicing a Calypso Depth Gauge

Thu Nov 23, 2017 8:30 am

Hey Eben, you could put it in that real estate box at Fortune. That is in about 120 feet of water. Then you would know where it is to recover it.

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Nemrod
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Re: Servicing a Calypso Depth Gauge

Thu Nov 23, 2017 2:21 pm

Well, you could leave it in that box forever and even advertise where it might be and it would probably be left unmolested.

I rode my English Racer five miles (I thought that far then and now it is just a warmup ride) all the way to the dive shop as it where to buy one of those with my birthday money. It never worked then and none that I have ever seen worked. Yeah, the needle moves occasionally, bit apparently has little correlation to the actual depth. Talk about a Bend-O-Matic, there you go.

They are pretty, I give them that. You know, they ought to work, they look like they should work, but I tell you now and yesterday and twice tomorrow, they do not work. :(

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antique diver
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Re: Servicing a Calypso Depth Gauge

Thu Nov 23, 2017 10:28 pm

Nemrod wrote:Well, you could leave it in that box forever and even advertise where it might be and it would probably be left unmolested.

I rode my English Racer five miles (I thought that far then and now it is just a warmup ride) all the way to the dive shop as it where to buy one of those with my birthday money. It never worked then and none that I have ever seen worked. Yeah, the needle moves occasionally, bit apparently has little correlation to the actual depth. Talk about a Bend-O-Matic, there you go.

They are pretty, I give them that. You know, they ought to work, they look like they should work, but I tell you now and yesterday and twice tomorrow, they do not work. :(
Well, Nemrod, you said what I had been thinking about the Calypso gauges... I have just been hoping Eben could get his going, and hated to discourage him.
I sold a fair number of them in the 70's. Just like you said, they were troublesome, as a number of other USD products were back then.

Eben, keep trying... maybe you got the good one! :D
The older I get the better I was.

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