CG 45 information

Information provided by Tom M (Captain on the VDH website message forum)

Not very often do we have the opportunity to work with one of these rare regulators up close.

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Link to 1953 Scripps Institue of Oceanography on Overhauling the Aqua Lung

I had the opportunity to work on a CG-45 for the first time. Some things I noted, all threads are metric but most other dimensions are the same as the Broxton, DA Navy and DAAM and it uses all the same gaskets and diaphragms. On this one the HP nozzle fit a standard tank valve O ring seat. All Spiros I have worked on have had a slighter larger metric O ring seat. This one may have been resized in the past and re-chromed as it was like new externally. My USD body vise and body ring wrench worked perfectly fine on it.

Like early Broxtons the body has no can tab cuts outs and the can has no tabs. This complicates getting the body in correct orientation to the can as it tends to turn when tightening the body ring. If the orientation is not correct it is impossible to position the diaphragm tabs so they make even contact on both ends of the horseshoe or will not contact the horseshoe ends at all. Because the hole in the can is not centered the body must be aligned with the 2nd stage seat 180 degrees from the inhalation horn side of the can and the horseshoe ends must fall on a line through the can centerline and perpendicular to the inhalation horn. See photos CG-45, 1, 2, & 3, CG-45 (2) is correct all others are misaligned.


The horseshoe adjustment is different from a Broxton or DA Navy. The two screws have a shoulder on them (photo CG-45 (7) ) that is larger than the threads, the Broxton and DA Navy screws do not. You do not use number of turns out to make the adjustment, you screw the screws in until the shoulder bottoms on the body then turn them out only as much as needed to aligned the horseshoe hinge pin.

It has no IP adjusting screw, photo CG-45 (5). Because the size of the valve on my test bench I could not check the IP at 300 psi but on an 1800 psi tank it was 110. Considering most tanks of the time were 1800 to 2000 psi this is in the ball park.

It looks as it was designed to be assembled without any adjustments or special tools, just screw everything together and it should be right or close enough.
I will add that it is almost impossible to tighten the body retaining nut tight enough to prevent the possibility of it turning out of alignment so for anyone who would be diving one regularly it might be a good idea to make an index mark between the can and body so it can be noticed if any movement has taken place.

Argonaut Mouthpiece Change

The First Series Argonaut Kraken regulators were shipped with a copy of the US Divers curved mouthpiece with a chrome plated logo button in the center. I had been selling the blank reproduction mouthpiece for several years and decided to use available inventory and make it special for the Argonaut Kraken owners and a way to identify the original series of production regulators.
Once the First Series of regulators was sold I still used the blank curved mouthpiece without the medallion. But the Argonaut Kraken has sold so well I have exhausted my supply of those mouthpieces. So for a short time regulators will be shipped with the USN version of the curved mouthpiece.

BUT.....There is a silver lining to getting your Argonaut Kraken with this unusual mouthpiece.....When Luis and I finish the new DSV style mouthpiece which will be the future standard for the regulator, those who got a USN mouthpiece on their regulator will get the new mouthpiece for FREE....Yes that's right you will be one of the first kids on the block to have the new and improved mouthpiece on your Argonaut Kraken.

WHY do this you might ask?......Good question.......I have no plans on offering the blank front curved mouthpiece in the future and will concentrate my limited capitol resources on inventory of the new DSV style, USD reproduction curved and re-stocking the straight black mouthpiece.

WHEN are you going to have the new DSV style mouthpiece done?......Another good question.  Luis and I have been working on it as diligently as time allows and at this point the 3D drawings are being finalized and we are almost ready for rapid prototyping.  We plan on doing a great deal of testing with the prototypes (and a few other things) when the Caribbean Luxury Divers invade Cozumel this November.
Luis has spent a great deal of time on analyzing ideas we have tried in the past and has a very promising design that I'm anxious to see in the flesh. This is not some mumbo jumbo BS pie in the sky idea that needs 100k to develop. It is based on solid engineering design principals with realistic goals for manufacturing and the ability to work with any double hose regulator that uses 1-1/2 hoses.
It will work with  most all mouthpieces currently available for single hose regulators.
That's about all I'll disclose at the moment but when finished I think it will be something that most divers will enjoy using.

On another subject.........I'm sure you are all sick of hearing about the new website.....But not as sick as I am of working on it!
I mentioned that I have increased the storage capacity of the site and I am now in search of  MORE information for the Manuals and Catalogs section......If you have anything at all to contribute please scan them to PDF and send them my way.  If the files are large I can send you a direct link to upload to my Dropbox account and I will get them put up as a resource for anyone.
The current Manuals and Catalogs section has over 6GB of information in it and most of it was done by contributions from VDH Forum members like Alan K, Greg Barlow, Karl Gehring, Rob S, and many others who took the time to scan a few pages and send them my way. The Manuals and Catalogs section if free to access and download but it can only grow with more contributions.
If you don't have access to a scanner or don't want to mess with it, most any copy store will do it for you and put them on a thumb drive or disc and it's easy to share them with me after that.
As I've said many times in the past, VDH was built by a community and I need help to keep it growing.  If you have questions please send me an E-mail.  Bryan@vintagedoublehose.com