My oxy regulator quit working. I took it apart and found the problem and put it together and it appears to be working but I have 1 part left over and would like to know what it was for.
The bottle pressure comes in to the 1st stage regulator; the seat is plastic and there is a tiny ball held against the seat by bottle + spring pressure. The 1st stage spring pushes thru a diaphram against a 'piston', a mushroom shaped piece of (aluminum?) with a thin tit that unseats the ball when the spring overcomes the bottle pressure against the ball. When Oxy goes thru, the intermediate pressure 'weakens' the spring force and allows the ball to reseat.
The original problem was NO FLOW at all. Examination showed the tit was battered and too short to unseat the ball. A bit of work with a fence pliers reshaped the tit so it was a few thousands longer and the regulator worked. Although it appears to work, I have 2 issues. One is there was a thin piece of metal, apparently between the tit piston and the 'cylinder' it rode loosely in. Loosely because the gas flow had to go around the 'square' part of the tit piston and the round 'cylinder'. This was a very small shiny thin curved piece of metal and I don't know what it was supposed to do or how it was supposed to fit.
The other issue is the mushroom shaped tit piston; I doubt my metal reshaping is going to last. I would love to find a correct part for this Craftsman 20 year old oxy regulator, any ideas who has it? Or else I could chop off the tit and drill out the mushroom and press in a better piece. Tricky but not impossible, but I would have to take extreme care not to introduce ANY oil since this is an oxy environment. Any clues? I guess I should use Al for a new tit? Any hepl appreciated. Nick