CRESSI SL STAR maintenance / servicing in Melbourne, Australia?

[DTS]

Hi,

Does anyone know where there is a Cressi servicer in Melbourne, I can't seem to find one online.

I'm a bit worried about the exposed part of my piston (the part that's in contact with sea water), it seems to have some rust on it and I don't want that rust spreading near the seals.

Best regards,
DTS

 

[popgun pete]

Don't worry about it as a small trace of corrosion will not cause any problems. If you want to control corrosion then just put some oil in the muzzle while pushing the piston back slightly to get the oil to flow back over the outside of the piston. Washing the gun after the dive helps to get salt off the gun, including the piston as water enters via the muzzle relief ports. In fact you can put the oil in via those ports.

In the old days pistons were completely made of metal and still worked OK with a few specks of corrosion, but the guns needed to be cleaned and the piston oiled after a dive or something like WD40 could be used. Don't use WD40 on a plastic piston as it can crack some plastics, but it depends on the type of plastic as it never affected the moulded body parts of the gun.

 

[DTS]

Ah thanks for that pete, I'll put some oil on it.

 

[Diving Gecko]

The bomb proof solution is to change the piston to a Mares one. A lot of the Italian spearos swear by that one. It does not have any metal in front of the seal so doesn't have the issue. Also, it can take a proper beating as it is not as lightweight as some of the newer after market "upgrades".
But I am sure Pete is right that oiling it should work.
I actually have a metal Mares Mirage piston here that seems fine, though pitted in places.
I am refurbishing this old gun and I am changing to a plastic Mares piston, mostly because it is lighter. I will keep the smaller piston for the loading barrel.
If I recall correctly, when I changed my Seac piston, it was a different kind of corrosion. It was more like a coating was flaking off.

I hear so many different things about WD40 that I no longer know what to believe about that particular product. It definitely dries out what you spray it on (WD themselves says "WD " stands for "Water Displacer"). But some say it actually works as a degreaser, too, and as such maybe should not be used around o-rings. Anyone has the real low down on this?

 

[popgun pete]

I have used WD40 on my metal piston pneumatic guns for decades and it has never adversely affected anything, including the rubber parts. I have been through many cans of it as after washing them down I give the guns a squirt down the muzzle, into the selector gate, the muzzle relief ports and the inlet valve well to drive any residual water out. I have noticed that some white plastics, could be nylon or acetal, sometimes turn a buff colour and the surface texture seems to be less shiny as if the plastic had changed its properties. Having been told by a Mares guy that WD40 could cause the plastic piston and shock absorber to crack I put two and two together and decided to not use the stuff on my later guns, or at least not down the muzzle.

Why have I used so many spray cans of WD40? Well the spear shafts and unscrewed spear tips all get a squirt of WD40 after rinsing off or hosing them down with freshwater, the line slides being removed while the shock absorber springs and stop rings are left in place on the shafts. The shooting lines and line slides all go into the wash tubs along with their guns, one gun at a time. Dive masks and snorkels are washed first (they need to be kept very clean), then the guns followed by the dive knives, dive fins and then the wetsuits followed by the dive boots and the catch bags and weight belts being last of all. I prop all of the spears against a wall while standing on their tails on a concrete paved surface and spray the screw threads and down along the shaft to about midway with the WD40 thin red plastic straw attachment stuck in the spray can’s nozzle. I can then watch the WD40 chase the water films down the full length of the shafts which run off in droplets to pool on the concrete paving. The dive knives with handles removed (don’t buy dive knives that you cannot strip down) all get thoroughly sprayed with WD40 after propping them against something where they rest on the tip and the tang and can dry off on all sides without risking a fall to the ground. Dive knife blade tips don’t like bouncing off concrete paving, nor do spear tips!

 

[trpelimm]

CRESSI SL STAR maintenance​

 

[popgun pete]

CRESSI SL STAR maintenance​

Pneumatic dismantling: how to get inside

Sometimes a pneumatic speargun will be difficult to disassemble easily because the parts are a tight fit (like in a Mares "Mirage"!). I have found this method useful on most rear handle pneumatic models. First release all the air with any power selector set to "maximum" as this ensures that...

forums.deeperblue.com

 

[popgun pete]

Cressi O-ring kit for SL-Star Spearguns

A replacement set of O rings for Cressi SL & SL Star compressed air spearguns. PLEASE NOTE: Adreno cannot sell Cressi products to customers outside Australia at this time.

spearfishing.com.au

Pneumatic Speargun O-Ring Kit

This kit includes all the orings inside the Speargun. All kits are different, choose from the list, the brand and model of your speargun.

www.spearfishingworld.com

 

[Andrew the fish]

You can take it apart yourself and clean, change oil, replace o-rings etc. I doubt there are parts or service kits for these guns, but o-rings from standard o-ring kits fit fine. Cressi SL Stars are i expensive guns, perhaps cheaper to buy another one then trying to service them. I still have one from 2013. Took it apart once by myself. Not that it was needed, but tinkerer as I am, had this itch to fix something. Result was kind of mixed, since the gun worked fine before and works fine now.

 

[popgun pete]

Parts diagram, SL has power regulator, Star is only single power. https://www.cressi.com/easyUp/file/instructions/IB_SL_SL_Star_EN.pdf