Ermes Avatar mods thread

[fr0sty]

Originally Posted by svivian

can’t wait to get these wet

Attachment 249079

I'm assuming those are all the stock muzzles, barrels, and handle?

How's the balance in the water with shafts in them? Any with reels also? Or did you have to do some balancing with weights into the muzzle and/or handle?

[popgun pete]

Wonder if and when Ermes Sub will sell an Avatar speargun ready to go out of the box. Right now they only sell a speargun kit and the parts individually.

[svivian]

Originally Posted by fr0sty

I'm assuming those are all the stock muzzles, barrels, and handle?

How's the balance in the water with shafts in them? Any with reels also? Or did you have to do some balancing with weights into the muzzle and/or handle?

Yes all are stock straight from Mario.

75cm roller, 90 double band standard, 100cm roller and a 120 inverted

The 100cm with a 140cm 7mm shaft and a full ermes titanium falco 57 is by far my favorite and most balanced gun of the 4.

the 75cm needed a touch of weight but with no reel was to be expected.

the 90 needed alot of weight up front to balance out

the 120 with the Falco 77 titanium reel im still tinkering with.

My only complaint is on the roller setups the bands want to pop out of the notch on the handle when the bands hit the muzzle. Im still trying to get that sorted.

I do however really like the quick disconnect adapter for the reels so it's easy to switch them around as needed. There is more plastic than I usually like but for the price its to be expected.

[svivian]

Ill try to take pics of the setups later today

[armandozx]

Originally Posted by svivian

Yes all are stock straight from Mario.

75cm roller, 90 double band standard, 100cm roller and a 120 inverted

The 100cm with a 140cm 7mm shaft and a full ermes titanium falco 57 is by far my favorite and most balanced gun of the 4.

the 75cm needed a touch of weight but with no reel was to be expected.

the 90 needed alot of weight up front to balance out

the 120 with the Falco 77 titanium reel im still tinkering with.

My only complaint is on the roller setups the bands want to pop out of the notch on the handle when the bands hit the muzzle. Im still trying to get that sorted.

I do however really like the quick disconnect adapter for the reels so it's easy to switch them around as needed. There is more plastic than I usually like but for the price its to be expected.

How much lead so far on the 90 to get her balanced some?

Try some pre-load on the bands 10% so you're always tight and never come loose after the shot.

Metal reels on pipe guns just don't feel right in my hands, they sink the gun so hard, maybe with cuddle shape barrels things gets a little better. Even with a carbon body on an SS frame like the Sigalsub Eddy 100, she sank like a rock, handle 1st ofc. So far nothing beats Derlin for the use.

[svivian]

Originally Posted by armandozx

How much lead so far on the 90 to get her balanced some?

Try some pre-load on the bands 10% so you're always tight and never come loose after the shot.

Metal reels on pipe guns just don't feel right in my hands, they sink the gun so hard, maybe with cuddle shape barrels things gets a little better. Even with a carbon body on an SS frame like the Sigalsub Eddy 100, she sank like a rock, handle 1st ofc. So far nothing beats Derlin for the use.

Im using stainless steel washers but didnt weigh them. Just added as needed until it floated properly

Ive set up quite a few rollers before and have plenty of pre load and I am still having them come off. I saw on another forum someone put a screw to hold theirs in place but then i cant take them off for storage.

[armandozx]

Originally Posted by svivian

Im using stainless steel washers but didnt weigh them. Just added as needed until it floated properly

Ive set up quite a few rollers before and have plenty of pre load and I am still having them come off. I saw on another forum someone put a screw to hold theirs in place but then i cant take them off for storage.

Would like to see a picture of it to better understand it. I'm not quite sure how the hold downs with the avatar handle, maybe it's at the bottom and there should not be an issue or if you have it at the sides. If @ the sides, you can hold down with an m4 from side to side and washers at the end. If it continues to happen, then most likely your barrel is affecting this.

If you run the set up at the bottom, there should not be an issue whatsoever since the direction of travel is linear.

[Marco]

Interesting post.

[MAKO Spearguns]

Originally Posted by popgun pete

Wonder if and when Ermes Sub will sell an Avatar speargun ready to go out of the box. Right now they only sell a speargun kit and the parts individually.

Hey Guys,

Awesome thread!

Hey popgun pete,

I think Mario is content in selling OEM to guys like me who can stock larger quantities here in the USA, therefore, reducing shipping times and costs. For example, all my MAKO Spartan Elite/Ermes Avatar guns are assembled, based on the customer’s requirements, and we do it right here in our warehouse in Virginia.

Also, Mario and I have been working on a double roller muzzle. After extensive testing, we made a few minor modifications, which delayed the release. But it should be available soon. Mario also has a 3 band open muzzle in the works.

Here are some pics of the muzzles .

[fr0sty]

Originally Posted by svivian

Im using stainless steel washers but didnt weigh them. Just added as needed until it floated properly

Ive set up quite a few rollers before and have plenty of pre load and I am still having them come off. I saw on another forum someone put a screw to hold theirs in place but then i cant take them off for storage.

Where'd you put the washers? Inside the muzzle? and how did you set them in? Glue? Epoxy?

Regarding the bands popping out, I have a sigalsub double roller and while there is pretension already, they still will sometimes pop out which is annoying. I'm thinking of just shoving something into the gap so the bands can't, but work-in-progress.

[svivian]

Originally Posted by fr0sty

Where'd you put the washers? Inside the muzzle? and how did you set them in? Glue? Epoxy?

Regarding the bands popping out, I have a sigalsub double roller and while there is pretension already, they still will sometimes pop out which is annoying. I'm thinking of just shoving something into the gap so the bands can't, but work-in-progress.

I drilled a small hole in the back of the muzzle and then im running a stainless steel bolt that i tighten to hold the washers in place. That way i can take them on and off to adjust. I just make sure that the plug in the barrel just touches the bolt and washers.

I havent had time to take pictures of all the guns set up but ill try to this weekend.

[Red Tide]

Anybody have any issues with the barrels flooding. I am three for three. What are the best plugs and what is the best glue for the job?

[Marco]

Originally Posted by Red Tide

Anybody have any issues with the barrels flooding. I am three for three. What are the best plugs and what is the best glue for the job?

Are you talking about the Ermes Avatar alluminum? I used clear silicone sealer (all over the o'rings area) when I installed both the muzzle and the handle and no problems so far.

I've had flooding problems with other manufacturers spearguns that didn't use plugs (just o'rings) before.

[spearq8]

Originally Posted by Red Tide

Anybody have any issues with the barrels flooding. I am three for three. What are the best plugs and what is the best glue for the job?

IMHO by far the best thing to seal anything in a marine environment is 3m 5200 sealant. If anything, it creates too good of a seal and might be considered too permanent. If you have a good fit of barrel to muzzle or grip size ... the O rings should be sufficient to prevent water ... but the O rings MUST be lubricated with O ring silicone grease to work properly ... and this has to be maintained repeatedly. Initially the Avatar had only 1 x O ring but I think Mario has since changed to 2 x O rings. Of course O rings are the best way to go if you can get away with it as it is the lightest and for smaller barrel sizes the heavy rubber plugs really screw up the balance. One thing I have tried that has worked really great is to use XPS construction styroboard and glue it with 3m 5200. You basically get a board of the XPS in about 1" thickness and you press the barrel into it. This cuts out a perfect inner diameter circle. This combined with the 3m sealant is preferable to a heavy rubber plug if O rings are flooding. I do 2 layers of this with sealant each time. Of course I would use acetone to absolutely clean the inside of the aluminium barrel first so that you get a very strong mechanical bond. But this is great for smaller guns where the rubber plugs are too heavy and just screw up the balance. Many tubes such as Pathos ... have those heavy rubber plugs as back up to their O rings ... but on short aluminium barrels are very difficult to get good balance unless you remove the plugs.

[popgun pete]

An almost foolproof way to plug the barrel from water entry is to fill it with a foam core. Years ago one company Imersion produced a series of plug lengths that you pushed into the barrel and then had some end sealant to stop water creeping along the tiny gap between the tube inner bore and the outside of the foam cylinders. Increasing ambient pressure tends to move rubber ends plugs, but they cannot move when the foam core resists. Movement of end seals and barrel expansion and cooling, e.g. a gun in the hot sun goes into cold water puts any sealing system to the test. Another approach would be to pressurise barrels with air, in which case any restricting medium would be keeping plugs from popping out rather than being pushed in.

In fact they still make the Merou D'Or. https://www.imersion.net/product/merou-dor-inox/