My DAAM Green Sea Hunt Tribute

[DrunkenParrot]

Good news Surf, thanks for the update....

I like to think of this DA as "The Green Lantern".

I was thinking that....weird

[SurfLung]

Good news Surf, thanks for the update....

I like to think of this DA as "The Green Lantern".

The "Green Lantern"... I Like It!
- Let's make the name change official... I really like this regulator and am tired of sounding like I'm cursing when I talk about it!

[SurfLung]

The Green Lantern Got Wet...
- I dove the Green Lantern (formerly Green DAAM") in the lake yesterday. Visibility was 2 feet but the regulator didn't care and worked perfectly. It was attached to a full 3000 psi tank and I swam around for a good 15-20 minutes breathing fast and slow to check response to high and low demand. I think this baby is going to be okay!

[Aileron]

Good to hear! Sounds like it's made a full recovery!

[phsdive]

Surflung, congratulations on the rebuild - the green plate and hoses look great. Good to hear it is now working OK. I am restoring a similar vintage DAAM which was in a fairly sad state. I used your tips on restoring the name plate. I also found that the 50/50 vinegar solution caused some of the cleaned areas to have a redish colour where the plating has worn off. Do these parts with the reddish colour need replating? I just rechromed the cans in a satin finish and they came up very nice - wasn't that expensive $80.00, so if other parts need to be plated I'll get it done. Thanks for posting the pic's - inspiring to see the finished product.

[SurfLung]

- Thanks PHS. I read in past forum entries about that reddish color. I think it was Douchebag that described it as actually the copper that's in the brass being left after the acid in the vinegar has eaten away everything else. It IS bare metal. You can polish it past the copper to get bright brass again. Or, clean it up and simply replate it as you are contemplating.
- Actually, in the process of diagnosing and repairing the Green DAAM (Lantern?), I buggered up the T-Screw and since I was refinishing and replating it, I also re-plated the internal parts, nozzle, body screw ring, etc. So, though I had intended to leave everything original, it is now pretty much brand new finish except for the cans.
- I'll try and post a picture of the replated nozzle and T-Screw.

[SurfLung]

- First Stage DA AquaMaster Locked Up? I think it's your high pressure seat. Just fixed a recent one and the problem was the seat.

- I had this happen with the first DA-AM I rebuilt about 3-4 years ago (the Green DAAM) , ended up sending it in for repair but the tech found it to be working fine. assumed it was an assembly problem and I must have put it back together right before I sent it off for repair. Meanwhile I had heard about the high pressure diaphragm spring as a possible source and bought a new one to swap in. But was already working fine and I never knew for sure what the problem had been.

- Update to March 2016... My friend Rich brought his new DA Aquamaster to Cozumel. We had done nothing more than to "service" the reg because it was so nicely preserved and it worked great when we put it on a tank. BUT, we had not tried it on a 3,000 psi tank. And when he hooked it up to a tank down in Cozumel, it locked up the first stage and would release no air to the second stage. We had to crank the yoke screw and blow an O-Ring to get it off the tank... Same exact problem as my Green DAAM had 3-4 years ago.

- Since there never had been a definite solution, I was back to the drawing board. I swapped in springs, diaphragm, pins, mushroom tops, nozzle bodies... Thinking maybe something dimensional was the problem or something binding and not moving freely. Nothing worked.

- Then over night I couldn't stop thinking about it and I came to the conclusion that whatever the problem was, it had to be in the first stage nozzle. I took that all apart again and everything was assembled correctly and moving freely. So, I put it all together and hooked it up to a 3000 psi tank... Just the nozzle, with a yoke, and with the pin and mushroom top assembled into it. I pushed on the mushroom top and it compressed the high pressure seat normally... Just the way it is supposed to. But no air came out. Usually you can turn the pressure on and then off and then pressing the mushroom top will cause the trapped air to pop out with a sound like an O-ring blowing. How could the seat be moving and not open up the air flow?

- I concluded that the soft seat material was somehow staying sucked against the orifice even thought the seat body (metal part) was moving away from the orifice just the way it is supposed to.

- I quickly swapped in a different high pressure seat and tried the same test. POW! Pressing the mushroom top now opened the orifice perfectly and the air popped right out. I did the test a few more times to be sure. Then I re-assembled the nozzle into the regulator, hooked it up to a 3000 psi tank, and it worked perfectly. Eureka! A definite cause and solution to the locked up DA-AM first stage.

[georgeaustin]

Beauty. Nice work.

[SurfLung]

The Nozzle-Press Test... Locked Up DAAM
- When you press on the mushroom top, the pin connecting it to the HP Seat (inside the nozzle) pushes
the seat away from the orifice, allowing air to come out the orifice.
- On my locked up DAAM, this test resulted in no air coming out. So here's my logic...

- Conclusions:
1. Since this occurs in the nozzle, it can't be caused by anything else in the rest of the regulator.
2. Since pressing the mushroom top encounters spring resistance, that means the pin is long enough.
3. Since the mushroom top definitely moves, that means the HP seat is moving away from the orifice.
4. Since no air comes out with HP seat movement, the soft seat material must be blocking the orifice.

- Confirmation: Replacing the HP Seat solved the problem. No more lock up at 3000 psi.

[antique diver]

Is that a RAM first stage in your Green Lantern? I have experience with certain OEM seats for those creating same problem.

BTW, That is one good looking regulator! Nice job, Eben.

[SurfLung]

Is that a RAM first stage in your Green Lantern? I have experience with certain OEM seats for those creating same problem.

BTW, That is one good looking regulator! Nice job, Eben.

Thanks Bill. Actually the Green DAAM was finished back in 2011. It worked briefly then locked up when I tried diving it on a 3000 psi tank. Thru a lot of screwing around, it got working but I never was able to pin point the problem for sure. Then this Winter my friend Rich bought a DAAM that locked up the same way. Last weekend I spent a couple of days trying to solve it and this is what it came down to. Yes, the nozzle in the picture is a DAAM first stage.

P.S. - We sure had fun at Sea Hunt Forever!

[Bronze06]

Is that a RAM first stage in your Green Lantern? I have experience with certain OEM seats for those creating same problem.

BTW, That is one good looking regulator! Nice job, Eben.

Thanks Bill. Actually the Green DAAM was finished back in 2011. It worked briefly then locked up when I tried diving it on a 3000 psi tank. Thru a lot of screwing around, it got working but I never was able to pin point the problem for sure. Then this Winter my friend Rich bought a DAAM that locked up the same way. Last weekend I spent a couple of days trying to solve it and this is what it came down to. Yes, the nozzle in the picture is a DAAM first stage.

P.S. - We sure had fun at Sea Hunt Forever!

So Surflung,

Are you going to apply this fix to the Green Lantern? Oops, I just read that you did years ago, sorry. Great post and I am glad you brought it back into the light. I am extremely wary of so called OEM HP seats. The problem with them is just how O of the EM they are because time and storage take their toll even on so called OEM items.. Did you find any seat material adhering onto the HP orifice? I've had so called OEM seats completely fail due to age I will not compromise that way any more and will always replace the HP seats with new ones from VDH, regardless of how well the seal up. By the way, I like your technique for label painting and will try it. There is a copper coating as a protective coating on the brass before final chroming is done. It isn't very thick and will come off with polishing to reveal the brass. A good chrome guy will always pre-coat an item with copper before final chroming. The problem with any apparent verdigris is it is indicative of at a minimum of coating failure, even on a micro level. The Broxton and Pico regs I've found tend to have a better, more thorough finish than the regs of the late 60s and early 70s IMO. Again thanks.

Thanks, Russ