The Green DAAM is Back and Breathing Easy at 3000 psi!
- My Green DA AquaMaster came back from repairs and it is working perfectly. The technician's report said he couldn't find anything obvious that was wrong with it. He took it all apart, re-assembled it, set the IP, and it works fine.
I wish I had something definite to say as to what caused the problem.
- Before I sent it in, the air in the first stage nozzle was locking up when attached to a high pressure (3000 psi) tank. I read through and tried everything in the VintageDiver conversation and it still locked up. The one test where you attach just the nozzle to the tank and press on the mushroom is one thing I did and thought it released kind of hard. So, I swapped out the new nozzle spring and put in the original nozzle spring. The mushroom press test seemed to release smoother. And sure enough, when I reassembled the nozzle into the regulator and tried it with 3000 psi, it released air into the second stage. So maybe, I had this thing licked?
- Anyway, I hooked up the IP gauge and the pressure seemed erratic. I think I wasn't sure of the first solution and wasn't experienced with how the IP should be adjusted either. So, I gave up and sent it in for repairs. Since the technician couldn't find anything wrong, I may have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory!
- I told the technician about swapping the nozzle springs. He didn't think that would have caused it. He figured I had probably assembled something in a way that it was binding or sticking. He thought I might have got the mushroom pin assembled off center and it could work at low pressure but just dug into the edge of the seal at high pressure. That makes sense and is most likely what I did to cause the problem.
- The good news is that the Green DAAM is now working perfectly.