Little present to myself. I think I did pretty well.

[spectrum]

Herman,
As you know, I recently bought a DA Aquamaster from Bryan at VDH. He rebuilt it with all new parts, including new rubber (not silicone) hoses, and it works great. The only thing is, the air has a strong rubber taste. I thought it would fade as I used it, but the rubber taste is as strong as ever. Any suggestions as to how to get rid of the rubber taste? I don't remember my old AM doing this.

I think some have tried soaking in Simple Green. How do you like licorice?

Pete

 

[INFIDELxx]

Herman is 100% right about VDH and Bryan. If you feel out of sorts on the board you may want to read more before posting. The members are Mossbacks and can be Seemingly harsh at times. But in reality they are all very Friendly, and helpful. Bryan's services are top notch. You will not find a better guy to have work on you doublehoses.

You should pick up some books and become more versed on doublehoses. I suggest the following:
Basic Scuba...By Fred Roberts
The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving

Also there are tons of downloads on VDH.

Oh yeah! Nice late model RAM.

 

[Luis H]

I picked up one of those tank pressure checkers a couple years ago. I don't have any problem with it slamming into the back of the tank valve. The metal spring on the piston holds it fairly snugly and the gas causes little movement but just locks it up solid. My only problem is that the maximum opening is not enough to fit on some valve like the 3442 psi Thermo valve. I got mine pretty cheap (of course) but the gauge lense was cracked so I just replaced the gauge with a modern 4000psi gauge.

BTW, I'm assuming the HP seat in that gauge is the same as is used in a Mk2. Is that correct?

I don’t want to highjack the thread, but maybe they redesigned this model of pneumatic yoke or someone modified it. The pneumatic piston (the parts that sealed against the tank valve O-ring) was normally retracted as shown and you pressed it against the valve and open the valve as slowly as possible. The air would push the piston out and normally with slamming force.

There has been other newer version of this design by other manufacturers (mostly for tank filling station) that use a restrictor orifice and perhaps some friction to slow down the action.

At the same time Scubapro had this tank checker they also had a different design that you pulled the yoke back to slide it over the valve and a spring would hold it closed until you open the air. The air pressure would hold the yoke close. This other pneumatic yoke style was also used on the Scubapro Mk-6 first stage.

 

[Luis H]

Thanks guys for sharing the moment with me.

Couple of things...

The mouthpiece & hoses, what's a good way to really clean those out. These seem very clean... but now a days, there's just a lot more funk out there to avoid.

VDH... most of those folks seem to have their own little party going on, and the nicer people, Luis, seem to be over here too. After having several threads hijacked and even getting one locked???, I'm not too sure about them, and don't know about just mailing off my new score to a total stranger.
I have zerro double hose experience, so I wouldn't mind a few things to be aware of and/or better idead about upgrades that need to be made. The ones above were a little over my head.
What's a duck bill? mouthpiece valve?

anyway, very excited for a saturday expidition to the depths and extents of my neighbors pool.

anything else you want to throw at me to get me off on the right track would be appreciated

after 27 years of diving, I'm getting more vintage by the day. Must be mid-life on the horizion.

I am sorry if at first you didn’t fill welcome at VDH, but many of us post in all three web sites. VDH is the most active site for vintage and double hose diving. And for the most part it is the only site where you can get most replacements parts for your double hose.

I think that after you get over the first impression you will find a very friendly and extremely helpful group. It always amazes me how everyone steps up to help with parts, information, etc. when anyone needs something. You just need to take a bit of time to get to know them.

Bryan is also very good at servicing regulators. I do all my on service and have been doing it for almost 40 years (I started working on a LDS in 1971), but I have seen his work and it is by far some of the most detail work you can expect.

The duckbill we are mentioning is the one way flutter valve at the end of the exhaust hose (the one on the left). I have never seen an original that is not basically disintegrated.

The mouthpiece valves are again one way valve that help you keep the mouthpiece clear of water.

The books suggested above are some of the best and basically a most read if you are interested in DH and vintage equipment diving.

 

[8dust]

Looks like nothing but yard work today, expidition will have to wait till tomorrow.

The fellow I bought it from said he used it as recently as 2 years ago, and said he kept it in the fridge (??????) as a rule, and that's why the rubber was so good. Hmmmm?

I do want to take it for an easy swim in the pool, if only because If I do send it out, I want to be able to more fully appreciate how much better it comes back.

Thanks again to all, will have to look for those books.
Not a big pleasure reader, but I can follow instructions pretty well.

 

[redacted]

I don’t want to highjack the thread, but maybe they redesigned this model of pneumatic yoke or someone modified it. The pneumatic piston (the parts that sealed against the tank valve O-ring) was normally retracted as shown and you pressed it against the valve and open the valve as slowly as possible. The air would push the piston out and normally with slamming force.

There has been other newer version of this design by other manufacturers (mostly for tank filling station) that use a restrictor orifice and perhaps some friction to slow down the action.

At the same time Scubapro had this tank checker they also had a different design that you pulled the yoke back to slide it over the valve and a spring would hold it closed until you open the air. The air pressure would hold the yoke close. This other pneumatic yoke style was also used on the Scubapro Mk-6 first stage.

Mine must be a newer design. But it sure looks the same except for my piston being extended.

8dust - If you simply unscrew the yoke, yo can see what you have. Also a good opportunity to lube the o-ring(s). I suspect there are probably 2 o-ring if there is no spring in yours.

 

[Luis H]

Mine must be a newer design. But it sure looks the same except for my piston being extended.

8dust - If you simply unscrew the yoke, yo can see what you have. Also a good opportunity to lube the o-ring(s). I suspect there are probably 2 o-ring if there is no spring in yours.

I think yours was modified. I am fairly sure that originally the spring was used to retract the piston not to close it against the valve. That is why most show up with the piston as shown on the picture above. I wonder if that was a field modification or a factory retrofit.

I wonder if it is just the same spring that got relocated.

8dust, if you have a chance to open your pressure checker, I would like to know what the inside of your pressure checker looks like… does it has the same type of spring as AWAP and where is it located. Thanks

Interesting.

 

[Luis H]

Looks like nothing but yard work today, expidition will have to wait till tomorrow.

The fellow I bought it from said he used it as recently as 2 years ago, and said he kept it in the fridge (??????) as a rule, and that's why the rubber was so good. Hmmmm?

I do want to take it for an easy swim in the pool, if only because If I do send it out, I want to be able to more fully appreciate how much better it comes back.

Thanks again to all, will have to look for those books.
Not a big pleasure reader, but I can follow instructions pretty well.

It is very likely that the regulator is functioning, this regulators are very reliable and very rugged… it is just not going to breath as good as it could. It is also very likely that it may have some small free flow of the first and or second stage. That doesn’t mean you can’t dive it in a control environment. It will probably work OK.

If the exhaust valves are not working well it may breath a bit wet, but again that may be very tolerable.

There is nothing wrong with trying out, just don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t perform that well.

Also when you are done, out want to rinse all the chlorine water of the hoses and let them dry. I disconnect the intake hose after every weekend of diving to rinse of the hoses (it doesn’t mater if I dove fresh or salt water) and then I blow cool air from a hair dryer through them. A friend made me a hose dryer out of small PVC tubing. I use thumb screws on the hose clamps at the regulator end.

 

[herman]

Or while you are between dives you can get creative and build a two station double hose dryer......I was bored one day and had this cheapie vac that was begging to be used for something. It actually works well.

 

[redacted]

I think yours was modified. I am fairly sure that originally the spring was used to retract the piston not to close it against the valve. That is why most show up with the piston as shown on the picture above. I wonder if that was a field modification or a factory retrofit.

I wonder if it is just the same spring that got relocated.

8dust, if you have a chance to open your pressure checker, I would like to know what the inside of your pressure checker looks like… does it has the same type of spring as AWAP and where is it located. Thanks

Interesting.

I just checked. The spring will fit either way. But the only reason I can see to install it to retract the piston would be to allow it to fit on some larger (more modern) valves. Once I bleed the pressure, there is no problem removing the checker from the tank. I push in and down on the gauge and lift the checker upwards.