Favorite Doube Hose Regulator

[DA Aquamaster]

ew1usnr once bubbled...
The attached photo shows a 1960 DA AquaMaster on the left with a straight mouthpiece and satin finish case.

For the most part DA Aqua masters are dated by addresses on the labels and when various features were introduced or phased out. I made a rather complicated time line on this but it's at work (what can I say, a slow day at the office.)

The '60 DA Aquamaster had yellow hoses and a yellow mouthpiece while the '61 had yellow hoses and a black mouthpiece. Original black straight mouthpieces can still be found and also as reproductions. As far as I know there are still no reproductions available for the curved mouth pieces, nor for the yellow straight mouthpieces.

Among other things the later shiney chrome finished DA's also had a longer yoke to accomodate a banjo fitting for use with an SPG.

 

[ew1usnr]

DA Aquamaster once bubbled...
The '60 DA Aquamaster had yellow hoses and a yellow mouthpiece while the '61 had yellow hoses and a black mouthpiece.

I ordered a set of yellow hoses from Stuart at "Vintage AquaLungs": http://mysite.freeserve.com/www.vintageaqualungs/index.htm

Stuart had 100 pairs of them custom manufactured. Then the manufacturer said that there needed to be a steep increase in price and no more hoses were made. The original batch were selling off fast so if I wanted a pair it was now or never. They will go up in my closet for the "someday" when I find an old AquaLung with rotten hoses and a yellow mouthpiece (see attached photo). I'd also like to find one of the original Voit Lungs with the GREEN hoses.

 

[ew1usnr]

I saw this regulator on a foreign language web site. I don't know anything about it except that I would love to have one.

 

[ScoobieDooo]

Now THAT would be neat!

 

[Bob3]

Double hose prices on ebay are dropping off, I just bagged a pair of Snark IIIs (later model w/HP port) for under $285.
( I found some small guages in the shop, needed something to screw them into)
Freshwater, too. (from Ontario)
Dang, never knew Poseidon made a double hose, I have a friend in Sweden keeping an eye out for an early (1958) Cyklon for me, needs to be in working condition. One of the "limitations" I set on myself is everything collected has to be diveable.
The SNARK III also came in a DIN version, btw.

 

[ew1usnr]

AquaLung (US Divers) uses the slogan "First to Dive". The British company Siebe Gorman is more entitled to that claim. Established in 1830, they were one of the first manufacturers of dive gear. I just bought this Siebe Gorman Mistral off ebay and am looking forward to receiving it. It looks grungy, but it should clean up. I have an extra pair of hoses and wanted to get a US Divers Mistral. But, the British-made version looked better because it has screw clamps holding in together instead of the little aluminum clips that US Divers used. If you have ever had to take those clips off a regulator then you will understand why the screw clamps are better. I really don't understand why Gorman put the metal "elbows" on their regulator. Maybe the purpose will become clear after I look at it closer. The Gorman also has some kind of attachment point (an ambient pressure port?) on the back that the US Divers Mistral lacks. Also, whereas the US Divers Mistrals are somewhat common over here, Siebe Gormans are very much not. I hope to make it functional again and go diving with it.

 

[Diver1985]

Hey. I bought a AMF VOIT Swimaster Titan II MR12 Serial# 00300 ..... Anyone have any interesting information on this..and the year it was made? Thanks! Terry Bender

 

[John C. Ratliff]

First, the favorites:
Two-hose, two stage:
--AMF Voit Trieste II, after I made a number of modifications to it.
--Sportsways Hydro Twin; this is a balanced two stage, two-hose regulator, that had a downstream second stage (they made an earlier one with an upstream second stage). It also had two LP ports, and a HP port.

Two hose, single stage:
Healthways Scuba Delux (with USD hoses).
AMF Voit 50 Fathom

Now the comments:

Both the DA Aquamaster and Royal Aquamaster were great regulators, that could be used at higher pressures (to 3000 psi). The US Navy used 3000 psi tanks with the older DA Aquamasters. The DA Aquamaster would breath slightly harder at higher tank pressures, whereas the balanced Royal Aquamaster would breath the same throughout the tank pressure ranges.

The Mistral will out-breath just about any regulator at tank pressures below 500 psi; it cannot be used at higher tank pressures (3000 psi) because the seat will be damaged).

The Dacor R4, Sportsways Hydro Twin, Healthways Scuba Delux (better, by the way, then the Mistral), Snark III and other regulators will breath much better if their hose systems are replaced by USD/Voit hose/mouthpiece systems. They all had undersized exhausts in the mouthpiece.

The Snark III had a design problem, and a baffle should be placed between the LP diaphragm and the venturi. This can easily be made by cutting a piece of plastic from a milk jug, and holding it in place with the case screws. If you do this, then you essentially have an improved Mistral (the second stage) that operates at low pressure (typically ~140 psi).

The Voit 50 Fathom has the venturi holes oriented wrongly in the photo on this thread. The large hose should be orieted down the intake hose. This was apparently done deliberately by Voit to decrease the breathing efficiency of this inexpensive regulator. You can remove the nut on the back of the case, pull the dowel pin out of the body washer, and reorient these holes to try it out (you don't need the pin for the trial, just retighten the yolk retainer nut. This regulator has a compoind lever system, which involves two levers (one curved) with two fulcrums to give it huge mechanical advantage.

Enjoy,

SeaRat

 

[ew1usnr]

John C. Ratliff once bubbled...
The Voit 50 Fathom has the venturi holes oriented wrongly in the photo on this thread. The large hole should be oriented down the intake hose.

I had disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and adjusted my 50-Fathom but just could not make it breathe as well as my Voit Trieste or DA AquaMasters.

I took John's suggestion and removed the demand valve positioning pin. This let me aim the main air nozzle directly down the intake hose. The factory setting had the air jet aimed at the side of the case. I did a test dive with the modified regulator yesterday. Geez, what a difference! It really provided a venturi assist. With each breath I could hear a "whoosh" of air flowing down the hose. When I rolled to my side the inhalation was absolutely effortless. This is a really nice breathing regulator now.

In the attached photo, note how the main air jet has been rotated 90-degrees and is now aimed directly down the hose intake.

John, could you post a picture of the Sportways Hyro Twin? Did that have a balanced piston first stage? Let me add a note about the Dacor R-4. The R-4 was an upgrade to the earlier Dacor Diving Lungs in the same ways that the DA AquaMaster was an upgrade over the earlier AquaLungs. The R-4 had a bigger mouthpiece and valves that were the same size as an AquaMaster's. The R-4 also had a re-designed lever and nozzle that aimed the air directly down the intake hose. The R-4 was Dacor's most advanced design double hose. It is a heavy breather compared to an AquaMaster, but it is still very nice, high quality, dependable regualtor. I love all these old regulators.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

ew1usnr said:

I took John's suggestion and removed the demand valve positioning pin. This let me aim the main air nozzle directly down the intake hose. The factory setting had the air jet aimed at the side of the case. I did a test dive with the modified regulator yesterday. Geez, what a difference! It really provided a venturi assist. With each breath I could hear a "whoosh" of air flowing down the hose. When I rolled to my side the inhalation was absolutely effortless. This is a really nice breathing regulator now.

That was my reaction when I first modified this regulator (the Voit 50 Fathom) over 20 years ago. I took it on a lobster dive in about 1976 (the plastic version), and wrestled a huge lobster trying to stuff it into a too-small net bag, and the regulator really performed well. I'm glad you took me up on the advise.

The Sportsways Waterlung Hydro Twin is a balanced, diaphragm first stage, and a very good venturi-assisted downstream second stage. It features an enlarged LP diaphragm (bigger than the DA Aquamaster, and about the same size as the Healthways Scuba Delux) that's nearly indestructable, yet flexible. Right now, mine has a slight leak, and so I haven't used it for about a year (no time to look into it). One other feature I like is that the regulator box is shifted down from the center; the regulator sits lower on the tank, and is therefore about 1 inch of water pressure easier to breath on than an Aquamaster, due simply to the lower position on the valve. I was going to try to photograph it, but ran out of time tonight.

I would like to say another few words about mouthpieces and flow rates. The USD/Voit hose/mouthpieces are the best-designed ones. I've tried many, and even the Dacor did not perform as well.

Dacor's for the R-4 is just a little smaller than the USD, and I believe the mouthpiece opening is also a bit smaller. So, even though they seem an improvement, they did not quite get there; I had a Dial-A-Breath (the old Dacor) that I rebuilt as a R-4 from parts I purchased from Dacor. It could be done, and I did it. But believe it or not, the R-4 did not really improve the breathing performance of their double-hose regulator. The reason is that the original Dacor regulator had the orifice on the lower lever (as I remember it) of a double-lever system. When that lever opened the orifice, it did so at an angle, which conveniently was angled down the intake tube. The original Dacor Dial-A-Breath regulator had a baffle in the box to de-tune the regulator's venturi so that it would not breath so easily. You could literally begin an inspiration with the old Dial-A-Breath Model One (Original Unit), remove your mouth when above water, and it would keep pushing air out the mouthpiece.

When Dacor built the R-4, for some stupid reason they put a "U" turn in the demand lever (#23A), probable to keep the lower spring from pushing the lever too hard against the diaphragm. When I rebuilt mine, I never got that clip that went into the "U" on the lever, and didn't realize there was a reason for it. So I straightened the lever, and it seemed to work better (but I didn't straightened well, and so it was irregular). I met a Dacor engineer, and he took that regulator back to Dacor to show them, and apparently lost it. When I inquired about it, they couldn't find it, and so sent me a Dacor Pacer regulator as a replacement for the one I had rebuilt. Oh well...

SeaRat