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Post by vance on Jul 22, 2022 14:37:53 GMT -8
Herman is no longer making tools. He told me that he got too busy, and there's little interest.
I made a couple of adapters for a friend and myself, but don't have a lot of interest in making more. Time and materials would make them expensive. I'd rather loan mine out to the 5 people on Earth who may need one. It'd only cost about $10 shipping there and back.
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Post by vance on Aug 11, 2022 7:13:18 GMT -8
I recently sold my Navy Approved, and did a bunch of fiddling with adjustment before sending it off to the new owner. It never approached the performance of a DAAM, but I think I got it as good as it gets.
One caution/reminder about adjustment is you must have the retaining wire inserted through the screw holes to check it, b/c the wire goes under the lever and raises it a bit.
BTW, I saw that The Scuba Museum is selling nos wire retainers for $25 each. I happened to have a length of the proper diameter wire laying about, so I picked up my needle nose pliers and bent a couple of new ones for fun. Very easy to do.
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 11, 2022 17:23:00 GMT -8
I recently sold my Navy Approved, and did a bunch of fiddling with adjustment before sending it off to the new owner. It never approached the performance of a DAAM, but I think I got it as good as it gets. One caution/reminder about adjustment is you must have the retaining wire inserted through the screw holes to check it, b/c the wire goes under the lever and raises it a bit. BTW, I saw that The Scuba Museum is selling nos wire retainers for $25 each. I happened to have a length of the proper diameter wire laying about, so I picked up my needle nose pliers and bent a couple of new ones for fun. Very easy to do. I haven't dived my Broxton for a while (about two years), but there is one thing that it does that no other modern regulator does...it is almost silent in the water. The breathing has no Venturi, and so you need to pull throughout the breathing cycle to get the air. Cracking effort can be minimized, and that wire not only puts the lever lower, it also serves as a balance point, the fulcrum, for the lever to pivot around without much resistance. Broxton Dive 8-10-2015-2 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Diving the DA Aquamaster with a Professional Mouthpiece. By the way, I now have the Professional Mouthpiece on my Mistral (with extremely long hoses), and have switched the Broxton to a Hope-Page mouthpiece (which happened during that time period). DA Aqualung-1 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here you can see the second stage put together. Note the wire is over the lever, and the lever rotates from the diaphragm's input around the wire. As a round piece, that means that there is only a very small part of the wire that is actually in contact with the lever. DA Aqualung-2 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here it is mounted on my twin 52s. CG45 mod by John Ratliff, on Flickr If you really want to experiment, you can (some people have) rotate the body within the box, and point the orifice down the intake horn. I have not seen this myself, but did get this photo somewhere of someone who did this. Note that if you do, you'll have to re-allign the intake and exhaust horn and probably also file down a tab, and essentially ruin the original design. 'Better to keep it original, experience what the early divers went through, and enjoy the silence of this regulator design. John
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Post by Aquala1 on Aug 11, 2022 19:11:26 GMT -8
John, what is the metal “professional” mouthpiece?
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 11, 2022 20:46:54 GMT -8
John, what is the metal “professional” mouthpiece? Ty, It is this mouthpiece: Broxton Dive 8-10-2015-2 by John Ratliff, on Flickr This is a La Spirotechnique mouthpiece used in the 1950s and 1960s. La Spiro called it their “Professional Mouthpiece,” I think because only pros who have dived and been trained in a double hose regulator without a non-return could safely use it. It was also used in a study to determine the loss of flow because of non-return valves (see below). The Cousteau team used it extensively. It has no non-returns in it, but it is easy to break the mouthpiece and hoses off for easy drying. Non-return valves 001 by John Ratliff, on Flickr I have used the La Spiro Professional Mouthpiece, and it is a very nice one. You can put a modern silicone mouthpiece on the metal Professional Mouthpiece, making it one of the most comfortable ever made. It as also heavy, which counters the buoyancy of the hoses, so that it is effectively neutral buoyancy in your mouth. By the way, the Aquastop Mouthpiece is the La Spiro mouthpiece that was used on the La Spiro Royal Mistral regulator, and it too was extensively used by the Cousteau Team. The U.S. Navy, in their Naval School for Underwater Swimmers, insisted that we learn the Aquamaster without non-returns in the mouthpiece. But a couple of us surreptitiously replaced the non-returns into the wagon wheels of the mouthpiece prior to our pool harassment sessions. John PS, 40 BAR is 488 psi; 190 BAR is 2793 psi.
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Post by tomcatpc on Aug 11, 2022 23:22:18 GMT -8
I'm going to a local vintage scuba event this Sat. I have my US Divers Mistral and Aqua-Master in my dive kit bag, seriously debating on taking the Navy Approved along? Not the funnest regulator to dive with, but I'd like to throw it in the water at least once a season. Mark
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Post by tomcatpc on Aug 12, 2022 7:12:51 GMT -8
It's packed...if it actually gets wet is another story. Mark
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 12, 2022 12:26:45 GMT -8
Stout lad! The romance of vintage gear is using something with its limitations and taking it to the point just before... "This thing is garbage!"
JB
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Post by Aquala1 on Aug 12, 2022 18:11:00 GMT -8
John, without non-return valves it seems like there would be a fair amount of CO2 that the diver rebreathes. At depth, with the associated pressures, that could lead to some unhealthy CO2 levels, right?
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 12, 2022 20:47:50 GMT -8
John, without non-return valves it seems like there would be a fair amount of CO2 that the diver rebreathes. At depth, with the associated pressures, that could lead to some unhealthy CO2 levels, right? I don’t think so. The reason is that the air pressures would preclude the exhaled air from even entering the inhalation hose. This is more a problem with rebreathers, as they have a counter-lung that can be compromised. The non-return valves were first introduced by the Hope-Page mouthpiece, and were there to prevent water, not air, from entering the inhalation hose when the mouthpiece was out of the mouth. There was a specific procedure, published in The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving, for how to clear the water out of a double hose regulator without the non-return valves in the mouthpiece. Before this procedure, divers sometimes swallowed the water from the inhalation hose. It’s this edition: New Science003 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Basically the diver needs to start a free-flow by holding the mouthpiece over the regulator to clear the inhalation side, and then place the mouthpiece in the mouth, and roll to the right while exhaling to ride the exhalation hose of water. IMG_1181 by John Ratliff, on Flickr This is the U.S. Divers Company Overpressure Breathing regulator, the predecessor to the Jet Air and Mistral single stage regulators. It has a non-return in the intake hose, but none in the exhalation hose. So this procedure is needed (the roll to the left) to completely clear water out of the exhalation hose. Here I am showing how to talk underwater with an old oval mask and my DX Overpressure Breathing regulator, which I also have to clear of water. John
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Post by Aquala1 on Aug 18, 2022 19:37:49 GMT -8
John, interestingly enough I was reading Fred Roberts’ “Basic Scuba” and he says that when he teaches he makes his students remove the valves in their mouthpiece. That way if they encounter an order unit without valves, or they have a failure of the valves, they know how to effectively clear a double hose.
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Post by vance on Sept 3, 2022 16:11:02 GMT -8
I just picked up a stubbed Navy Approved valve at The Place of All Wonderful Things. It appears to have been pulled from a regulator because of a stripped lever screw hole, and it languished in the back of a drawer at TPoAWT for 30-40 years. It was really buggered, and I can't figure out how someone could accomplish such a feat. Anyway, stuff happens. I drilled it out, tapped it to 10-32, and screwed in a brass plug. I drilled that and tapped it for the original 6-32 screw. It fits perfectly.
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Post by vance on Oct 16, 2022 14:21:38 GMT -8
I saw an auction on eBay for a DA Navy Approved. Asking (BIN) was too rich for me, but..... It looks pretty salvageable here: But there's something terribly wrong here: I made a low offer with a note saying I could make this one whole again, and the seller accepted. So, the valve shown up one post has a new home on the way. Don't really need another DA body, but it will be the only satin one I have in the extras bin. I'm sure another needy DA will find me that needs a good valve body (if it is?) and a second chance at getting back in the water!
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Post by artc on Oct 16, 2022 17:51:15 GMT -8
Great find Phil! By switching bodies, you’re going to have a sweet blue label DA Navy Approved regulator. I understand that they are fairly rare regs and not easy to find in the condition you have.
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Post by vance on Oct 17, 2022 7:27:58 GMT -8
They aren't super rare. They aren't as common as DAAMs by any means, but they are pretty early regulators made in 1955 to 1957. The orange labels are even less common.
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