A ? on a DA AM long yoke

[porbeagle]

Hi All ! ,
Well this week I landed an DW mistral, which I have been lusting after for years.
The summer of 1960 I got to borrow one and I've never forgotten how well it
breathed.The very same day the mistral arrived,I blundered on a near mint
DA AM on craigs list New Hampshire for $10. A frantic drive later I found
Myself in the sellers kitchen with the DA shining on their countertop.
I offered $50 because I felt like I was taking candy..... Anyway,I soon found
Myself in the same position as Rstofer...Whose posts I have been enjoying
since last Dec. What to do?... Well the Mistral will be mine after I rebuild it.
The DA goes to Karin,my wife who knows a good thing when she sees it.
There is only one way to go with the DA of course,and that is with a
phoenix nozzle by Luis. So like rstofer,I must get in line and wait till VDH
orders one for me. Now to my question..... I need to know if the Da I now
own (heh heh heh) is a long yoke or short? It has the tire like knob, the
distance from the sintered filter to the inside top of the yoke is 1 1/4 ".
I plan to have VDH do a complete rebuild minus the chrome job and am
wishful that I won't have to get into buying a new yoke. The original
is a beaut. I believe that this is an easy question for those who rebuild,
but I have never stopped to really look at a reg and never noticed that
there might be differences.Thanks in advance for any info.
PORBEAGLE

 

[Nemrod]

Hmmm, first of all, Luis designed the Phoenix but it is vdh that is having them machined, chromed and then installing them and all of that unless I am seriously mistaken. The yoke sounds like the long yoke, standard duty, which was intended for pressure to about 2,475 psi but will work, with some common sense applied to 3,000 psi and will accept the banjo bolt. If you purchase a Phoenix nozzle it will come with a heavy duty yoke suitable for use at 3,300 psi. Congrats on the regulators, hope that you enjoy them.
N

 

[porbeagle]

Thanks N for the response,
Yes I knew VDH makes them,but I had no idea you get another yoke along with the phoenix. I dive 72's with max 2500, will I be able to retain the original yoke?
Enjoy your posts and thanks for the help.
PORBEAGLE

 

[Nemrod]

No, the Phoenix nozzle is for threaded retention yokes, not the slip on type. There are a few threaded type standard yokes that use the tire knob. They were on the Calypso and on the tank checker and I do happen to have one I use to preserve the vintage look sometimes with my genuine Luis designed Phoenix.

Threaded standard duty long yoke on Phoenix Gen II:

Phoenix with supplied heavy duty 3,300 psi yoke on work bench:

I am sure Luis will drop by and explain the reasons the threaded type is preferred.

N

 

[halocline]

If you have not yet ordered the phoenix, it may be a while until the next production run. So you could be diving the DAAM stock for some time. The long yoke is useful because you can use a banjo fitting for a SPG. You can use the hookah port for an alternate 2nd stage, and get used to oral inflation for your BC.

My problem with my DA is the IP instability. My later model aquamaster does better, but in general I have a feeling based on my limited experience and Luis's comments that there are simply limitations to how well the DA nozzle locks up, mostly due to seat material. Plus you do have the IP swing of 25PSI throughout the tank pressure range. Luis mentioned that these were the reasons they built the phoenix; to take advantage of a balanced nozzle with much better seat material. The ports and heavy yoke were secondary.

Anyhow, you can still get the DA to breathe really well, especially with the vdh silicone parts.

 

[Nemrod]

This sounds like a relatively new regulator. I suspect the seat and the volcano orifice are in good shape and will lock up fine. My DA does fine, the unbalanced first will vary IP as tank pressure falls, the IP rising inversely, thus you cannot tune a DA as finely as the RAM. As well, over the life of the DA production there were several minor variations in the nozzles with later versions having a larger orifice diameter. A good DA is indeed a fine diving regulator in and of it's self.

Regulators that have seen a lot of use and a re-grind or two of the volcano orifice along with a tired seat may creep and insist on misbehaving a bit. As the orifice is reground it becomes increasingly rounded, thus there is a slight increase in contact area and combined with an older seat they will have IP creep.

One improvement that the Phoenix has in addition to the fact that it is a RAM in disguise is that it has a replaceable steel volcano orifice.

N

 

[herman]

Another double hose junkie has been hooked by the evil DH reg, welcome to the support group.
Be prepaired to take lots of questions from curious divers and occasionally some rude comments from well meaning but totally clueless divers. Once restored and properly tuned these old regs breath nicely, esp with the Phoenix. I spent last weekend in Key Largo diving with mine including one dive to 120 ft on the Spegial Grove. I got lucky with the dive op, the captain was an old DH diver from the day and he was fine with it...the DM gave me a little grief about my "Purdy yeller hoses"...wonder if she will fess up to it on the board??
I would encourage you to do some research on diving with the DH regs. They do require some modifications to your diving technique to get the best preformance out of them and they do not play well with jacket style BCs. If possible, find a local diver who understands and dives them to help you along. You will be much happier with the regs if you do.

 

[Nemrod]

The "rude comments", lol, you have to realize that, not including myself, some of the people that may be answering said double hose questions might be like 90 year old codgers who grew up in the days when they walked to school barefooted while rassling bears and as such feel the need to slap youngsters around a bit just to toughen them up. I have thick skin therefore all of the slapping and punching had little effect on I, Nemrod, others results may vary. Anything that don't actually kill you serves to make you better and tougher. That is the first rule of vintage diving.

N

 

[DA Aquamaster]

When it comes to plain old no frills vintage diving, I prefer the Mistral as they breathe great due to the venturi effect and the cracking effort gets better as tank pressure falls. It also makes a wonderful woosh noise when you inhale - it is not exactly quiet, especially with no hood.

For real world dving with a double hose I prefer a DA Aquamaster - or a RAM with a hookah port adapter and a a way port splitter - as they are as good as it gets in terms of double hose cracking effort.

 

[rstofer]

I was of the opinion that there would be some left over Phoenix nozzles in this production run. I don't know WHY I thought that but it is worth an email to Bryan@vintagedoublehose.com

Richard