Vintage DIY.

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Ghost95

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Afternoon all. Hope you all are staying wet.

I am currently rebuilding a DAAM. I have everything cleaned, new HPR, hoses, diaphragms, ect, ready to go back together. My question is are there any torque specs for this regulator? I know it's somewhere between 1 ft/lb and dog crap, but where? Is just snugging it up good enough? The regulator came apart pretty easy so it didn't seem anything was torqued too tight but the repair manual didn't say anything about torque.

Any info from the Vintage DIY gods would be appreciated.

Thanks. Have a good day.
 
Thanks. That's kind of what I figured based on how easy it came apart.
 
Just remember that most of the parts you are dealing with are made of brass and pretty soft. Snug is good. The only screws I worry about are the small ones holding the HPR retainers for the second stage. There really aren’t a lot of delicate screw interfaces. Oh, and just tight enough on the first stage diaphragm retainer to keep the rubber disk in position and seal without squishing it out of position or damaging the soft washer.
 
Most of the threaded joints have a gasket or the HP diaphragm (which behaves just like a gasket). There is no definitive torque value for a joint with a gasket. You need to tighten it so it will not leak and maybe a bit more so it doesn't loosen-up. Sometimes to may need to re-tighten after some time if the gasket (or HP diaphragm) takes a set.

The only joint that I like to really tighten is the first stage to main body joint. That uses a harder gasket (nylon or phenolic) and you want to tighten enough so that it doesn't come loose while handling the regulator.

I have seen it more than once, a regulator that is mounted on a tank is handled by the can horns just to line it up and the first stage to main body joint come loose (even under pressure). You can have a lot of mechanical advantage when applying a force on the can horns.
 
Thanks for the answers all. It is amazing how simple this regulator was. As long as I don't lose that tiny pin I should be good.
 
Thanks for the answers all. It is amazing how simple this regulator was. As long as I don't lose that tiny pin I should be good.
Just a heads up, if you use the nylon 1st stage to body gasket it can be over-torqued causing it to deform and not seal... no real spec, just "tight enough but not too tight." Maybe we should call it the Goldilocks torque?
I have killed a nylon gasket this way, and I know of 2 others it's happened to. Not a huge deal, but if you do over-torque and kill it, just do next one a smidge more gently.
Respectfully,
James
 
20200823_161403.jpg
All clean and ready to go. Hopefully all goes smooth. I'll update in a few days.
 
Just a heads up, if you use the nylon 1st stage to body gasket it can be over-torqued causing it to deform and not seal... no real spec, just "tight enough but not too tight." Maybe we should call it the Goldilocks torque?
I have killed a nylon gasket this way, and I know of 2 others it's happened to. Not a huge deal, but if you do over-torque and kill it, just do next one a smidge more gently.
Respectfully,
James
Yea, what he said! I`m one of those that overtorqued. Once you`ve done it you`ll know. Kind of a sinking feeling! Helps to have a spare on hand (Thank you, James). Or go with a phenolic, they can take a lot more torque. Either way just make double sure to check that area before descending into the ocean.
 

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