Just bought the 37 ss hat from divers supply recently. Definitely the best hat I've ever worn. Breathes great, feels great, and NO spot rust. Anybody else have one? How do you guys feel about it?
Steve, We do custom helmets also. I have plans at the machine shop for sideblocks with the hoses going to the rear or down. The Poseidon Xstream regulators we use on the production model "Gladiators" need only 120 psi over bottom pressure. Or you can send the regulator you want us to use. I did a retrofit on an early model "Gladiator" using a superflow 450 regulator and dual exhaust whisker kit supplied by the client. I put a neckdam flange on another hat to use a 17 neckdam as requested by a diver in Hawaii. So we make it like you want it.
Congratulation on your new hat. I do love my 77. The one thing I had to get used to, was having a handle on my Hat, my Savoie‘s don’t. Make sure you remove the handle on occasion, especially if you have been burning and clean behind the matting surfaces. STEEL IS FOR EVER!!!
Flynn, there is no weight on the 37SS model. It was perfectly engineered to eliminate the weights that a fiberglass 37 has. The 350 superflow regulator on the SS model sits on a 'pod' which is interchangeable with any regulator that one may have.
Actually you're probably better off with nothing at all. What happened when you over anoded the boat?
To prevent galvanized corrosion you need to use an anode from the same grouping or very near the same grouping as the SS. Since 316 can be active (anodic) or passive (cathodic) you need to know which end of the spectrum you're working with. I've been told the wrong anode can weaken the metal around it making it more susceptable to stress corrosion and thus failure. Furthermore, you wouldn't notice the changes, they use ultrasound and xrays to check the metal.
Look, I didn't engineer the SS hats. It's not like I'm hanging it on a line below the surface for days at a time. I rinse it when i'm topside and take care of it the way it's supposed to be. And guess what...no 'biofilm', I mean spot rust. And if you talk to any reputable hat technician they will tell you why the first couple 77's were spot rusting, i.e. oxidation. Obviously, they fixed the problem. And the last time I checked, the SS hats including the Gorski, were ALL recommended for subsea applications.