Early Air Fills?

[kablooey]

How did the early recreational scuba divers get their air fills?
Where did they go?
What did it cost?
Were the fills safe?

I'm hoping Sam Miller, and other scuba historians, see this and respond.
Thanks.

K

 

[Akimbo]

I can't speak to divers in Europe but the first air fills available in the US was at René's Sporting Goods in Westwood, California.

From: Bev Morgan, Diving Industry Pioneer

Jacques Cousteau's first successful test of the Aqua Lung was in June of 1943, but was largely unknown until the end of the war (see A Brief History of Diving, Post #2, Jacques-Yves Cousteau heading). Cousteau and L'Air Liquide formed La Spirotechnique to manufacture the Aqua Lung after the war and René Bussoz began importing them to the US in 1947.

E.R. Cross' Sparling School of Deep Sea Diving had an HP compressor and filled tanks on a limited basis. Dive shops like Bev Morgan's Dive 'n Surf shop in Redondo Beach, California opened in early 1955. @Sam Miller III knows what shops were opened in Southern California before Dive 'n Surf.

Years later, my first air fills were at Art's Aqua Shop in San Leandro California and cost $1.00 in 1962 because my dad purchased all my gear and training from them. Regular fills were officially $1.50.

 

[Johnoly]

@Sam Miller III knows the west coast history.

I'm sticking to your question of " early recreational scuba divers",,,Not Commercial divers which is a whole different time era.

On the Florida gulf coast for spearfishing, I've sat down and talked to Ray Odor who was diving in the 1940's before the name 'scuba' and 'Cousteau' were even printed. Masks were hand cut out of innertube tires and for compressed gases they used welding oxygen tanks and figured out why they couldn't go deep.

If you ever do come to the Florida Keys, you should visit the History of Diving Museum. It's a great afternoon when breezy and even much more to learn on line.
https://www.divingmuseum.org/

 

[Akimbo]

I'm sticking to your question of " early recreational scuba divers",,,Not Commercial divers which is a whole different time era.

Not exactly, The Sparling School of Deep Sea Diving offered the first diving class to experienced but untrained recreational divers in the US. Before that, you just bought the gear from René's Sporting Goods and went diving. As I understand it, the instructions that came with the Aqua Lung said little more than "don't hold your breath while ascending". I think Sam has one of the first instruction "manuals".

 

[tbone1004]

 

[Bob DBF]

1962 in south east Mass, in a more rural area, I used to go to the closest compressed gas outfit (sold oxy, acetelyne, co2 and so on) and get my fills there. It was convient to the ponds I started diving. As I remember it was $1 for a fill on an old steel 72, at the time gas, petrol, was $.25 a gal.

As far as being safe, I'm still posting. The only bad fill I had was in 1980, the taste of oil was apparent after we submerged.

There were dive shops, but were a good drive from where I was. @AfterDark was probably near one in RI around that time.


Bob

 

[AfterDark]

1962 in south east Mass, in a more rural area, I used to go to the closest compressed gas outfit (sold oxy, acetelyne, co2 and so on) and get my fills there. It was convient to the ponds I started diving. As I remember it was $1 for a fill on an old steel 72, at the time gas, petrol, was $.25 a gal.

As far as being safe, I'm still posting. The only bad fill I had was in 1980, the taste of oil was apparent after we submerged.

There were dive shops, but were a good drive from where I was. @AfterDark was probably near one in RI around that time.


Bob

Actually Bob, I lived in south eastern mass when I started diving in 1968. There was a dive shop named M&S Divers in Westport MA. They were a full service Scubapro dealer dive shop. They had a big a$$ compressor with a large number of tanks in an air bank. Fills were 0.25 for a 72 steel. The building is still there but now it's just someone's big garage. I see the S in M&S occasionally, at weddings mostly. The M lives in FL, his son who was born after I started diving now owns and runs a "dive shop" in Fairhaven MA. just over the bridge from New Bedford. The kid is a master spero. He unfortunately was forced by economics to expand the dive shop to a sport shop, skiing and snowboarding mostly.

First his father and then him were the only people that I trusted to service my regs. The cost got too much and the kid told me about 5 years back that SP was no longer providing free parts for service. So now I'm the only one allowed to service my regs.

 

[АлександрД]

How it was in USSR:
as Sam asked me here about our diving Brief manual АлександрД ---Russian Dive Manual 1968 - I will explain some pages from there:
This manual was published in 1968

Such compressor head still using and manufacturing by ОАО Компрессор
Here is old photo of tank filling using "Start" compressor with gasoline engine.

But we had another compressor head - АК-150

It used mostly in tanks (yes, really! ) and airplanes.
Some people even had very nice design, with gear from car! and water cooling

And water cooling still used for DIY compressors, based on AK-150

But we had also original water-cooled compressors (Э)К2-150 , also was very popular for divers, but it used stationary:

This compressor mostly used on the ships.
And this compressor also described in the old Brief manual:

Also some people used special airplane (airfield) compressors for filling airplanes by air and other gases: (like AKS-8)

But acces to all of this types of compressors was offered to the divers by assosiation ДОСААФ - this is like YMCA, but offered by government and army. It was possible and was very popular from second half of 1950`s. And participation in this organisation was free of charge!

Those time we used on the fire staions mostly oxygen regeneration equipment, and had not air compressors on the fire staions.
Now many of self-relliant divers used firestations for filling tanks by air.

 

[rhwestfall]

1962 +/- Bauer/MAKO

This is still functioning properly..

 

[2airishuman]

The Cornelius compressors in tbone's video were in pretty widespread use in Minnesota in the 1960s, from what I understand. Smith Diving was the pioneer shop in Minneapolis, and had fills.

In the early years, I don't believe the Cornelius compressors were widely equipped with filtration, here. Dives were short and shallow by today's standards.