Sacrilege???

[2TH DIVR]

Is this a sacrilege to the vintage community?

I got a set of black FX cans from The Scubs Museum and put in the valve assembly from a Gold label Healthways.

Seems to breathe like a poseidon with a real gush of air.( haven't got it in the water yet) May try shortening the orifice as it is almost in the horn.

Pics to follow

 

[Luis H]

Nope... that sounds cool.

I am all for experimenting and mixing stuff. In the old days it was common to try different things like that and mix stuff.

I laugh when I hear other vintage equipment divers taking about some mouthpiece didn't go with some regulator (and they know who I am talking about )... IMHO it is more likely for modern divers to dive the equipment as it comes out of the box without modifying it.

Plus, Rob will love to see his cans being tried on other different configurations.

I have a Healthways I may try this with.

Thanks for the idea.

 

[SwimJim]

Sacrilege? Maybe. Ha. But, a Healthways gold label is essentially the same regulator as the FX or Mistral. The biggest difference are the seats, IMO. I'd pool test it before altering the nozzle. I think your going to find that it will free flow underwater and you'll have to adjust your lever height first. At least, that's what mine did with Mistral guts. It's a good idea though and should work just fine.

 

[Greg Barlow]

Please give us a dive report when you get a chance.

I own two of the faux 50 Fathom regs, and am convinced that they are the best deal going for someone who wants to get a DH reg for actual diving purposes. One of mine has a USD Mistral upstream mechanism installed, and the other has a Voit downstream unit.

Greg Barlow

 

[1969ivan1]

That is very interesting. I have severtal customers that have used Spiro Mistral guts but to my knowledge you are the first to use a HEALTHWAYS. The biggest advantage I can see is using a new silicone diaphragm instead of the crusty original that is prob in the orig Healthways regs. Please keep us posted and tell all the folks on Vintage Double Hose

Products

 

[Nemrod]

Is this a sacrilege to the vintage community?

I got a set of black FX cans from The Scubs Museum and put in the valve assembly from a Gold label Healthways.

Seems to breathe like a poseidon with a real gush of air.( haven't got it in the water yet) May try shortening the orifice as it is almost in the horn.

Pics to follow

Do not tempt the Gods lest they smote thee verily for your arrogance :cool2:.

About that mouthpiece

N

 

[2TH DIVR]

Here's some pics to show what I have done.

 

[simonbeans]

If you find the "gush" of air objectionable, try turning the venturi nozzle a little to point it to the side of the intake horn. Gagnan did that with his early modifications on the Mistral mechanism.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Actually, my bets are that it will shoot through and some will exit the exhaust. The Healthways Gold Label has a very effective venturi. This is why the Healthways mouthpiece incorporated a baffle plate (Healthways Item #35, Part No. 1621-05) for the Gold Label Scuba.

I've taken that baffle plate and mounted it into an AMF Voit Triese mouthpiece (much the same as the newer USD mouthpiece, and probably the same internal diameter as the AMF Voit straight mouthpiece). I placed it into the mouthpiece, and used Shoe Goo to keep it in place. I did this with the Trieste as I had modified the venturi on it to make it more powerful, and had the same blow-by problem. With the baffle place, there is no problem. And the AMF Voit mouthpiece is much larger than the original Healthways mouthpiece.

This will make the breathing characteristics better. This should be a very good modification (using the Healthways Gold Label internals) for the FX case. I like the valve plunger/seat design better than the USD (Mistral, Stream Air, etc.). In case people have not seen the Healthways baffle plate, it is a disk with small holes drilled along the outside of the disk. The plastic disk stops the rushing air from going down the exhalation hose, and redirects it into the mouthpiece. Using the baffle plate allows a more vigorous venturi to be used, and achieves tremendous air flows without blow-by.

SeaRat

 

[SwimJim]

You weren't able to use the Gold Label yoke? That's the coolest part of the reg!