Vintage Healthways Double Hose Reg

[1969ivan1]

I can't speak for any "silicone" stuff you have bought from anyone else, but my silicone is not oily. The Scuba Museum only uses food grade silicone never inferior neoprene. The Scuba Museum could have used neoprene and made the items for much less, but we wanted the best materials available that looked and felt like the OEM, but performed better and lasted for almost forever. That is where the true bargin is. Of course we are not experts we just dive the stuff.:blinking:

 

[herman]

I actually like the Gold Label venturi if it is set up exactly like I like it. It's a very touchy setting, at least with full silicone parts in it. Just part of a turn to far or not far enough is enough to throw it off but if just done right, it provides a slight amount of positive pressure on heavy inhales but not enough to be uncomfortable or wasteful, very similar to a modern high preformance reg.

You do have me curious. I have a couple of old diaphgrams and some new silicone ones. I will treat the old ones as you suggest and then put the regs on the bench to see what the difference is....now if I can find the time for another project.

 

[simonbeans]

Και πρόσθεσε ακόμη 5

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Και πρόσθεσε ακόμη 5

Είναι δύσκολο να μιλήσει, χωρίς να εξηγεί τις εμπειρίες και τα πειράματα σας.

SeaRat

 

[SwimJim]

I had an unused NOS diaphragm. It was very flexible and far from crunchy. It became the prototype for the repro diaphragms. Tuning a Gold Label is trickier then tuning a Mistral. The perfect lever height is within a knife edge of tolerance, but it's there. Properly set up it's a smokin' reg!

 

[jacked_72]

Here's the innards. Diaphragm is toast and the victim of an improper installation (see flat edge), duck bill is shot and the internal exhaust cover(?) looks to have been the victim of a tech who didn't have the right parts 30 or 40 years ago. Looks like glue or some sort of adhesive around the internal exhaust cover. The diaphragm might work, but the oval exhaust cover is rock hard.

What is the idea with the oval internal exhaust thing? Is it supposed to have enough give on an inhale to allow the diaphragm to hit the lever and enough resistance to force the exhaust through the duckbill?

Interesting side note, the exhaust hose, which is now black, appears to have been blue as the areas not exposed to air are blue.

 

[simonbeans]

Three things: 1) read my thread about the internals and the exhaust mechanism. 2) According to JCR, just smear some silicone grease on it and it will be 100%. 3) Listen to Herman, he knows of what he speaks.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Three things: 1) read my thread about the internals and the exhaust mechanism. 2) According to JCR, just smear some silicone grease on it and it will be 100%. 3) Listen to Herman, he knows of what he speaks.

No, each diaphragm is different, and this one has been highly abused. The ones I've been working with have not been abused over the years. The exhaust diaphragm (the small one) does not have the original wire clamp, as that went around twice and then had small loops for a screw. This clamp is home-made and the reason for the glue was because the clamp was not successful in maintaining a water tight seal. So both the main diaphragm and the mass exhaust diaphragm are not usable.

Also, the duckbill inside the exhaust horn is obviously not servicable. But, there is a wire C-clamp that you may be able to get out of it.

The finish of the housing is a concern, as it appears that the finish is gone. It may be a problem with corrosion, and getting the glue off it could be a problem. So it is possible to get this back in shape, but at the same time it will take a considerable amount of energy and time.

SeaRat

 

[herman]

This is def a reg for someone with restoration experience, not a beginner. Between the poor overall condition and the amount of cleaning it will require, it's not going to be easy. Like I said before, this one is best sold and the money used to buy a much easier regulator to restore or at least put it on the shelf until you have a dozen or so reg restorations under your belt before you tackle this one. Considering of all the DH reg types available to restore, this is both one of the harder and least performing regs once it’s done (properly). I try to help anyone new into the DH reg world and the worse thing I can think of to make them lose interest is to start with a difficult project that can not have a great outcome (the reg would not perform as well as many other regs the day it was sold much less with halfass home brew parts) and then try to dive it without the proper training. DH regs are different animals and you need someone to explain their nuances to you. Just slapping them on a modern BC and heading out is not going to go well.

If you are really interested in restoring and diving a DH reg, I encourage you to do so, it's a lot of fun and we have a great community of knowledgeable people who are more than willing to help you along. But to really enjoy the experience you need to have some success along the way. Learning the restoration process, how to properly setup these regs and the diving techniques required to properly dive and enjoy a DH reg will require the help of others. To me it’s one of the more enjoyable dry scuba related activities but starting with a dog regulator that is only a fair performer at it's best and trying to dive it without a knowledgeable mentor is not the best route. Find yourself a good Mistral, DA Aquamaster or even a Healthways Gold Label and start there, you will be much happier in the end. Later down the line if you want to tackle an original HW’s you have the knowledge to do it properly and the support of a network of experienced restorers the help.
And as to the blue color, the early HW hoses were blue.

 

[SwimJim]

Here are some pictures of the Healthways Scuba I owned to give you a reference point on what everything should look like. Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

Jim