The Healthways SCUBA Line of Double Hose Regulator

[SeaRat]

I now have a full compliment of the Healthways Scuba double hose regulators. These include the original model, the Scuba Deluxe, the Gold Label, and my own creation, the Healthways Original/Gold Label Hybrid.

I'm going to start out with the Healthways Original SCUBA, which I just bought from Sid Macken. Here are some photos of it as I received it.




Other than the one hose, it was in pretty good shape.


This regulator even had the original duckbill valve in the exhalation hose. This is how I remembered it from my childhood.


The inside had some corrosion after 50 years, but was otherwise in good shape. It even held air when put on a tank, which was very encouraging.


The diaphragm was dirty, but still supple.



This shows the duckbill in its original position. I squirted it with silicone spray, inside and out several times. Then, I waited. After about three days, it had absorbed enough to regain its suppleness, and I was able with a small screwdriver to get it out of the hose intact. This duckbill looks different than the USD/Voit duckbill, but functions the same way. Here is an end-on view:



And a side view:



Well, I cleaned it up, and reassembled it, then dove it this past weekend. I'll update you on this dive in the next entry.

John

[Deleted]

John

That duckbill looks like a medical duckbill for breathing machines used in hospitals although a lot larger.......

[nikeajax]

John, cryin' shame 'bout those hoses The color is gorgeous

Okay, this time around, I understand how the exhaust works on that reg: on a really old post, gosh not long after I joined this swell forum, you documented some work you did on one. That rubber-membrane sure looks hokey to me, but if'n it works, it works, right?

Very nice sir!

Jaybird

[sitkadiver]

There are a couple things with the SCUBA, that I think are superior to the later HW regs.

First: I wish Healthways would have retained the allen bolt used to set the lever height. I thought it was a much easier to use and more secure fit to the tool. I adjusted mine by putting a 1/4 in. socket on the lock nut, then running the allen wrench through the middle of it. This technique made adjusting the reg a snap.



Second: The hose clamps used to hold the hoses on the SCUBA were far easier to use than the later nut and bolt set-up that Healthways had. The later hose clamp fasteners were too small in my opinion.



I have to wonder what Healthways was thinking when they adopted that latter hose clamp assembly. Were they trying to copy USD? Were they saving a ton of money? What ever the reason I think it was a bad decision.

[SeaRat]

I think Healthways messed up big time with the second and third generation regulators' new hose system. The exhaust was okay (the mushroom instead of the original exhaust). But the hoses had a mouthpiece which was too small in diameter to pass the amount of air required for a diver under heavy physical activity. I have used that mouthpiece an my Gold Lable, but I took the entire wagon wheel out on the intake side. I took my pocket knife and cutting it free, then used the blade to cut everything off so that the inside bore was smooth. I left in the baffle plate, and the exhaust mushroom, as that is necessary to prevent blow-by.



Here is Sid's regulator after I cleaned it up.

Note that the levers are arranged differently than I have seen before. These levers are not at a 90 degree angle to the intake hose, which is how they should be placed for the venturi to be effective. I took it into the pool last Sunday, and it breathed okay but not up to its potential. Also, at times it would "studder," or have a feedback on the diaphragm. I think that is because of the way the levers are oriented. This is how the box is cut out, and so my next bit of change on this regulator is to move the levers; I'll have to file the box a bit to allow this to occur.

This photo shows my Gold Label with the Hope-Page mouthpiece system.


Another view of Sid's regulator after restoration, and in the original configuration for the levers.

John

[sidm]

John, great work! I'm glad you ended up with the reg and mask. I can't remember where I got the mask from, but the reg came from Ken Paddock who lives on a house boat on the Columbia River just of Portland. Ken shot a lot of 16mm underwater film in the 1960's-1970's at club meets and spearfishing competitions. I have all of Ken's original movie film now. Cool stuff!

[nikeajax]

One of these days, hopefully soon, I'm going to make new manifolds and wagon wheels for my Hope Page to overcome the problems you were just talking about. The neck of the manifolds tapers to accept the small hoses: My thought is, if I recreate them without the taper, they'll take USD hoses. Also, if I recreate the wagon wheels to use bigger diaphragms it should make this an even better mouth piece!

Those films sound super boss!

Very much on a side note about film: my wife and I were at a Goodwill this weekend and we found a bunch of 16mm film cans labeled things like Sequoia National Park 1936 and Papua New Guinea GASP! I had no idea if it was even on safety-stock or the shape of the film: it was making our heads swim with what images were on there. At $11 each, I didn't have the courage, especially since I don't need yet another hobby, because I'd have to restore my old vacuum tube projector too...

Jaybird

[drado]

John, are the seats in your Healthways regs all white? Most references I see show them as being a light colored. The one I found in mine was black:



When I first got my Healthways from eBay, I thought I was getting a Gold Label as indicated in the sale. It was missing the label, so the seller was initially unsure:



Opening it up revealed it to be a deluxe, but I was okay with that as well and decided to convert it myself to a gold-label by sticking a venturi on the body (as detailed in another thread). Stuck on a new label to make it look more like a gold-label:



And finally topped it off with a new silicone diaphragm for great responsiveness. Here's my new diaphragm compared to the old one:

[sitkadiver]

Drado,

All of the seats in my Healthways and Sportsways regs are white. I took the seat out of the Navy Unit SH to check and it too was a light cream color.

I guess that makes your a collectors item.

I think your label is really nice. I had to go back and check the Gold Label I just rebuilt to see what was different. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference if all I had was a quick glance. Are those labels metal like the others you had made?

[drado]

Mar 22, 2012 16:43:45 GMT -8 sitkadiver said:

I think your label is really nice. I had to go back and check the Gold Label I just rebuilt to see what was different. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference if all I had was a quick glance. Are those labels metal like the others you had made?

Hi Sitka,

Yes, its made of brass just like some of the other labels. The difference between the repro and the original (aside from the material of course) is that I could never get the center "SCUBA" properly painted white:



In my frustration, I stripped some of them to finish them in black to match the photoshop mock-up I made of a black reg. In the end, I settled for a more traditional look albeit with a black reg:



(when I get the time, I may restore it to full bright chrome status...)

[SeaRat]

drado, I like the black Healthways Gold Label! That is really "cool" looking. I would not change it at all. It is very unique.

Also, all of my seats are white too. So you have something else unique in yours. Even my Sportsways seats are white.

John

[drado]

Thanks John. I may just keep it black so that my FX non-mag will have company

[SeaRat]

Drado, your Phoenix "Non-magnetic" black regulator is great! I would like to point out that the clamp you have on it has a small cut-out, and that cut-out is to match up with the intake horn on your regulator. It allows for the hose to be down lower, and still make a good cantact. You don't have to change it, but I thought you'd like to know.

John

[cnotthoff]

I have some of those white or "light colored" seats sitting around. I haven't seen a Healthways reg come in for years. Let me know if you are interested in them.

Good Dives,

Charlie

[nikeajax]

Ed, is your HW's from the States? Just wondering if yours could be an "export" model? Sometimes manufacturers will do little thing like changing colors of something to denote "Intended for export only..." Or, in a more radical sense, Ford Motor Co. had the American and Canadian version of the same motor: 351-Cleavland and Windsor. The Cleavland was an engine to be reckoned with... but I digress!

Jaybird