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Post by SeaRat on May 12, 2013 14:07:01 GMT -8
Jaybird, the Duel Air was Sportsways first double hose regulator, with a tilt valve second stage. I have never seen one, and am very curious how it performed. The Hydro Twin was way, way ahead of its time, but somewhat handicapped by the hose/mouthpiece system; the mouthpiece was had wagon wheels which were larger than the second generation Healthways, but smaller than USD's mouthpiece wagonwheels.
John
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Post by nikeajax on May 12, 2013 16:39:52 GMT -8
Huh--what the... How the heck do you get a DH with a tilt-valve... Okay John, you're making my brain hurt trying to figure that one out So um, what came first, the Sportsways Navy Unit, or their Hydro-Twin... was the Navy' adapted from the Hydro-Twin?!?!?!?!?! Like crazy daddy-o! Jaybird
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Post by sitkadiver on May 12, 2013 18:55:47 GMT -8
View AttachmentMarvel also had a relabeled version of the Sportsways double hose regulator. Marvel used a dull finish on their regulators. I would guess it was nickel and no chrome. Regulator is property of cg-45.com Thanks for sharing that Karl. I've never one in real life. I imagine they were only made for a short time. Do you have any production numbers? I haven't been able to find much on the history of the Sportsways line and it's derivatives. I'm guessing because Sam LeCocq ended up ripping many of you off.
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Post by sitkadiver on May 12, 2013 19:02:33 GMT -8
Jaybird, the Duel Air was Sportsways first double hose regulator, with a tilt valve second stage. I have never seen one, and am very curious how it performed. The Hydro Twin was way, way ahead of its time, but somewhat handicapped by the hose/mouthpiece system; the mouthpiece was had wagon wheels which were larger than the second generation Healthways, but smaller than USD's mouthpiece wagonwheels. John John, I emailed Rob and he wrote back confirming that his NED is a Duel Air. My NED is a Hydro Twin..... Once again, wish I had some catalogs to help piece the history together. I may have to start looking for a Cahill Biography. I dove the Hydro Twin Friday night. Did a short dive to remove dome line out of my neighbors prop and then did 53 minutes looking for bottles in the channel. The Hydro Twin breathed great. My only problem was I hadn't adjusted the mouthpiece to exactly where I wanted it and I was riding up a bit on my gums, but not too bad. Attachment DeletedLots of daylight left for 2100, that's getting me excited for summer... Attachment DeletedCan't really see, but in the photo below, I'm trying to light up my "treasure".
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Post by sitkadiver on May 12, 2013 19:10:01 GMT -8
Attachment DeletedToday I took the cans apart and wiped out the inside in order to ensure no salt water was hiding in there. I did find a drop or two, but I'm not too worried about it. I also adjusted the hoses and made sure they were fairly dry before I replaced it on it's stand on the shelf.
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Post by SeaRat on May 12, 2013 19:39:41 GMT -8
I had planned on diving my Hydro Twin today, but this last week has been rough on me physically. I've been re-doing my shed, cleaning it out, putting my regulator collection into it, and once the inside was cleaned out I had to repaint it. That took about three days. I've also been bicycle riding, and walking with my wife so when I got to today, my body said "why don't you watch Tiger Woods win his golf game today." He did, and I watched. The shed is painted just in time for rain, but I'll get wet again soon (I did one dive earlier, and will detail that later).
Jaybird, the Duel Air and the Navy Unit and the Master Diver are all built on the same first stage. I'm looking at the parts diagram in Basic Scuba[/B], by Fred Roberts right now. The Master Diver was a tilt valve, but had a balanced first stage which probably led directly to the Hydro Twin. The Duel Air was shown as 1961-62 for the years. Here is what Fred said about the tilt valve on the Duel Air:
The parts diagram shows housing much like the Hydro Twin which directs air down the intake hose, so this was prabably a fairly easy breathing regulator. I would be interested in hearing from Rob about how the Duel Air performs.
Dave, my regulator serial number is 00553 for my Hydro Twin. Rather than use a Sea-View gauge, I put my Cobra computer onto the Hydro Twin for use in my next dive. I'll put in in the water sometime in the next week or so.
John
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Post by kgehring on May 16, 2013 11:54:04 GMT -8
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Post by sitkadiver on May 16, 2013 15:12:04 GMT -8
Looking at the backs of those regs, it looks as though you can determine what reg is which by what you see from behind, regardless of the label up front. The Dual Air has an over-pressure relief valve, the Hydro-Twin has the longer primary/IP chamber and the Hydro-Twin twin ha the shorter 1st stages.... Am I seeing that correctly? O will have to break out Basic Scuba to review the terminology.
Thanks Karl, that was very helpful.
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Post by scubadiverbob on May 17, 2013 13:36:01 GMT -8
I have a Hydro Twin and still need a main diaphragm for it ... also, they originally came with Hope-Page mouthpieces. Need one of them, also. The Hope-Page really made it easy to dry the hoses after a dive. Unscrew them, take off the mouth piece, and hang them up to dry ...
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Post by scubadiverbob on May 17, 2013 13:43:41 GMT -8
Does anyone have a service manual for a Hydro Twin I can get a copy of? Also, the Hydro Twin II is a balanced regulator. I've heard some Hydro Twins weren't balanced ... Can you tell the difference without opening them up?
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Post by scubadiverbob on May 17, 2013 13:54:35 GMT -8
My reg doesn't have the tag on it; what's the guts to a Dual Air look like? Wondering if that's what I have. Karl, got photos of yours?
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Post by sitkadiver on May 17, 2013 15:26:10 GMT -8
Hopefully Karl will chime in again with some of the nuances between the various regs, but what I have learned is this: The Dual Air was an unbalanced, tilt valve reg. If you open the can you will see the tilt valve and you will also find an over pressure relief valve on the back of the reg on the 1st stage: According to Fred Roberts in Basic Scuba 2nd ed., pp. 164, "The operation of the first stage is similar to the 1962 Master Diver except the high pressure seat(20) is not balanced." The Hydro Twin is a down stream valve and therefore will not require the over pressure relief valve like a Dual Air. My copy of Basic Scuba does not cover this regulator, but if you look at Karl's photos, the regulator on the bottom in the "from behind" view is the Hydro Twin. There is no Over pressure relief valve and with that exception, it appears identical to the Dual Air. The Hydro Twin II, is balanced, and you can see the shorter chamber from the back side of the reg. The reg in the photo with hoses attached has the hex nut, and shorter balanced chamber..... Figure 3-27 on p. 162 of Basic Scuba(2nd edit.) shows the various first stages. Keep in mind, I do not see a difference in the balance chamber in this drawing and the drawing shows the 1st stage inverted as it would pertain to a DH sportsways. (relative to the can position in the figure.) Bob do you have any photos of your reg? It would be a fun test for me to see if I can determine what it is by just looking at the back side. You just have to promise not to make fun of me if I'm wrong......
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Post by SeaRat on May 17, 2013 16:03:27 GMT -8
Bob, the Hydro Twin is also a balanced first stage. The Duel Air, with the tilt valve, will look a lot different than a Hydro Twin for the second stage lever. The tilt valve is a bent rod-shaped device for the Duel Air.
John
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Post by scubadiverbob on May 19, 2013 22:21:23 GMT -8
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Post by sitkadiver on May 22, 2013 9:03:19 GMT -8
Bob, Looks like a Hydro Twin II. (Has the hex nut...)
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