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Post by SeaRat on Aug 13, 2018 11:03:19 GMT -8
Well, my Healthways Scuba is back together, and I assembled it without using any new parts. The hoses were put back onto the regulator, though one is a few inches shorter. It looks like I have salvaged the hoses by first washing, then silicon spraying it. Even the rubber mouthpiece was salvaged. And is back on the Hope-Page mouthpiece. It breaths remarkably well for that era, which I guess is why I chose it over the USD Mistral all those years ago in 1959 as my first regulator. Pictures to follow.
John
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Post by vance on Aug 13, 2018 15:58:42 GMT -8
Gotta love a Scuba!
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 15, 2018 15:36:43 GMT -8
A few years back, I also made a diagram of the Healthways Scuba verses the USD Aquamaster exhaust systems. Mine is not as pretty as Jaybirds, but puts the differences into perspective. Note that the Healthways Scuba (original) exhaust system is about 3/4 inch above the diaphragm, while the USD Royal Aquamaster is about 1/4 inch below the diaphragm. This means that the Healthways Scuba will be slightly easier breathing than the Aquamaster exhaust system. Note also the position of both the duckbill within the Healthways Scuba's exhaust horn, and the exhaust diaphragm. John
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 15, 2018 17:05:04 GMT -8
John, how fun: I can't wait to hear how it performs! The DB is partially still good on the one you sent me, but I seriously doubt it will survive the removal It's times like this I'm extremely grateful that we have Phil on the forum! BTW he made me some tilt-valve springs that I'm looking forward to installing on my Scubair and Scuba Stars JB
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 15, 2018 19:53:55 GMT -8
Jaybird, I found some other calculations that I did a few years back on the Healthways Scuba exhaust. This involves the amount of water pressure on the exhaust diaphragm itself. In order to calculate this, I needed to calculate the surface area of the exhaust diaphragm, then figure out the air pressure differential between the main diaphragm in the horizontal position and the center of the exhaust diaphragm, calculate the pounds per square inch times the actual surface area to determine the total pressure on the exhaust diaphragm, and then figure out how many ounces of pressure was on that diaphragm. The calculation shows 1.89 ounces of weight, like putting an almost 2 ounce fishing weight on the exhaust diaphragm! This is why it seals pretty well in a horizontal or upright position (which is actually a bit further from the center of the main diaphragm than in a horizontal position). It is also why this doesn't work when upside down. Here's what that opening actually looks like (with my Hybrid Healthways Scuba regulator). By the way, my "new" Healthways Scuba, which is actually older than this one, does not have the holes drilled into the exhaust horn, and therefore doesn't need the rubber band covering them. And here's what my makeshift exhaust diaphragm made out of a latex glove looks like. John
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 17, 2018 22:14:46 GMT -8
Phil, No, the circlip was aT the top of this duckbill. I think I will place some masking tape behind the hole, and try ShoeGoo to repair it. So far I have left this duckbill off the regulator, which is completely back together (sans duckbill). I took that regulator, placed the plastic plug into the regulator, and conducted a few tests of the exhaust system sans the duckbill. The regulator was placed in about six inches of water, and I exhaled through the mouthpiece with it in different positions. What I found is very similar to the results of my open water experiments in recent years. The exhalation was very easy when regulator was vertical rightside up, or horizontal. I then turned it upside down, saw some bubbles which should indicate water entering the exhaust hose, but that was minimal, and did not result on much higher exhalation resistance. So now, it needs to get into open water. John Read more: vintagescuba.proboards.com/thread/4266/working-healthways-scuba-regulator-world?page=4#ixzz5OVXfT5C7
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 20, 2018 13:44:20 GMT -8
I had to boil my Scuba to get the duckbill out: the reason for the two-tone, black outside, cream inside (sounds like a cookie) is that they seem to be made from natural latex and then coated in neoprene: this is my hypothesis anyway. When I pulled it out, I noticed that the black coating was sloughing away from the thicker cream-colored part. This was all quite peculiar!
JB
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 20, 2018 15:01:10 GMT -8
One of the beautiful things about Scubas is their simplicity. The simple design allows you to quickly diagnose all problems. Whenever I put one of these back together I reassemble the high pressure assembly for testing: What you see here can be hooked up to a full tank to see if the valve-plunger is leaking or not. If it does lock up when air the air is turned on, just insert the actuator AFTER you've turned off the air to depressurize it JB
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 21, 2018 17:26:24 GMT -8
I've been experimenting with my latest Healthways Scuba, and have decided to take the original hoses off, and use new hoses that are not original, but give my more freedom of head movement. They are not matched, but will produce better freedom of motion.
John
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Post by vance on Aug 21, 2018 17:52:27 GMT -8
The stiff Healthways hoses are difficult. Some are longer than others (which can be quite short) and the extra length helps, but they're still kind of uncomfortable. The GLs I've had seemed to have longer hoses than those that came with the Scuba and Deluxe. I have a pair of what I think are SCBA hoses on one of my Scubas which are quite a bit longer and I think they'll work well.
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 29, 2018 13:20:40 GMT -8
Last Monday, August 27, 2018 I dove my unmodified Healthways Scuba regulator with the longer hoses. It was a 28 minute dive, in the Clackamas River at High Rocks. I brought along my SeawiscopeEY on my mask, and my camera too. The regulator was sans the duckbill, and so I did has some water leakage into the exhaust hose when head-down a few times. This was as expected. Other than that, I had only two problems: --I got some water into the mouthpiece and/or the intake hose. This resulted in my inhaling a splash of water, and choking for a couple of breaths. I don't know the origin, but after the dive there was water in the regulator box. --The original Healthways mouthpiece was uncomfortable and doesn't fit my mouth (too wide). It has now been changed out. The regulator breathed pretty well unmodified, just as it had when I dove it first in 1959. Even when in current, I had plenty of air, but not as well as the Gold Label or my hybrid GL Scuba. In most positions the breathing exhalation was very easy, and it took only one exhalation to clear the hose when head-down. I had this regulator on a single 72 with a backpack that allowed me to lower the regulator very low, because of the smaller depth of the original Healthways Scuba box. I had to cut short the dive, as I needed to exit the water and get going to pick up my wife from her work. I dove for 28 minutes, and used 1900 - 775 = 1125 psi. 1125 psi / 28 minutes = 40.17 psi/minute air consumption. This is about a 1.16 cubic foot per minute surface air consumption rate. Before the dive, I took two photos of myself by propping the camera on a nearby rock. Here, I'm just about to get wet. Many of the rocks are covered with freshwater sponge. Here you can see that the sponge has incurrent and excurrent syphons, and that a small insect-like animal has carved into the sponge with a "house." Here' a small fish is relying upon its camouflage to keep hidden. Here, the same fish is more out in the open. A crawdad is on the bottom, near a dead fish that it was feeding upon. My depth gauge, showing the capillary tube. It was just over 20 feet deep (although you cannot see the top as I had difficulty figuring out how to aim the camera). I was followed by three smallmouth bass for a while, and got one partial photo of one. On the bottom in shallow water, there were a huge number of insects that I wanted to get a photo of. So I tried about three times, and finally got one photo that shows the insects. John
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 29, 2018 14:12:56 GMT -8
John, good for you my friend: I'm quite envious! I'm going to leave this one unmodified, and put a SJ on the first one I got. I RTV'ed one of Phil's duckbills in this one, and left the clip in it too. I also used the diaphragm off of my first one on this: I'll put my makeshift MR-12 diaphragm on my first one seeing as it's strong and super flexible.
JB
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 29, 2018 18:14:05 GMT -8
Last Monday, August 27, 2018 I dove my unmodified Healthways Scuba regulator with the longer hoses. It was a 28 minute dive, ... John Yeah, it's official John, I think you totally stink--grumble, grumble, grumble... Keep up the good work JB
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