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Post by crabbyjim on Mar 24, 2019 15:48:09 GMT -8
I pulled a Healthways Scubair J out of my single hose box yesterday and spent some time reading an old thread here on Healthways single hose regulators. My impression is that healthways changed them constantly, resulting in some confusion among the contributors to that thread. My Scubair J has a black plastic retainer ring on the second stage which is easily removed.
When I opened it up, I found an intact, but slightly smushed diaphragm. It wasn’t rubberized fabric but it didn’t feel like neoprene, either. I find it a nifty, compact little machine but not a smooth breather. How do you tune them and what size is the diaphragm?
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Post by nikeajax on Mar 24, 2019 17:01:04 GMT -8
CJ, PM sent! Can you tell me about the exhaust tee? Does it look like any of these? JB
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Post by tomcatpc on Mar 24, 2019 19:11:05 GMT -8
Black plastic ring...1970's era? Healthways single hoses...we need all the converts we can get, I really enjoy diving mine! I don't have a Scubair-J yet, but I do have a standard Scubair (which I consider my "default go to" single hose regular that gets used a lot) and two Scubair 300's. Mark
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Post by crabbyjim on Mar 25, 2019 5:33:53 GMT -8
CJ, PM sent! Can you tell me about the exhaust tee? Does it look like any of these? JB Mine looks like the Scubair J in the upper left of the picture. What's the deal with the diaphragm? What is it made of? (received your pm.)
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Post by crabbyjim on Mar 25, 2019 5:58:09 GMT -8
Black plastic ring...1970's era? Healthways single hoses...we need all the converts we can get, I really enjoy diving mine! I don't have a Scubair-J yet, but I do have a standard Scubair (which I consider my "default go to" single hose regular that gets used a lot) and two Scubair 300's. Mark Mark, I don't know if you can call me a convert. I got my Scubair J a couple of years ago in a pile of old scuba stuff for $25 for the whole mess. Other than the diaphragm being funky, the reg is in almost new condition. I'll give you a report on its functionality after A new diaphragm and a pool test. When I started diving in 1970, I was overseas and everyone dove US Divers because that what what was available. When I moved to California in 1974 the people I dove with didn't make a big deal out of what brand of gear you had. I used a Calypso J and USD horse collar for the next 20 years and never looked at other gear until the 90's. The technical aspects of the gear were unimportant to me. I started reading this forum a few years ago when I was in Washington because I had a crazy idea about recapturing my youth so I started looking for items identical to my original gear. I found most of it then got drawn in to vintage gear when I realised how many types of gear was out there. Most people who dive around here don't care about vintage diving so I am lucky to be near Jay and Phil. There seems to be much more interest in vintage diving around the Great Lakes than other places so you're fortunate in that sense. As a refugee from northern Ohio, I know how unfortunate you are in every other way. It's tornado time in the midwest about now so keep your head down.
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Post by nikeajax on Mar 25, 2019 8:45:12 GMT -8
CJ, here's a schematic of the Scubastar-II: I don't have one, so I can't say for sure, but they may have used the black diaphragm: I think this was after HW was no longer with ScubaPro. The Scubamaster I know for sure used the "blue tortilla" diaphragm. Scubamaster didn't last, so a company called IDI bought the second stages: these things totally rock! Tell me about the first stage? It's a piston and uses o-rings, I know this for sure! JB
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Post by SeaRat on Mar 25, 2019 9:30:53 GMT -8
I have an old-style Scubair-J regulator, and this is from the newer catalog, probably close to the one JB posted above: New England Diver's Company catalog. Here are my Healthways first stages. The Scubair-J is the fourth down. Here are the second stages, and a prototype that JB gave me from the Dick Anderson estate. John
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Post by crabbyjim on Mar 25, 2019 10:16:56 GMT -8
My Scubair J is ike the one JB posted, the older, compact first stage rather than the elongated first stage (similar to the Calypso J) in your picture.
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Post by crabbyjim on Mar 25, 2019 10:35:01 GMT -8
JB, mine is a Single Hose, Two Stage: High Pressure Stage-Piston Type; Demand Stage-Downstream Push-Pull as described in Basic Scuba, SecondEdition by Fred M.. Roberts, pp. 120-124.
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