gair
Regular Diver
Posts: 24
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Post by gair on Dec 20, 2019 8:26:14 GMT -8
several months ago i rebuilt my usd aqua master. It is from about 1967, so it is a newer unit. Prier to this I rebuit my HW gold lable. I was amazed at the quality of the HW over the aqua master. The cans were much heaver duty and the quality of the chome job was much, much better. I also replaced the c clamps with the one round clamp. The large c clamp has a notch to alow it to fit around the horn. It was 10 times harder to install. I see why US divers never switched. Any comments. gair
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Post by vance on Dec 20, 2019 8:41:01 GMT -8
The gold label Scuba is a great unit. The quality improved leaps and bounds over the two previous models which were made of lighter metal and had lower quality chrome. The air horns are flimsy and crush easily.
The box interface is much better, also. However, the USD cans are better than the 2 earlier Scubas, design-wise. If you've ever tried to assemble a Scuba or Deluxe, you come to appreciate the flanges on the GL and the USD cans! Getting the early Healthways cans assembled is tricky. I use a clamp to hold it all together.
I don't find the ring clamp difficult to install on the DA. It is a huge improvement over the box clips. Sometimes trying to install a new diaphragm can be, well...trying. On the GL a longer clamp screw will be necessary. This stuff does take practice!
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Post by nikeajax on Dec 20, 2019 9:38:48 GMT -8
Phil, when did USD get rid of their clips?
'Kind of a fantasy of mine to make a Scubamaster, which was supposed to replace the Goldie: it was going to be a piston DH!
JB
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Post by SeaRat on Dec 20, 2019 10:12:23 GMT -8
Phil, when did USD get rid of their clips? 'Kind of a fantasy of mine to make a Scubamaster, which was supposed to replace the Goldie: it was going to be a piston DH! JB The Scubamaster, which never did "hit the road," was to be a two-stage regulator with a piston first stage. Concerning the Healthways GL verses an Aquamaster, the Gold Label will probably beat the Aquamaster IF you use USD hose/mouthpiece on it. With the original Healthways hose system, it does not perform well. I gave one of you on this board my rendition of the Healthways mouthpiece that actually works well, but in order to get good performance I had to break apart the wagon wheel, and take my knife to actually remove all vestages of it from the main tube. With the main tube clear, and only the deflector plate inside, it breathed very well, but had some blow-by. With the nylon exhalation valve in place, but no wagon wheel on the inhalation side, the GL did very well. It was comparable to the USD Mistral (which in U.S. Navy tests beat out the Aquamaster, see below). USD Mistral (new cover) by John Ratliff, on Flickr Note that this graph for inhalation is better than the comparable USD Aquamaster, or even the Royal Aquamaster, graphs. That is due to the Mistral orifice. Now, if you put a drill bit into the hole for the Healthways GL orifice, you will find something surprising...it isn't straight. The hole shows that the drilling was somewhat diverted from straight down the intake, as it shoots air slightly upwards. So if I were comparing the Healthways GL to the Mistral orifice, I think the Mistral would win. Saying that, with a Hope-Page mouthpiece, or a USD hose/mouthpiece system on the Healthways GL, it feels comparable to the Mistral, and perhaps even a bit better. But for exhalation, the Healthways mushroom exhaust is not quite big enough. Had they made it as large as the Snark III, it would be ideal. That's why I like my Hybrid Healthways Scuba, with the box being the original Scuba exhaust and the GL innards. That original Healthways exhaust system was actually a very good, easy-breathing design. SCUBA vs Aquamaster001 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Note the approximately one-inch exhalation pressure of water between the Healthways Scuba and the Aquamaster/RAM/Mistral exhaust design in a horizontal position. John PS, got to quite, and go to the pool to do some snorkeling.
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Post by scubalawyer on Dec 21, 2019 7:33:42 GMT -8
My HW Gold Label and my USD Mistral(s) are fantastic regs. Very hard to discern any breathing difference. HOWEVER, the GL has this lever height adjustment "sweet spot" which, if you find it, outperforms even a Mistral. My 2psi.
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Post by vance on Dec 21, 2019 9:58:38 GMT -8
Phil, when did USD get rid of their clips? I'm not sure when/if the box clips were ever discontinued. Some models had case rings, but I'm not sure which/when. The ones gair mentioned are probably the reproduction parts which I use on almost all of my regs if it fits. USD rings work on Voit and the Nemrod DH regs. The convenience factor makes it very desirable to replace the box clips, IMO. At $20, they are well worth it. Does anyone know about a box clip to ring evolution? Also, I didn't get the sense the OP meant that the GL is a better performing regulator than the DA, although it probably is when properly tuned. I took his point to be the difference in quality?
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Post by SeaRat on Dec 21, 2019 13:07:24 GMT -8
several months ago i rebuilt my usd aqua master. It is from about 1967, so it is a newer unit. Prier to this I rebuit my HW gold lable. I was amazed at the quality of the HW over the aqua master. The cans were much heaver duty and the quality of the chome job was much, much better. I also replaced the c clamps with the one round clamp. The large c clamp has a notch to alow it to fit around the horn. It was 10 times harder to install. I see why US divers never switched. Any comments. gair That notch in the ring was meant to go on the exhalation side, with the excess of the exhalation valve/exhalation hose the fit was harder without it. The rings with the notch are most likely original USD rings, and those without it are either old AMF Voit rings, or rings made by a third party. With that notch on the exhalation hose area, it is much easier to install. John
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Post by vance on Dec 21, 2019 21:18:59 GMT -8
The repro rings have the notch.
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Post by crabbyjim on Dec 22, 2019 9:56:59 GMT -8
Phil, when did USD get rid of their clips? Does anyone know about a box clip to ring evolution? From the Vintage Double Hose site: "1970-1972 DA Aqua-Master US Divers began to fully realize the end of the double hose system and tried to update their double hose regulators. In 1970, a new look to the double hose regulators occurred. The DA Aqua-Master now sported a round sticker label consistent with the current logo of US Divers. We have found an interesting serial number range for this model to include numbers from 109321-155491, 392890-402641 and also 646623 and 646630. These serial numbers were no longer on the label but stamped on the yoke side can. Why these large gaps between serial numbers? One speculation is that missing units were Navy issued. The early 1970-1971 units used the established black hose/curved mouthpiece, late style nylon hose clamps, long 2250 PSI yokes with later style logos on both yoke screws and mouthpieces. Finally after twenty-plus years, the Aqua-Master utilized a circular ring with a slotted screw instead of the seven box clips as suggested by the 1958 US Navy test recommendations.
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Post by vance on Dec 22, 2019 17:43:26 GMT -8
Great info, CJ. So the ring appeared on the DA and RAM somewhere around '70? I know several Voit models used the ring early on ('50s?). Is there a USD model reg that used the ring earier? I think so, maybe way early like the Voits and now and then through the DH years?
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Post by SeaRat on Dec 22, 2019 18:19:22 GMT -8
The repro rings have the notch. 'Good to know. The ones I saw in the 1980s did have the notch. I looked at my 1971 and 1973 USD catalogs, and they don't show the clamp ring for the DA Aquamaster or RAM. But the January 1, 1971 Aqualung Repair Manual does list the clamp on page 12 as "42*" and "43*" with a part number of 1046-19. This came with this note: John
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Post by vance on Dec 24, 2019 8:51:16 GMT -8
Phil, when did USD get rid of their clips? 'Kind of a fantasy of mine to make a Scubamaster, which was supposed to replace the Goldie: it was going to be a piston DH! JB As you know, I started down that path when I began playing around with the Healthways single hose to double hose conversion, which morphed into the Conshelf DH conversion. The change from the HW to the Conshelf 1st stage was made simply because it looked easier to accomplish a scheme for installing it in the can. I was/am really only concerned with proof of concept, which is largely the connecting tube between the stages. After that is worked out, a piston type first stage conversion could be done pretty easily. I have made some progress on the tube which I will post in the Conways DH conversion thread. BTW, it has no Healthways parts, but the bottom portion of the second stage body is a Sportsways part (really a Sherwood part, I think). I might rename it the Shelfwood? But since it is going to get stuffed all up inside Mistral cans... the Mist-ake?
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