One from the closet

[jamiep3]

Visited my Dad yesterday, and he gave me this rig.



The pack he built with the help of a friend who could weld aluminum. Probably around 1973. The manifold he machined himself from a propeller shaft.



The the connection for the yoke was turned 90 degrees to accomadate the accessory J valve



Was interested to find one tank was almost full, other was at 100psi. If I remember correctly, I used it last in 1980 to clean my girlfriend's parents pool.

Going to start with hydro on the bottles. The last time I had it hyrod in 1978, the shop told me not to bring them back again, they would not assemble them with the bushings. I have a 3/4" healthways J valve manifold, I'm going to tear them down and see if it will fit. May try to use his pack or switch to a Sportways double back pack I have.

[crimediver]

Nice piece of DIY diving memoribilia. Very unique !

[SeaRat]

Jamie,

Take a look at the original hydro date on the tanks. If it is in the 1960s, it is very doubtful that the 3/4 inch Healthways valve will fit (I think I see a "64" number on it, but cannot be sure). Actually, it is doubtful anyway, as it appears that this set has a tapered thread (even if it is 3/4 inch), and uses the bushings to step it down to 1/2 inch tapered threads. Trying to fit a 3/4 inch standard thread valve into it could damage the threads, which you really do not want to do. I think these may have been CO2 fire extinguisher bottles converted for diving (a lot were during the 1960s and 1970s).

There are several people here that are much more aware of the hydrostatic testing than am I, so I'll let them comment further. But that is a very nice set, and has a lot of meaning for you as your Dad put it together. Best of wishes with it.

John

[slindo]

What a nifty and unique setup!

If you decide to get it hydroed again, take it direct to a hydro shop not a dive shop and you shouldn't have any trouble. Dive shops have a thing about bushings, but they really are nobody's business at hydro time since they aren't even in the tank when it is tested. What are the dates on the tanks? They look like they might be 3As which could put them quite bit earlier than the '60s.

[duckbill]

USD came out with the 3/4" straight threaded valves in 1960, but aside from that I'd say yours are definitely taper threaded, like John already said.
If you do want to keep them running, do like slindo said, and think about upgrading to high-pressure rated stainless steel bushings for your own peace of mind. Also, get a compressor if you don't already have one. I'd be EXTREMELY surprised if any dive shop would fill them with the bushings, unless they somehow failed to notice them.

[Broxton Carol]

I notice that the manifold is made of marine bronze just like my banjos. It will last forever. If you scrape the finish off the usd tank valves, under the chrome is marine bronze! I wonder why they used it? Could be that it was perfect for the job!