Think I scored big time today. Voit Lung blue label.

[elmer fudd]

I bought one today at a garage sale, (sorry, no pictures yet, my wife's the one with the camera and she doesn't yet know I bought it). It's really nice on the outside, with a gray mouthpiece and hoses. The mouthpiece is still in great shape, but the hoses are too rotten to use. It also has funny looking chrome Tinnerman clamps in almost new condition. The intake hose is split, so I can see inside and there is some corrosion there, but not too bad. Serial # 8567. At the time, I figured it was basically just a rebranded Mistral and was probably worth slightly more because of the Voit name.

I offered the guy $100, (which was all I could afford), and he told me he hadn't been aware they were worth anything like that and told me to just give him $90. I actually told him I thought they were worth a bit more than that and that on ebay he might get $150 or $175, but I didn't have that kind of money. Anyway, my bank account now has $90 less in it and I have a blue label Voit Lung. It looks exactly like the one in the link below, (similar condition), only with rotten hoses and chrome clamps.

This blue label Voit Lung is one (From Thescubamuseum.com )

So now it appears that I picked up a rather rare regulator. Any idea what this thing might be worth, and should I restore it or leave it as is?

 

[DaleC]

I would vote for restoring with original era parts (ie. duckbill instead of DBK, rubber mouthpiece valves [if used] instead of silicone etc...) and keep the parts it came with.
I just had a similar experience buying a USD Royal Master off of craigslist.
BTW, that reg looks sweet!

 

[herman]

Better yet send it to me for $100. You make $10 and I will not tell your wife.

 

[simonbeans]

The regulator is one of the more rare. Here is some information from a contributor to Vintage Double Hose.com "The Voit Lung label was in blue for the final year of production (1959). That year the VR-1 came with a Mistral nozzle instead of the short Stream Air one that was in all the green labels. The can was also satin finish instead of shiny chrome for some strange reason. My theory is that Voit wanted people to buy 50 Fathoms instead, so made the old Voit Lung look less attractive."
Also the pictures you link to are from the scuba museum.com It would be polite to reference your sources.

 

[elmer fudd]

The regulator is one of the more rare. Here is some information from a contributor to Vintage Double Hose.com "The Voit Lung label was in blue for the final year of production (1959). That year the VR-1 came with a Mistral nozzle instead of the short Stream Air one that was in all the green labels. The can was also satin finish instead of shiny chrome for some strange reason. My theory is that Voit wanted people to buy 50 Fathoms instead, so made the old Voit Lung look less attractive."
Also the pictures you link to are from the scuba museum.com It would be polite to reference your sources.

Thanks for the info. As far as referencing the pics, I wasn't trying to slight anyone, it just didn't occur to me. Except for the condition of the hoses and the chrome clamps the two are in remarkably similar condition.

Once I figured out that this was a VR1, that also helped immensely. There's nothing at all on the regulator to identify it as such. As far as model identification goes, it just says Voit Lung, over-pressure breathing.

 

[elmer fudd]

I would vote for restoring with original era parts (ie. duckbill instead of DBK, rubber mouthpiece valves [if used] instead of silicone etc...) and keep the parts it came with.
I just had a similar experience buying a USD Royal Master off of craigslist.
BTW, that reg looks sweet!

I'm leaning towards restoring it myself. I'm generally of the opinion that old gear of all kinds should be used, although every now and then when you do that you find out that dirt and corrosion was really "verdigris" and "patina" and was quite valuable stuff. So if it turns out that removing the old rotten hoses and dirt and cleaning the inside is going to lower it's value significantly, I might just keep it as is and hunt up a Mistral instead.

This was actually a Craiglist find as well. What I do is try to visit the garage sales nearby that have "scuba gear" listed in their Craigslist ad. I find that when they're just selling at a garage sale with no description that they often just want it gone.

 

[Mike Lev]

Hello Dale,that is Voit's rarest double hose period.It was never shown in the catalog either.If it needs to be rechromed do it.Have it rebuilt ect.It should be worth over a grand or more.Don't let some joker offer you a low ball price.Enjoy Mike.:cool2:

 

[simonbeans]

Not trying to perpetuate or instigate fraud, if you happen to have a satin chrome Voit can (label side) without a label, I do have some repro plates for your FX reproduction. They are not exact as the originals nor do they have serial numbers. But if you want to make up an FX VR-1 or replace a lost label, contact me.

 

[Bob3]

Nice save, and if you're not already visiting vintagedoublehose, head on over & register - it's a good place to pick up valuable info & source parts.

I'm almost embarrassed to say that I scrapped one of those out many, many moons ago, keeping just the yoke, which I though was the only part worth anything yet.

(I was a Royal Aqua Master / Nemrod snob at the time.):cool2:

 

[Mike Lev]

Hello Allan,do you or anyone you know make the tags with tabs?Some people have the original tags with all or some of the tabs broken off.You could glue the original to a tag with tabs.Thanks Mike.:cool2: