Thrift Store Vintage find - Double-Hose!

[Hoomi]

Picked up at a local Goodwill tonight (along with a Calypso J regulator set).

Not sure if the tank is worth much, but the tank valve seems to still be in good condition. Earliest date on the tank is 11/56, and the latest is a sticker showing an inspection date of July 91. It also came with the backpack setup, though the plastic plate portion of the backpack is cracked. The Healthways regulator set, though, looks like it's in pretty good condition. I don't see any obvious cracks in the hoses or mouthpiece.

$50 for the whole package. My wife looked on eBay, and found another Healthways set that looks the same, that just sold for like $130.

 

[vshearer]

'Ya done good. Damn good.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Very nice score indeed.
The tank will probably pass hydro no problem. Those old steel 72's are golden.
You'll need to change the burst disc if it's the center hole type. Be carefull sometimes they don't come out very easy and you'l need to surgically remove it. If you screw up the threads or scarf it up you'll need to find a new valve, so be careful.
The regulator is workable. Sea Rat seems to know the most about those old Healthways regs.
I believe the one you have is about as good as it gets with the Healthways double hoses.
Vintage Double Hose dot com has new reproduction diaphrams for those.
I have one and the guy who gave it to me (scuba cowboy) put Aqualung hoses and mouthpiece on it for more air flow.

 

[duckbill]

Nice find! The cylinder is as good a find as the regulator, I might add! And in Tucson of all places.

 

[vshearer]

Nice find! The cylinder is as good a find as the regulator, I might add! And in Tucson of all places.

I get a lot of stuff off of Ebay, and I pay attention to where it comes from. There are a bunch MK10's out there in FL, etc. I look for stuff around the Great lakes or midwest. Seems to work out well. Got too many MK10's though... and USD's, and .... well, you get the picture.

 

[herman]

You have an early 60s model Healthways. It is very easy to restore, the main diaphragms are not available quite yet but are coming soon, the HP seat often does not need anything but a good cleaning and if easy to resurface is you need to. The hoses and mouthpiece are likely stiffer than you really want to dive with but replacing them with USD or Voit reproductions (assuming you don't mind the mixing of brands) is not a problem...that is what mine has. The Delux is much easier to restore than the earlier model but IMO does not work quite as well as the later Gold Label, still a great first DH reg. Get it restored, add a banjo and dive it. By the way, my Gold Label works great at higher tank pressures unlike most of the other single stage DH regs.

The tank is fine as long as it's clean inside....finding a dive shop who actually knows it's OK to fill these old tanks may be a problem.

 

[Walter]

Very nice.

 

[Hoomi]

Surprisingly, the rubber of the mouthpiece still feels fairly flexible. I'm not sure where or how this was stored to keep the rubber parts from dryrotting (a real problem down here in the southwest deserts), but it seems to have been decently taken care of. I went to the vintage double hose dot com web site, and was checking out the Healthways catalogs they have linked on there. The 1960 catalog shows a very similar looking set, while the label style has changed by the 1965 catalog. The latest catalog they have linked is 1971, and the double-hose set was no longer shown in that product line. The serial number on the unit can be read in the second photo, and is B3722. I don't know if there is any logical correlation between serial number and manufacture year, such as indicating this was the 722nd unit made in '63, or whether they simply followed a sequential system starting with either 0000 or another number, regardless of what the calendar said.

The tank still has pressure in it, though I haven't hooked an SPG to it to see just how much (scared the crap out of the cats last night when I cracked the valve open enough to see if there was pressure. That type of valve opens a lot faster than the modern ones). My inclination is to bleed off most of the pressure, until such time as I can take it to the LDS for inspection and test.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

What you have is a second generation Healthways SCUBA, which I refer to as the "Blue Label" Healthways SCUBA regulator. I have all three generations, and have dived them all. This one does not have a very effective venturi (air boost) to the inhalation, so you have to pull the air out. The mouthpiece and case mushroom valves probably need to be replaced, and this can be don for a minimum amount at the Vintage Scuba website.

When you take it apart, take note of the hole in the little disk near the sintered filter. It holds the spring in position inside for the valve plunger to meet the seat. (You'll see what I mean when you pull the circlip off and get the insides out.) If it is very small, almost pin hole, this is a restrictor orifice. If it is larger (as large as the opening on the valve), then it is the one meant for a J-reserve valve. The restrictor orifice was a unique Healthways reserve which told the diver when the air supply pressure was getting low by restricting the flow (it got harder to breath). You need to know about this feature is it influences the performance at low tank pressures, and could cause you to think the regulator was malfunctioning when it was actually doing what it is designed to do. Because you have a K-valve on the tank (which should be find--leave the air in it until it goes for a hydro test), it probably has this restrictor orifice installed.

Also, look at the non-return in the top box. If it does not have a little metal tab, then you should glue a stainless steel nut into place just below the non-return. If you ever want to use it without the non-return in the mouthpiece without putting this nut on the can, the diaphragm will be blown into the exhalation mushroom valve and make exhalations impossible. This regulator breaths much better without the inhalation non-return in place, which is why I mention this. I found out about it through much trial and error. You can see the non-return on the photo of the different boxes below. The can on the right has that tab (Gold Label), the one on the lower left does not (Blue Label).

SeaRat