With the advent of the new diaphragms for Healthways and the subsequent feedback about their performance, I had to give HW a try.
I saw this reg on eBay advertised initially as a Gold-Label, but later it turned out to be a Deluxe without the venturi assist:
Upon receiving it, the cans cleaned up rather nice:
But since the previous owner had already etched their name on the cans, and careful examination of the cans led me to believe that the cans were already rechromed, I had no reservations in re-doing the cans in a different fashion - so I decided on a matte black finish.
Internally, I had to find a way to create a venturi assist. Initially, since the rechrome job was in good condition, I tried a reversible conversion, but since the resultant amount of air flow was limited, I decided to go whole hog and just cut out a channel for the tube:
I brazed the copper tube into position and placed a disc above it (initially fashioned from an extra brass label, but eventually ended up using the fiberglass insert from my old Mistral diaphragm)
(yes the locking nut is missing. It broke! If I can't find a replacement, I may just have to make one)
Slapped on the new diaphragm, and positioned the cans together with the venturi tube pointing down the horn:
Now here's where I hit a snag. Unlike the Gold-Label, the Deluxe doesn't have that extra lip that goes around the rim. So when trying to slap the two cans together, I had some difficulty aligning the two cans. I could get it shut, but it wasn't as straight as it could be. I ended up grinding off just a bit off the lip of the bottom can to get the two to mate properly. Its a good thing that the new diaphragms have a grooved surface on one side to aid in aligning the cans.
I set the levers to about the level of the cans (I just love how easy it is to set the HW lever height ), and tried it out in the pool:
As Swimjim said before, the zone is there but its pretty thin. I noted a big improvement in breathing characteristics after setting the lever height a little more aggressively. Needless to say, my results might be a bit different because after all, this isn't really a Gold Label to begin with, but maybe with a bit more tweaking, I can get it to breathe as well as my Mistral .
Quick question regarding a real Gold-Label: When you depress the diaphragm, does it go into an uncontrolled free-flow? Currently, my set-up lets enough air into the cans itself that upon depression of the diaphragm, it flows for a while then stops. I might need to re-do the disc to minimize air entering the cans. Suggestions?