1950s Voit Tank decal

[William]

I received this Voit Tank today and was surprised that it has a Very Different Decal than I have ever seen. Sam Miller recognized it easily. William and told me it is a 1950s Voit Decal and predates the ones I have seen before. Does anyone know this one and the exact years it was used. The Valve also has a Silver Decal with the Name Voit in Blue on it. William

[YankDownUnder]

William,

I don't know the history of the decal, but the first test date on the tank will narrow it down for you.

[William]

Well, Cyndy and I examined and double checked carefully,looking at many of the steel round botom Tanks. My Orange Sportsways Single 72 cu ft ,1/2"thread, O-Ring Seal has (Never Been Hydroed Even Once) and is a Never Used, New-Old-Stock Tank from the 1960s with No Hydro dates Visible anywhere on it at all. The Orange Sportsways Twins were first Hydroed in 1961, same type and size Sportsways as the small orange single, all with 1/2" O-Ring Seal Valves and the Small Orange Sportsways was First Hydroed in 1985 and is the Exact same Tank as the Twins. The Voit Twins used at Sand Dog 111 have Pipe Thread Valves and were First Hydroed in 1979 and No other earlier Dates at all. The Very First Hydro on my Other set of small Voit Twins that also are white plastic coated have Pipe Thread Valves is 1985. Many other tanks varied like this that we checked. The Voit Tank with this rare Decal above with Pipe Thread Valve was First Hydroed in 1968. So I will need to find a more accurate way to find the manufacturing dates of it. The 1950s Skin Diver Magazines may help some with information like pictures of this Voit Tank with the different type blue Chevron Decal, type of Silver Decal on the J-Valve and other references to try and get the accurate dates for them. Several people who know a good bit about Vintage Equipment have Never,ever seen this Type Voit Tank Decal before. PSI may be able to help. I'll just have to keep checking to try and find the manufacturing dates, begin date to end date of this Voit Tank and special Decal. William

[kgehring]

Here is a clear pic from William

[kgehring]

Shi@ Wrong one. Here it is

[captain]

I have a Voit tank that I bought new in 1957 that had the above emblem.
I recently bought a set of white vinyl coated Voit twin 50 from 1963 with the same emblem. Keep in mind that that vinyl coated tanks were originally stamped before the vinyl coating was applied and in many cases the vinyl coating was thick enough to obscure the original hydro date. I have never seen any 1/2 pipe thread tanks later than the early 60's. I have several the earliest being 1956 and the latest 1963. I can not recal seeing any tanks in the 70's and 80's with pipe thread valves. I have one 1958 USD tank with the large type neck usually found on 3/4" tanks that is threaded 1/2 pipe and I always felt it was a transition point between 1/2" and 3/4"and that it was threated 1/2" to used exising stocks of 1/2" valves. Also I was in the dive shop business from about 1966 to 1972 and I don't recall any 1/2" pipe thread valve tanks being sold in the shop.

[William]

Well That is just Excellent Captain and Very Very Helpfull. Man I needed that, ha, ha. "Thank you Captain". I will copy ALL your Important Information and place it in with the Ebay Voit Tank Purchase Records and Pictures. Sam Miller told me it was from the 1950s and he is alwaysd correct I have found but that is all I was told about the Years of it's manufacture and sales, the 1950s. I am surprised to see this Decal was even used up to and on 1963 Tanks some too. I am wondering if they meant to use it or were just useing Up their Decals they had to save money and not waste supplies?? I know that on my Voit Twins, there is NO Edge to those Voit Decals whatsoever and strangely they are placed up High on the Tank over the Curve startijng at the Top of the Tank but have No Wrinkles to the Decal at all, just On the tanks, Flat as can be. If a Normal Decal was placed there, in That area where the Tank curves side to sid abnd top to bottom too, it would simply NOT work and it would have so many Wrinkles. That Stick-On Decal will not work on 4 direction Curved Surfaces, like the top area of a Scuba Tank.Does anyone know, Really know, what the Voit Twin Tanks Decals are made of and how are they Installed without Wrinkles??? It is like they are a Part of the White Plastic Coating, (made right into it and NOt a Stick-On Decal at all). This Voit Decal shown above, is just That. It IS a Decal that was placed on the Tank with a clear Edge and visible stick-um glue to hold it on. I have a couple of friends that have owned Dive Shops and these Men Really know the Vintage Gear Super Good. Russ Kalifrath up in New Jersy is a good example of a gentleman that is very Knowledgeable about this type thing. He Gets me with his wonderfull equipment though, ha, ha. I ask him about certain rare things like his rare Tanks, very rare Pressure Test Gauges and all kinds of Vintage Dive Equipment and the next thing I know, I am forced to start makeing him Offers to Russ for them, ha, ha, so maybe his collection will Immigrate down to Sunny Florida and Land in my Living Room, Ha, Ha. But Russ has helped me with my collection wonderfully, like the Small Twin Galvanized Sportsways Tanks that came with the great Sportsways Twin Tank Back-Pack and Shiny 1/2" O-Ring Seal Valve Assembly. They were Tumble Cleaned and Passed Hydro and Visual so they turned out to be a Very Good buy at $150. I have seen similar ones sell for about $ 500 on Ebay recently, purchased by Ebay member 2005williamsp, Russ also worked for New England Divers for Many years at their main shop and he also owned one of the NED Double Hose Regulatorss ( Sportsways actually) and his had a N E Divers Decal on the face of the Regulator Body, the Decal with the "Swimming Diver". He said his came like that from New England Divers,so I was happy to hear that, since my N E Divers Regulator has that Yellow Round Decal on it and is the same double hose regulator as Russ's was, a man who worked at NED for a Very Long time,like 11 years. I understand that Sears & J C Higgens,Ocean Research and possibly even Voit , with the Voit Navy, were other manufacturer's Regulators with their I.D. Labels just placed on them. William

[William]

I forgot. I wanted to ask if you Ever saw the Voit Decals like this unusual one, ever used on Black Voit Tanks??? If yes, do you remember if the Colors were Reversed, so the Decal would have the White Background instead of the Blue, to make it stand out better??? I do Remember a small Black Voit Tank, very Long ago, that had the Blue Background Voit Decal On It for Sure( but it was on the Black Tank) It did not have the white background, like normally seen on Black Tanks. Back then, I wanted that Voit Black Tank and looked at it and examined it many times at our local Scuba Shop, for a month, before it finally sold to someone. So I do know that the Voit "Blue Background" Decal was placed on a Few Black Tanks at least back then. It looked Really Nice too. William

[duckbill]

William,
That Voit emblem is a 1990s reproduction Just kidding!!!

If you want a couple of tips on "seeing" the original factory stampings which have been covered by hot-dip galvanizing, paint, or vinyl, here you go:
Turn off all the lights and hold a flashlight down at a low angle near the cylinder's wall which would cause shadows to form in even the shallowest hint of a depression i.e. stamping. This is an age old tracking technique.
Once you locate what may be a date stamp and it is still not readable using the lighting technique, then try this. Rub the area with the edge of a medium or soft pencil lead and you will hopefully be surprised to see the date appear before your very eyes.

Remember, any factory stamp will be underneath any original coating, as Tom said. "Original" being the key word.

[duckbill]

Oh, and you may want to try the aforementioned on your other cylinders too. I have never seen a SCUBA cylinder with no factory original hydro stamp. A SCUBA cylinder released publicly with no original hydro would be extremely rare, indeed.

[William]

Hey That sounds like it came right right out of a Good Detective Novel. I certainly will try and find that Original Factory Hydro Date. I especially would like to see it on the Special Voit and the Sportsways Tanks. Thank you Duckbill. William

[William]

Many more Restoration Decals. William

[William]

A few More Labels. William

[William]

A Better Picture. William