Got myself some old(ish) tanks

[kiwidiver]

Picked these up the other day the 72 was a donation and the little Healthways I got for $20 bucks.




The 72 is a Nemrod made by PST I think. factory stamp is 11/71 last hydro was 87, nice Nemrod rubber boot and had this decal which was only just hanging on.

I serviced the valve and all the parts are identical to modern Faber valves. had a look inside and it is absolutely pristine. I am hoping it will pass hydro as I want to use this tank with my Spiro Mistral as the seamless valve has a HP port.

The little Healthways is cool it came with a scubastar TD single stage reg and a vinyl harness which was held on by two SS hose-clamps and it still had the Healthways "underwater safety" sticker. maybe someone could help me ID this tank, I downloaded all the Healthways catalogues and there wasn't a match for it. I suspect the Australian importer or even the dealer at the time got the tanks elsewhere and added the Healthways decal.
It has a nice pillar valve with no burst disk which I have identified as made by midland diving equipment which is of course English hence no burst disk.
its markings which are stamped on the brass collar around the neck are:


TOP LINE:
IWK 969 EA 147 HOT

SECOND LINE:
WC 15LBS 7 OZS WP 2640 PSI LLOYD'S (which is in a different font) 3.9.68 KDN (the kdn is in a handwriting type font)

BOTTOM LINE:
TP 3556 PSI TARE WT 19 LBS 1OZS

its last and only hydro was 8/76
The whole tank may be of English origin as I think a working pressure of 2640 PSI is unusual for American tanks?
Haven't had a look inside yet it is still has air in it but it does smell bad, hopefully it hasn't had a bad fill sitting in it for ages (or maybe the 70s just smelt bad ) would be nice to get it back into use also.

[time2dive]

Without DOT markings....DOT, ICC, 3AA. you will be unable to have it hydroed. You can still use it as long as you have your own compressor.

[luis]

The whole tank may be of English origin as i think a working pressure of 2640 PSI is unusual for American tanks?

That is a very interesting tank. It is defiantly not a tank made to any US codes. That tank would have never been sold in the US (from a commercial shop).

I have no idea if you can have it serviced in Australia, but in any case be careful with the valve threads. Some of the European valve threads are very close to what we use in the US, but they are not compatible.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with them.

[Herman]

Can't help with the tank but the Scuba Star reg I know a good bit about. The second stage uses an odd ball diaphgram size and most of them were hard when new and worse today,so far I have not found a suitable substitute. The second stage is best for show...the first stage on the other hand is one of my favorites of the era. It's a simple flow by piston design that is tiny and compact, it's just cute. It is very easy to service, a simple HP seat and 2 common orings. Not a high performance reg by any means but when paired with a good second it works well, I like to use it with the early MR-12 seconds which are also small. The reg should have an overpressure relief valve installed. As long as you use at least 1 down stream second stage on the reg, you can remove it and put a port plug in or use use the port for an octo or LP inflator...although not sure why you would want to.

[kiwidiver]

The whole tank may be of English origin as i think a working pressure of 2640 PSI is unusual for American tanks?

That is a very interesting tank. It is defiantly not a tank made to any US codes. That tank would have never been sold in the US (from a commercial shop).

I have no idea if you can have it serviced in Australia, but in any case be careful with the valve threads. Some of the European valve threads are very close to what we use in the US, but they are not compatible.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with them.

Cheers Luis,
the valve thread is either 3/4 NPSM or 3/4 BSP, it is definitely not M25. i am 99.9% sure it is NPSM but i will find out for sure. Because it has had a hydro from a Australian hydro station before i should be able to get it re tested, had the valve off and it is clean inside. if not no biggie as i got it as a display piece anyway.
one other question i have is the 72 (which is a US, PST Tank) had more of a gasket arrangement rather than a O-ring, flat at the top and tapered at the bottom was this normal for older steel tanks? can that gasket be substituted for an O-Ring? I will get some pics tonight.

[kiwidiver]

Can't help with the tank but the Scuba Star reg I know a good bit about. The second stage uses an odd ball diaphgram size and most of them were hard when new and worse today,so far I have not found a suitable substitute. The second stage is best for show...the first stage on the other hand is one of my favorites of the era. It's a simple flow by piston design that is tiny and compact, it's just cute. It is very easy to service, a simple HP seat and 2 common orings. Not a high performance reg by any means but when paired with a good second it works well, I like to use it with the early MR-12 seconds which are also small. The reg should have an overpressure relief valve installed. As long as you use at least 1 down stream second stage on the reg, you can remove it and put a port plug in or use use the port for an octo or LP inflator...although not sure why you would want to.

Thanks Herman, the Scubastar is pretty crusty and unfortunately is missing the exhaust T. and it is the later one with the downstream second stage, but you are right the 1st stage is super cute. i might just leave this one as is for display just protect it from further deterioration.
The Scubastar is kinda special to me as it was what my father had when he first started diving in the late 60s early 70s. When i was very young 4 or 5ish he gave up diving and sold all his gear as the pressure of a young family and running his own business meant there was no time or money for diving. But sneaking down to the garage and fiddling with his tank and reg was a great source of excitement for me and the image of that Scubastar was imprinted on my brain. he started diving again when i did my course in 85 and he re-certified with my two older brothers when they did their course the year after. Last year i picked up a mint working Scubastar and gave it to him for his 70th birthday as a recognition of the sacrifice he made for us kids selling his beloved dive gear all those years ago. Unfortunately his diving days are done as he has just had half a lung removed from cancer (never smoked in his life )but fortunately it looks like he will make a full recovery as they got it early.

[luis]

That was an O-ring when it was installed. They take a triangular cross-sectional shape from being highly compressed into that shape for a long time.

The O-ring size for the 3/4” NPSM is a standard -214.

I don’t know if you have the same O-ring sizes in Australia, but I am sure you can find the dimensions on the web.

Here is a useful link with O-ring information:
http://www.divegearexpress.com/hardware ... shtml#1779


Here is the O-ring info.
AS568A
Dash No. 214

Width: 1/8" Fractional (0.139" Actual)

Fractional Size
ID: 1"
OD: 1 1/4"

Actual Inch Size
ID: 0.984"
OD: 1.262"

[kiwidiver]

Wow didn't realise they deform like that over time. thanks for the O-ring info, I have plenty of them for NPSM valves as that thread form is generally the standard here and has been for quite some time, although there are M25 thread tanks cropping up now and again.
turns out the little tank is German as IWK stands for Industrie-Werke Karlsruhe, which i gleaned from SB: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/vintag ... lem-2.html

I would have thought then it may be a metric thread but i will need to make sure.