Envy !!!

[Bryan]

Dear Bryan,

Thanks for the great T-shirt. I could not have come at a better time. Today I finally brought home my 1954 Broxton Rene triples, and 'green label' Aqua Lung, all tested and serviced. I have attached a picture for you.


Yank Down Under

Steve Taylor

[treasureman]

That is the coolest rig I have seen. Whats the approx weight of the tanks, and what is the volume of each tank. they dont look like 72's

Where did you get the harneses from.?

[1969ivan1]

Steve...Neat set up....Thanks for sharing.....

[Bryan]

I love that rig! Stephen did an awesome job on those. I hope to own a set of triples like that someday.....I wonder if the dive shop owner at Lake Wazee still has his set ?

[YankDownUnder]

Thanks for the nice comments guys. The tanks are shown at my first scuba dive spot, where I dived a British twin hose Sea Lion in 1960. It's called Half Moon Bay, Black Rock, Victoria, Australia.

The tanks have a fresh cold gal coat in the picture and have since been painted navy grey and have a USD black and yellow Aqua Lung sticker on them.

I found the tanks in 1974 at a dive shop in Branford, Florida. They were on display as old gear even back then. They have been in my mother's basement here in Australia, for the past 20 years.

They are marked: Rene ICC 3AA2600 test date 4/54 US Divers 1045 Broxton Ave, Los Angeles 24 Calif. use compressed air.

They were just tested. I watched with my fingers crossed as each one was done. They tested better than the newer Fabers which go through that test station daily. I was thrilled when the last one finally passed. I then began to breathe once more.

I have an original purple cotton harness for it, but didn't trust it to use. They are very heavy. I used a nylon harnes which I found on ebay. The cotton one was a bit tight too. I weigh 210 lbs.

The regulator was found only two years ago, in a dive shop in Utah. An employee was about to drive nails through the hoses to display it. It is in the 9000 serial number range. That would put it late in the first 12 months of 100% US production. It was probably made in 1954.

When I bought it, I noticed a free flow, so I shipped it to Bryan, who did a perfect service on it. It looks unused, though the hoses are a bit dark now.

[treasureman]

If I understand corectly, a gel coat was put on them fist? Why?

then the NAvy grey which really makes them ultra cool.

What process was used to prepare the metal surface?

We all wanna know so we can try and find a cool rig like that too.

[1969ivan1]

Hey Yank! If U need a new repo harness made to exact specs like the orig U MUST CALL ON SIMMONBEANS! He makes awsome harnesses. He has made them for Chucko and myself and he will make them a little bigger if u are a gordito like myself he he. Simmon made my harness out of cotton and I defy anyone to tell it from an orig harness.

[duckbill]

If I understand corectly, a gel coat was put on them fist? Why?

I would bet that "cold gal coat" meant "cold galvanize coat", not "gel".

[YankDownUnder]

I had trouble finding a good paint stripper and a source for naval jelly here in Australia. They have most things that we have in the USA, but I can't always find them, like I could in Salt Lake City, where I lived for the past 21 years.

Naval jelly will make a hot dipped galvanized coat look new. As the scuba repair company allowed me to use their painting area, I sprayed the tanks with cold galvanizing (zinc undercoat). Later I top coated it with gloss navy grey. I had a repo USD black and yellow sticker, so I put that on too.

I would like to get a repo harness if I can find out how much.

[William]

Hi Reading the Forum here, I was (Very Surprised) to see that there was a Reproductio Black and Yellow Tank Emblem that was used to restore the tank. I was planning on trying to have many different Emblems made,so I could set up some nice looking Tanks for fun diving. Is the reproduction Emblem still available? It would be a great help and Very much appreciated. If the place,that made this Tank Emblem, can make different ones I have, I would like, very much, to contact them for help. Please let me know. [email protected] William

[Bryan]

I think the best thing you could do is to click on the tab marked E-Mail under the post by Yank Down Under and send him a personal request to find out where he came up with the stickers. I know he reads the forum a lot but direct contact might get you better results ?

[YankDownUnder]

I took a US Divers tank sticker to a Kinkos to have it duplicated. It was removed using a hair dryer to soften the glue. There was no registration trade mark on it so, the employee agreed to duplicate it. He had to do a little art work to restore it, as I had removed a damaged sticker from a tank. I put it on a piece of plexiglass, thinking he would just scan it. I was charged $8 per sticker and had several made. I have scanned the last one and have the image in my computer if anyone wants it.

Here in Australia, Air Liquide was kind enough to grant permission to a friend to duplicate Australian Porpoise logos on a non-profit basis for
t-shirts. Perhaps they will do the same if someone would like to make these stickers to restore scuba tanks. I have emailed William the logo.

[treasureman]

If you would not mind sending me a copy of the sticker, I will see about getting some done. I have a colleague who runs a print shop and they do weird and wonderful things, they may be able to do this for minimal cost. besides he has always wanted to get a double hose. perhaps a trade could be arranged