Vintage Double Hose

Hello. I am new to this forum and hope this is an appropriate discussion. I grew up on "Sea Hunt" and always loved the look of the double hose regulator. I saw a Nemrod Snark III serial number 04338 at a flea market and bought it at a good price. It has the mouthpiece replaced with an Aqua Lung mouthpiece. I do not know if it works or not. I have not been diving in many years and do not have my gear anymore, but am thinking about getting back into it and I think vintage diving would be a lot of fun. Actually, I dove in the early 1970's so the gear I used/owned would be considered vintage now (no BCD). So, what do you all think of the Snark III? Is it worth restoration? Any ideas on what a rebuild would cost? I would want to redo everything to be safe. Any idea of the vintage of the regulator by the serial number? Thanks very much for you input!

You have it... why not fix it up?
It may be the start of a whole new hobby and you will end up with a closet full of others later.

Welcome to the board and DH diving.
There are several issues with the Snark that don't lend itself the being the ideal first DH reg to restore. The main one being, parts are hard to come by and those you do find will be old stock or used. The reg was last manuf in the early 90s so the parts are 20 yo at best.
IMO, your 2 best options are to sell it and use the proceeds to buy a better candidate for restoration or keep it, buy a second reg that is more suited for a first time restorer and keep the Snark for a later project.

Your best options for a first time restoration reg are either a DA Aquamaster (DAAM) or a Royal Aquamaster (RAM) or their Voit counterparts. Reason being, every part you need to restore one is readily available. Unless the main body or cans (outer metal case) is damaged beyond repair, pretty much any other part you need is available on this web site. The parts are new reproductions and are as good as or often times better than OEM when they were new. In addition, you can keep them in original configuration or upgrade them with several modifications that are available for them.
I encourage you to go the home page, look down at the bottom and read over the information there on DH regs and DH diving.

Again, welcome to the board and please ask question you have. We have a lot of experienced restorers and DH divers on the board.

Welcome aboard. What Herman said makes alot of sense. I restored and own a Snark III Silver. It is one of my very favorites. I would hang on to your Snark if I was you and follow the path Herman laid out. You can learn an awful lot from a DA Aqua Master and for what it's worth the investment will be worth it from an education stand point.
When I acquired my Snark III, all the rubber parts were toast. I use a US Divers hose set with it. I use a US Divers single stage lp diaphragm with it. I was able to obtain an HP seat, a LP seat and an exhaust diaphragm from a forum member to bring the regulator back to life. The DA on the other hand requires a lot less luck and you will have a great reg when you are done. You will find in this hobby that two regs are just the beginning. My collection is a small one and my double hosers number close to forty. They are all operational too. Have fun with it and study as much as you can. The most important thing I can pass on I think is how important the position the regulator on your back is. If it's not right your experience will be lacking NO MATTER HOW GOOD YOUR REGULATOR IS. The reg needs to contact your back between your shoulder blades. Three inches behind your skull is not going to cut it. But read up on it and then practice in a pool. You'll find out what I am talking about.

Jim

Thanks for the replies. You all offer some great information and i appreciate your experience. I am curious if it is possible to get a date on my Snark III by the serial number (04336)? My area of hobby expertise is vintage guitars, and getting a year of manufacture is always of great interest. So, I am curious about my Nemrod.

Will endeavour to place your Snark111 date by sending a picture to me via my email the regs had various labels and modifications during their long marketing which will narrow the search also can by exchange have much information on this unit.

Email ---[email protected]

Regards
john 68

Hi. Thanks for your response. I have tried to send photos to your email link but they keep getting returned as not able to be delivered. I also can't seem to find a way to post a decent sized image on this discussion board. Here is a tiny image.

regulatorbj wrote:Will endeavour to place your Snark111 date by sending a picture to me via my email the regs had various labels and modifications during their long marketing which will narrow the search also can by exchange have much information on this unit.

Email ---[email protected]

Regards
john 68

Here is a shot of the back

Based on the limited catalogs available, your model is as old as 1961 but not younger than 1967. It is actually one of the earlier models, however I can not date it more definitely at this time. Hopefully a more Nemrod authority will assist.

[quote="simonbeans"].... your model is as old as 1961 but not younger than 1967.... /quote]

antique diver wrote:

simonbeans wrote:.... your model is as old as 1961 but not younger than 1967.... /quote]

Bill, I did a double take too, but Klauda is correct when the time is measured from today. E.g., looking back the reg could be as old as 1961 but not any younger than 1967... so it was made between 61 and 67. I speak Allan'eze.

ScubaLawyer wrote:

antique diver wrote:

simonbeans wrote:.... your model is as old as 1961 but not younger than 1967.... /quote]

Bill, I did a double take too, but Klauda is correct when the time is measured from today. E.g., looking back the reg could be as old as 1961 but not any younger than 1967... so it was made between 61 and 67. I speak Allan'eze.

Thank you, Mark! With prompting from your keen legal mind it makes perfect sense this morning, but not so much late last night. My brain doesn't handle lack of sleep as well as it used to. Its model is as old as 1945 but not younger than 1945... I get it now. Sorry about that, Alan.

I took my regulator apart this evening and here is what I found. Any thoughts on what is needed?

A couple of other photos.

mrepi2000 wrote:I took my regulator apart this evening and here is what I found. Any thoughts on what is needed?

I see you have taken the cans apart but nothing else. The first thing I do is download and study a copy of the parts diagram and repair manual from the Manuals & Catalogs section of this site (see very bottom of this page) for any regulator I'm working on. I see there are both for your reg. Then I slowly take the reg apart piece by piece. I'll usually lay out all the parts in order and take a picture so I know the order of parts. I then compare what I have to the parts list to see if anything is missing. You never know, the last person to work on it may have left something out. I see it often. Finally, I look to see what old parts need replacing, make my list and order what I need. While I don't have any experience with your Snark lll, the above approach is generic to most all DH regs. Good luck. Mark