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Discussion of diving methods and equipment available prior to the development of BCDs beyond the horse collar. This forum is dedicated to the pre-1970 diving.
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SurfLung
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Snark-A-Master

Fri Nov 17, 2017 11:23 am

Snark-A-Master...
- My buddy Rich acquired a new Snark III Silver fireman's regulator. It is identical to a diving reg except it has no exhaust hose inlet... The front can is almost flat against the diaphragm. (Photo added Dec. 20, 2018)
Image
- All this reg needs to be converted to underwater use is a front can with exhaust capabilities. But, Snark III cans aren't that easy to find for sale as just the cans.
- Since the Snark III works with a Mistral diaphragm, we thought maybe a front can from a Mistral or DA AquaMaster might fit.
- So last night we took a DA AquaMaster front exhaust can from one of my unfinished projects, put a new duckbill on it, and fit it on the front of the Snark III... And it fit fine. We put a double hose loop on it... Used Voit gray hoses and mouthpiece just to include as many brands as possible... And tested it on low and high pressure tanks. It seems to work like the virtually brand new regulator that it is.
- We're going to try it out in the High School pool on Sunday... :D
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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couv
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Sun Nov 19, 2017 2:07 pm

I look forward to hearing you are still alive on Monday. :D
A sincere THANK YOU to all at VDH who make this wonderful resource available and to all the thoughtful contributors.

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Bryan
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:26 pm

Your experiments are a great addition to the forum. Thanks for sharing them.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk
Doing it right should include some common sense, not just blindly following specs and instructions. .Gary D, AWAP on SB

swimjim
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:25 pm

I think that combo may work pretty well. I have a feeling I'll see it getting dove in Upper Michigan next summer.

Jim

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Drado
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:20 pm

Wait! Pics - or it never happened!
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Ed

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SurfLung
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Mon Nov 20, 2017 12:24 pm

It Worked Great!
- Rich dove his Snarka-A-Master for at least an hour yesterday in the local High School pool. In this video, I'm attempting to show both the front and back of the regulator so you can see the DAAM exhaust can and the Snark III in the same shot.


- This was done under a pretty rare circumstance: Rich had bought Firefighters version of the Snark III (for a bargain price) and thought he was getting a full face mask diving reg. This version doesn't have an exhaust can... It exhausts from the mask... Which is really not suitable for underwater use as we found from trying it out underwater. I wonder how many of the Fire Fighters version might be laying around?
- Anyway, this might also be a solution for Snark III diving regs when the exhaust mushroom valve is shot and a replacement can't be found.
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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Ron
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Fri Dec 01, 2017 10:11 pm

I just stopped by to fix your videos Eben, but this idea of yours is awesome. This is totally a way to revive plenty of shot old snarks. I dig this. 8)
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

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SurfLung
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Mon Dec 04, 2017 11:54 am

Ron wrote:I just stopped by to fix your videos Eben, but this idea of yours is awesome. This is totally a way to revive plenty of shot old snarks. I dig this. 8)
Thanks Ron. I found a way to dress up the front DAAM can... Especially since this one is badly corroded. I got a nice Nemrod tank decal from Rob over at The Scuba Museum. It fits the front of the can perfectly.
SnarkaMaster02.jpg
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SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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Vancetp
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Location: Belmont CA

Re: Snark-A-Master

Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:25 pm

An exhaust valve can be made from an old mushroom that pulled off the retainer, or a disk of silicone rubber and a screw, washer, and a nut. You can fish the nut or screw inside the can by sticking it on a bent wire or something. I used a plastic screw, washer and nut. It works fine!

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Vancetp
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:31 pm

I thought you might like the Snarubastral rev1. Mistral top can, Heathways Scuba valve, Snark III bottom can, held together with a USD case ring clamp:

ImageSnarubasral by Vancetp, on Flickr

It also has a custom "venturi" (more like an air director) which makes it a pretty good breather. When I discovered the DBE, I put the Mistral bottom can back on. I don't like duckbills.

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antique diver
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Wed Mar 21, 2018 12:08 am

Phillip, that's quite an interesting combination of products! Reminds me of the Johnny Cash song about the automobile he put together.

It's a strange coincidence that I have a box-o-junk that I think includes all those items in a disassembled array... but not enough to build a single brand. I don't know why I didn't think of trying to put together an eclectic hybrid like you did, but I see an interesting project coming up. Thanks for the idea!
The older I get the better I was.

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Vancetp
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Wed Mar 21, 2018 12:31 am

In order to get the Healthways valve in, I had to hog out the mistral top can hole a bit, making it unusable as a Mistral can. No good Mistrals were harmed though! I got a badly dented orphan can from a friend's junk box to use for this. I was able to pound out the dents and straighten it enough to seal up, but it's ugly. Consequently, I didn't mind "repurposing" it and making a working reg out of it.

It is interesting that the Snark bottom can fits the USD top can perfectly and vice versa. In the course of working on several Snarks, I found that many USD DA parts will work quite well in the Snark double hose regs. I posted a thread on proboards about which DA parts can be used in the Snark III.

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SurfLung
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:43 pm

Photo of the Fireman's Snark III Regulator and Mask
- I didn't realize this post had not included a photo of the original regulator before we added the front can and hose loop...
Image
- Rich has dove the converted version of this reg many times now and since this post started, our buddy Ron has acquired a Snark III or two and I have my 2 original old ones and a nearly new Snark III Silver. We're getting better and better at understanding how they work and servicing them. Last year at Fortune Pond, we had enough Snark III divers to have a "Theme Dive" :)

Note: Rich kept all of the original parts to this conversion so there is no loss of collector's value if he ever wants to turn it back into a Fireman's Snark.
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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Vancetp
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:56 pm

Anyone who needs a Snark III exhaust mushroom, email me!

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Bronze06
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Re: Snark-A-Master

Fri Dec 21, 2018 5:54 am

Damn Eben, this is just plain COOL! Tinkering (with safety in mind ) is just plain fun isn't it? As we say in the Army, " I love it when a plan comes together!"
"Where'd ya get that ol' thang, don't cha' know them thare things ill kill ya!"

Live From the Red Sea,

Russ

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