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SurfLung
Master Diver
Posts: 1763
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:03 pm
First Name: Eben
Location: Alexandria, MN
Contact: Website

Some "38" Stories...

Fri Nov 04, 2016 3:10 pm

A Couple of "38" Stories...

Story #1
- It's almost 2 years ago that I bought a couple of clean looking green surplus 38 cf tanks that had been converted to Scuba with a bushing and K-valve. Internal inspection revealed some rust but I didn't think it was too bad. A year later and I tried using a tumbler on the worst one and it cleaned up pretty good. I didn't think the other one looked too bad... Took them both for Hydro and my tester guy said he wouldn't test 2nd one because he couldn't see well enough through the rust... The first tank (that I had tumbled) passed just fine.
- I went home and tumbled the other tank and I thought it looked beautiful inside... Some dark blotches where the rust had been heaviest but it all looked smooth. After a couple of months of not making it back up to the tester, I finally just shipped the tank up there.
- So today I got a call and the tank failed the hydro. He said it "failed miserably, actually". Instead of a nice set of "Twin 38s", I guess I'll be making a nice single 38 out of the other tank.

Story #2 (from Tom McClusky)
- "Years ago (92) I was at a dive shop in Milwaukee. The owner had been around for a very long time. He told me that one day a guy stopped by with a truck full of 38 cylinders. They were all stamped "Demone". Demone was going out of business and they had all these tanks. They were all bare steel, no paint or gavl. The shop owner bought a bunch of them, they were the 1/2" O ring tanks. He bought a bunch of manifolds and made about 30 sets of double 38's. The manifolds were White Stage. He painted them all a light blue color, paint a local autobody shop had extra. "
- "I had one of those sets at one time. They are out there somewhere."
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

User avatar
SurfLung
Master Diver
Posts: 1763
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:03 pm
First Name: Eben
Location: Alexandria, MN
Contact: Website

Re: Some "38" Stories...

Tue Nov 15, 2016 11:19 am

It Just Goes to Show...
It Ain't Easy Getting a Matched Set!

Image
- I remember when I was trying to put together a set of Twin Tanks like the ones on Sea Hunt, I acquired a single Sportsways 42, a single Voit 50, and a single Healthways. I still haven't found matches for any of those tanks.
- The yellow 38s were found on Craigs List by my friend Tom. The galvanized twin 42s were originally orange Sportsways that I bought on Ebay. I almost lost them through an incorrect Hydrotest that gave a false negative. The gray round bottoms were at a dive shop as an original home made set from military surplus oxygen tanks. So, everything I have was acquired as a set rather than cobbled together.
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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