Bill's 38s...
A Perfectly Matched Set
- I may have already posted about these tanks but, I've finally been finishing them up as a really nice Twin 38s project (I'll post a picture tomorrow). Last night I got everything assembled in hopes of using these tanks at Fortune Pond this weekend, BUT... I have a small leak on one of the bushings. Dang it! I've assembled quite a few bushing valves using AntiqueDiver Bill's "Six Wraps" method and never before had a leak.
- In spite of the leak, they held steady at 900 psi all night. All of the other potential leak points look like they sealed fine. So, I may just take these tanks to Fortune and dive them a time or two before taking them all apart again to solve the leak.
- I call these "Bill's" 38s because they were a gift from my friend Bill Tucker. Remember last year when he was clearing out his Dive Business warehouse and offered a bunch of tanks to Forum members? Well, I already had a set of surplus 38s I was starting a twin 38 project with and passed on Bill's offer. But a few months later, one of my surplus 38s failed the hydrotest and I was left with a single. So I called Bill to see if he still had any 38s. He said he had a "matched" set he was originally planning to fix up for himself. And, he flat out GAVE them to me... Thank you Bill.
- I should explain that these little round bottom, 1800 psi 38s are not all the same... The necks can be different in length and diameter. The curvature at the shoulders and bottoms can be different. Some are military surplus. These were formerly fire department tanks.
The 1/2" Thread Manifold
- I originally bought a like new Voit manifold along with a USD "parts" manifold from Rob (The Scuba Museum) for a bargain price. Thank you Rob. But the Voit manifold ended up on that Twin 48s project I did last year, since I no longer had two 38s to put it on. So, the manifold for Bill's 38s had to be cobbled together from the "parts" manifold and other parts I have from several 3/4 thread manifolds... Thank heaven USD manifolds are so similar. BY the time I was finished with clean up and re-building, this manifold looks almost as new as the Voit.
The Bands
- Awhile back, I bought 6 sets of USD twin tank bands on Ebay for a dirt cheap price. I thought the silver ones were chrome with rust showing through. Turns out they are stainless steel. My buddy Rich took them home and buffed them to a mirror finish. Thank you Rich.
The Harness
- I actually don't know where I got the harness... It's not a new repro from Allan. It's the black nylon webbing like what came on my yellow USD Twin 38s. Anyway, I measured it against the yellow tanks harness and it is exactly the same size. So, I'm using it on these tanks!