Aftermarket Scubapro Seats

[redacted]

I have been working on trying to find aftermarket sources of HP and LP seats for many Scubapro regulators. Trident has a number of item in their catalog that look like they will do the job so I worked with a Trident dealer to test some of these items. The good new is they will fit but the bad news is there appear to be some quality problems that may make you think twice about using the parts. One HP seat in a Mk10 failed outright (broke - freeflow). Another is showing some accelerated signs of wear after spending a hour (simulated 40 dive hours) on a breathing machine. Bottom line is my source is not ready to offers these seats for retail sales. He does plan on talking to Trident so maybe there is still a ray of hope.

In the mean time, I plan to continue diving the one Mk5/BA that I equipped with Trident seats but will watch closely for any signs of problem. And my spare will definitely be serviced with OEM seats.

So, if you are looking for SP seats, keep after your local dealers and ebay still seems to be a somewhat reliable source.

Good Luck

 

[halocline]

You gave it a good try!

 

[Zung]

Man, that's quality control!

 

[superstar]

I picked up a few of those trident seats and will give them a try, It may be a few weeks before I service my mk5 but I will post the results.

 

[Couv]

....the bad news is there appear to be some quality problems that may make you think twice about using the parts. One HP seat in a Mk10 failed outright (broke - freeflow). Another is showing some accelerated signs of wear after spending a hour (simulated 40 dive hours) on a breathing machine. Bottom line is my source is not ready to offers these seats for retail sales. He does plan on talking to Trident so maybe there is still a ray of hope. .....

Thanks for going through all this trouble. It does not sound very promising, even if we were to get the seats at 1/4 price, if the quality isn't there, what would be the point. How about the lp rivet seats, are they up to standard, or is that the same story?

Again, as the former pres used to say, "Pre She Ate It"

Couv

 

[redacted]

Thanks for going through all this trouble. It does not sound very promising, even if we were to get the seats at 1/4 price, if the quality isn't there, what would be the point. How about the lp rivet seats, are they up to standard, or is that the same story?

Again, as the former pres used to say, "Pre She Ate It"

Couv

The price was going to be over $4 per seat so you might still be better off with the Mk5 or Mk10 service kit with 3 seats of slightly different height. If you have a small fleet of regulators, you can probably use all of them.

I am having no problem with the rivet style seat from Trident in my BA. So it definitely works but the next question is how long? I hope to get the 3 to 5 years service that I have been getting from the OEM seats but it is going to take a while to see.

Until we can walk into an LDS and buy a service kit or other repair parts at a reasonable price, all we can do is try to develop other sources and look for more enlightened manufacturers like Dive Rite, Zeagle, and HOG.

EDIT: BTW, at this point I am pretty much convinced that the "rivet style" seat is probably compatible with many pneumatically balanced 2nd stages including Aqualung, Apeks, HOG, and SP; so that still gives us some options.

 

[HenrikBP]

awap;

Thanks for taking the time and spearheading the research.

Henrik

 

[superstar]

awap, Do you know if the SP and Trident seats are made from the same material. When I visually compare the two seats it looks like the SP seat is cast and the Trident seat is machined. I also think the SP seat may be softer than the Trident seat.

 

[redacted]

awap, Do you know if the SP and Trident seats are made from the same material. When I visually compare the two seats it looks like the SP seat is cast and the Trident seat is machined. I also think the SP seat may be softer than the Trident seat.

the HP seat for an unbalanced piston 1st looks the same, at least I could see no difference. that is, they could be coming off the same production line as far as I can tell.

The cave cone seats for the balanced piston clearly look different. I believe there are a number of regulators using this style seat so it could be the same as some other brand name seat or not.

The rivet style LP seat is a different color and looks to me like it is a different thickness but does fit and seems to work OK. I noticed in another thread where I believe it was HOG balanced 2nd that used a blue seat but has changed them out. Could be that blue seat is the same seat trident is selling.

Surely a regulator manufacturer is not going off and developing manufacturing capability, designs, and molds if that capability already exists and is accessible. Of course, I doubt if any will tell you the POC to buy these parts and the quantities we are looking for are clearly of little interest to the manufacturers.

Fortunately, I probably have a "lifetime" supply of these seats for my use. Unfortunately, at 64, they fit in a fairly small plastic container and probably have a longer shelf-life than I do. But I still plan to do what I can to brake this USA barrier to scuba regulator parts access

 

[Texfrazer]

Thanks awap!

I wonder if the seats have any uses outside of scuba? If so, then we might be able to find another source. Doubtful, but it never hurts to think about it.