Apeks question or 3...

[rainreg]

Hello Warhammer, I have been doing a lot of research for the questions on the scubaboard and yes I have read your post as well as the replies to your post. Even though I am still on active duty, and I am restricted from showing any favoritism for any one companies equipment until I retire 31 August 2001. What I can do is answer questions like yours. Because both regulators have undergone modifications over the past 2 years I have to assume you want an answer based on the latest and greatest info. I have been reviewing the breakdowns of each regulator and have requested material breakdowns of the soft goods and seat material once I can compare the materials breakdown on these two regs I can then give you an unquestionable / certifiable reply.
I strive to provide the latest and greatest info pertaining to diving equipment and replies have been slow in recent weeks due to the holidays. I can assure you this reply will come quickly and I will forward you the bottom line on your question. Thank you for your support and interest. I will follow with a speedy reply.

 

[Warhammer]

Thanks a million, rainreg! This place is truely in a league of it's own!

 

[Iguana Don]

Warhammer,
Zeagle lost the distributorship in Jan of 2000. Although they still sell a reg that looks like the DS-4 is is not the same (patent infirngement).
The Zeagle that Spearpro uses is not the same as the current Zeagle. Zeagle regs are now made in the U.S., manufacturer not known. Apeks are made in the U.K.
Don't know about the "kit" your dealer said he could install. DS-4 means "dry sealed w/4 lp ports"
Don't know what kit you'd put in it.
Everybody has their favorites, mine happens to be the Apeks
DS-4/TX50, but I also own a Scubapro MK20/G250 and would dive anywhere with either.

Don

 

[Warhammer]

I knew Zeagle had lost the Apeks line and that it had been picked up by Seaquest/Aqualung. The models that I'm comparing and interested in, are the current Apeks TX50 w/DS4 1st stage and last year's Zeagle Tech 50D. I had always been told they were one in the same, since they were in fact Apeks regs marketed here by Zeagle. This particular dealer says they in fact aren't the same "exactly" internally, and he recommended not purchasing last years Zeagle Tech 50D due to probable future non-support, for parts, service, and etc, for that reg from Zeagle. He sells both and has both in stock. The difference being about $100 or so, with the Apeks being higher. If they're one in same then it makes no sense to me to pay the higher price.

The kit he was refering to has me wandering as well. It's been a while since I spoke to him so my memory isn't perfect. But best I can remember, he said there was a kit, as he called it, that he could install in the Apeks reg( not sure wether he meant in the 1st or 2nd stage) that would make the regulator breath better. He commented that with the kit, the reg would breath better than the current top-of-the-line Atomic regs, which he also sells. He went on to say that this kit made the reg unsuitable for water below 40 degrees, but it could always be taken out in the future. The only thing that I can think of that may make it unsuitable for cold water would be the removal of the heat exchanger. But that really isn't a kit. Would that also make it breath better? Maybe after removing the exchanger, he has to install something in it's place and is calling that a kit. I don't know, I'm not up on the internal workings of a reg just yet.

I know what your thinking, "Why fix it if it isn't broke." That is my gut feeling as well, but I have no intentions of diving in water temps even close to 40 degrees in the near future. So if it does as he says, why not?

I'm also considering the ScubaPro MK20/S600 or G250,the Atomic B1/T1, and possibly Zeagle's new offering. I've heard conflicting reports on Zeagle's new line and I'm a little apperhensive about breaking new ground. I'm gonna make the purchase within the next few weeks, if I don't my wife will find other uses for the $.

 

[Mario S Caner]

Warhammer,
I'm just curious to know whether this above mentioned kit is something the shop purchases from the manufacturer or some sort of garage mechanic jerry-rigging job. I doubt any shop would be that stupid, but you just never know. As for me, no thanks I'll stick with the stock unit's available to the masses.

Mario

 

[Warhammer]

You're reading my mind. That was my first thought on it, that's why I asked the question here. I don't know, but I'll definately find out more info on it before allowing it to be installed. My thoughts are pretty much the same as your's, when it comes to life-support gear. If it needed it, the maker would put it there in the first place. But just about everything else, I guess I'd be considered a tweaker.

 

[Mario S Caner]

That can get you in trouble. Case in point I just fried one of my computer's last week. I successfuly overclocked the CPU, only to have the motherboard fail on me. I'm now on my back-up unit while I figure out whether to just replace the motherboard or start from scratch and build a Thunderboard based gaming comp... To make a long story short, I'm also a tweaker!

Tweak it till it Fries!
Mario

 

[Warhammer]

Ahhhhh, a fellow overclocker! I've been successfully overclocking this Pentium 3 700 to 868 for 6 months now, not even a hickup! Rock solid. She'll do 980, but freezes hard when you crack up the video. Good luck with that Tbird.

 

[Mario S Caner]

Thanks, I've gotto keep on tinkering. My old 700 overclocks to 1050, but my new 1.1 will easily do 1.35 as some of my friends have already succesfully proved. The machine that fried has a Geforce 256 video card. Weak! The one I'm on now is a P3 1Ghz with a Geforce2 Ultra video card. Can you say smokin! In stock form it still scores a 7860 on Madonions benchmark http://www.madonion.com With some tweaking on the T-bird system I plan on hitting 10k on the same benchmark!

Mario

 

[Warhammer]

the best I've ever scored on 3Dmark2000 (MadOnion) is 4500! But I have an old Diamond Viper V770U running on an old flagship BX chipseted motherboard. It's amazing how fast the PC hardware industry excels. But this little machine has served me well, and since I don't game much anymore, I don't upgrade it as often as I use too. But I did just install a new ATA100 hard drive. Wouldn't be something if the SCUBA industry changed as fast as the PC industry. On second thought, I doubt if my wallet could keep up!