Atomic Aquatic Regulators.

[drrich2]

Curious as to what issues you had with your AA regs on trips?

On my last Bonaire trip, the 2nd stage front cover came off. It screws on, and over time can work its way off. Not the first time that's happened, but this time, it was probably off somewhere in the ocean by the time I noticed. Dive Friend's main dive shop carried a variety of gear...but didn't handle Atomic reg.s. I found another dive shop that did, where a guy sold me the cover off one of theirs and he ordered a replacement.

On my Roatan trip to CocoView Dive Resort, I aimed to get in early orientation Saturday, the day of arrival. Since I'd had my reg. serviced the prior Oct. at a local dive shop, in theory it should've been fine. Unfortunately, having a reg. serviced seems to be a 'risk' factor in drama from what I've seen over the years. First off, the inflator hose wasn't on it. I couldn't fathom why, but the CCV dive shop sold me one and put it on, so good to go, right? Yeah, till I got geared up and stood up, at which point there began a loud spewing sound. CCV staff got right on it, and informed me the high pressure seat (seal?) was messed up. The dive shop owner told me they don't work on Atomics, so she rented me a different 1st stage for the week. Which went okay, but didn't have as many HP ports as my B2, so I didn't have the use of my wireless transmitter for my wrist unit (I had my console computer, a AA Cobalt 2, hooked to it - I dive 2 computers). I plan to get my B2 serviced at a more distance dive shop...haven't yet, since I don't get over there much.

Neither situation is necessarily a knock on Atomic reg.s. I just wondered if, had mine been a Scuba Pro, Dive Friends would've had that reg. cover and/or CCV dive shop been more likely to repair my reg.?

 

[Scared Silly]

So here's a question. For people who anticipate much of their diving will be on 'dive vacations' to the Caribbean region, possibly other places, who don't plan to service their own regulators...do you see Scuba Pro having an advantage over Atomic Aquatics regulators in terms of likelihood of ready access to dive shops with parts and familiarity to work on them?

SP is very much embedded world wide and has been for 50 years. Whereas AA while world wide for 25 years is not a embedded. As such, I would expect to more easily find SP parts than AA parts.

 

[Robbyg]

SP is very much embedded world wide and has been for 50 years. Whereas AA while world wide for 25 years is not a embedded. As such, I would expect to more easily find SP parts than AA parts.

Meh I am not buying a regulator purely based on the availability of spare parts while abroad. There are numerous Islands you can go to where they have Zero spare parts for any brand of regulator. It's bad enough that most times the boat captains are salivating over my pack of spare O-Rings, I typically give them most of the rings out of kit after the last dive.

Knock on wood but I have never had an issue with a regulator during a vacation dive.
I guess if I was going off to some rare spot in the Indian Ocean I would just take a complete spare regulator. No way would I be depending on the off chance that a local shop can fix my regulator. First of all it would be just pure luck to find someone with the Knowledge, tools and parts. Secondly do I just trust "Mr. Someone" to do the Job properly and bet my life on his work?

 

[Belzelbub]

Meh I am not buying a regulator purely based on the availability of spare parts while abroad. There are numerous Islands you can go to where they have Zero spare parts for any brand of regulator. It's bad enough that most times the boat captains are salivating over my pack of spare O-Rings, I typically give them most of the rings out of kit after the last dive.

Exactly. I’d be more worried about making sure the brand I have is serviceable at home. Making sure everything is in working order before a trip is wise. If during a trip I had an issue that required service, a rental would probably get me back in the water quickly.

My personal regulator is Zeagle, but I do use Atomic regs on a regular basis. Apart from the Atomics having the automatic Venturi, I really can’t tell the difference between them. The Zeagle 2nd stage seems to feel a bit more comfortable, despite the Atomic having a swivel. Might just be the mouthpiece, not sure. Both are great, and I really wouldn’t hesitate to own either.

 

[Joneill]

On my last Bonaire trip, the 2nd stage front cover came off. It screws on, and over time can work its way off. Not the first time that's happened, but this time, it was probably off somewhere in the ocean by the time I noticed. Dive Friend's main dive shop carried a variety of gear...but didn't handle Atomic reg.s. I found another dive shop that did, where a guy sold me the cover off one of theirs and he ordered a replacement.

On my Roatan trip to CocoView Dive Resort, I aimed to get in early orientation Saturday, the day of arrival. Since I'd had my reg. serviced the prior Oct. at a local dive shop, in theory it should've been fine. Unfortunately, having a reg. serviced seems to be a 'risk' factor in drama from what I've seen over the years. First off, the inflator hose wasn't on it. I couldn't fathom why, but the CCV dive shop sold me one and put it on, so good to go, right? Yeah, till I got geared up and stood up, at which point there began a loud spewing sound. CCV staff got right on it, and informed me the high pressure seat (seal?) was messed up. The dive shop owner told me they don't work on Atomics, so she rented me a different 1st stage for the week. Which went okay, but didn't have as many HP ports as my B2, so I didn't have the use of my wireless transmitter for my wrist unit (I had my console computer, a AA Cobalt 2, hooked to it - I dive 2 computers). I plan to get my B2 serviced at a more distance dive shop...haven't yet, since I don't get over there much.

Neither situation is necessarily a knock on Atomic reg.s. I just wondered if, had mine been a Scuba Pro, Dive Friends would've had that reg. cover and/or CCV dive shop been more likely to repair my reg.?

That's interesting as I've never had the front covers come loose on my T3 or B2 second stages. I remove them when I rinse the regs after each trip and then tighten back on - but I've never found the covers loose. I think that issue is pretty easy to avoid as it's not just a quick 1/4 turn and it's off - so checking before use might be warranted on yours if it loosens that easily?

 

[aceswerling2]

Just came across this thread and wanted to contribute an issue with my B2 while travelling, somewhat like drrich2.

I've had this low serial number unit for almost 20 years so it was originally a B1 that's been upgraded to a B2. In 2008, I had been diving with it consistently in the Keys and had a big trip out to Micronesia. I didn't have it serviced before I left because I was within the 2 year service interval and the reg had been performing flawlessly.

Within my first few dives in Chuuk, a weird whistle developed and it became harder to breathe through. I was massively surprised since the reg had always been great. I asked the dive shop in Chuuk about checking it out, but they only knew Scubapro and didn't have any parts for it anyway. I ran into the same situation when visiting Yap and Palau on the same trip as nobody had Atomic parts. Performance continued to degrade and it was increasingly hard to breathe through, but I could still deal with it. Ultimately, I got to the last scheduled dive of the trip, which was off Peleliu.

I got down about 20 feet and heard a ton of air from behind my head. Needless to say, it got really hard to get any air through the system. I felt back there and found air streaming from somewhere on the first stage. I aborted the dive and put everything away for the trip home. Ultimately, the service tech found that one of the o-rings in the first stage had failed but he couldn't tell me why.

I still love my B2 and I learned three things from this experience. 1) I need to stop using equipment if it's acting up, even if it's inconvenient. I would have been better served using a rental regulator instead of continuing with my own reg. 2) I need to bring a service kit on trips to remote places. Even with no Atomic experience, I'm pretty sure the techs could have swapped out the bad o-ring if they'd had the parts. 3) Scubapro is everywhere in the world, as previously noted on this thread. I'd be inclined to select one of their regs over Atomic if I were going to very remote places.

 

[Pressurehead]

The B and Z regs from Atomic are a better value than the Mk25 reg sets

That is not the case here.
Both expensive, but Scubapro better value [but I am a SP tragic] , In AU $ that is.
. Full Regulator Sets (Scubapro, Hollis & More) | ODG Australia – tagged "Atomic Aquatics Regulator Sets"

 

[Joneill]

Just came across this thread and wanted to contribute an issue with my B2 while travelling, somewhat like drrich2.

I've had this low serial number unit for almost 20 years so it was originally a B1 that's been upgraded to a B2. In 2008, I had been diving with it consistently in the Keys and had a big trip out to Micronesia. I didn't have it serviced before I left because I was within the 2 year service interval and the reg had been performing flawlessly.

Within my first few dives in Chuuk, a weird whistle developed and it became harder to breathe through. I was massively surprised since the reg had always been great. I asked the dive shop in Chuuk about checking it out, but they only knew Scubapro and didn't have any parts for it anyway. I ran into the same situation when visiting Yap and Palau on the same trip as nobody had Atomic parts. Performance continued to degrade and it was increasingly hard to breathe through, but I could still deal with it. Ultimately, I got to the last scheduled dive of the trip, which was off Peleliu.

I got down about 20 feet and heard a ton of air from behind my head. Needless to say, it got really hard to get any air through the system. I felt back there and found air streaming from somewhere on the first stage. I aborted the dive and put everything away for the trip home. Ultimately, the service tech found that one of the o-rings in the first stage had failed but he couldn't tell me why.

I still love my B2 and I learned three things from this experience. 1) I need to stop using equipment if it's acting up, even if it's inconvenient. I would have been better served using a rental regulator instead of continuing with my own reg. 2) I need to bring a service kit on trips to remote places. Even with no Atomic experience, I'm pretty sure the techs could have swapped out the bad o-ring if they'd had the parts. 3) Scubapro is everywhere in the world, as previously noted on this thread. I'd be inclined to select one of their regs over Atomic if I were going to very remote places.

All good learnings... for #3, if you already have an Atomic reg set, you could consider carrying a backup reg, if possible/practical. I plan on that as I (hopefully) head out to some remote places next year.

 

[poseident]

Good advice so far.

If you are traveling far and wide, it's always possible that you are going to end up somewhere that your particular brand isn't "mainstream." Here are some tips that have helped me over the years:

1) Stuff breaks. Simpler stuff breaks less--I avoid swivels, breathing adjustment, and any other "extra point of failure" that I can, and I've never missed it
2) Find a good tech--Servicing makes or breaks a regulator, whatever the brand
3) Don't go on your dream trip with a reg that's due (or overdue) for service
4) Don't go on your dream trip with a reg that you've just picked up FROM service--do some kind of a test dip somewhere
5) If all the above fail, don't sweat it if you have to rent a reg. Maybe you'll find a new favorite!

Happy bubbles!

 

[pauldw]

Recently, my wife started binging on "Homeland," and sometimes I watch it with her. Thinking about dive gear, Atomic would be Peter Quinn, and Scubapro would be Andrew Lockhart.