Atomic Parts Cost

[BoltSnap]

I’m glad I have enough kits and extra stuff laying around to keep all my old SP and Conshelf stuff going for at least ten more years.
After that I suppose I’ll have to find another back alley/secret source to get more contraban parts.
What a game!
Or maybe just use the MK2 if everything finally goes to hell, the economy crashes, more dive shops close, inflation goes completely haywire and service kits start costing $200, etc. doom and gloom. That’s what all this is starting to sound like.
To be honest I’d be more worried about what air fills will cost, or where you will even get them!

Go freediving

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Go freediving

I do that too but not for quite some time now.
Freediving is huge in my part of the world.

 

[JD']

I just sent in my Atomic B2 set along with wifes Mares and was shocked that Atomic 2nd stage parts kit was over $50 compared to Mares at $15. So $105 for both Atomic B2 VS $30.00 for Mares even though Atomic only needs service every two years its still way more than the $60.00 for two years on the Mares. I assume Atomic looked at this and figured shipping etc before setting the parts price so high. As a purely recreational diver only diving a few times a year I may just sell mine and rent. Over $500.00 to get two regs serviced to use them a few times a year is just a little too steep.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I just sent in my Atomic B2 set along with wifes Mares and was shocked that Atomic 2nd stage parts kit was over $50 compared to Mares at $15. So $105 for both Atomic B2 VS $30.00 for Mares even though Atomic only needs service every two years its still way more than the $60.00 for two years on the Mares. I assume Atomic looked at this and figured shipping etc before setting the parts price so high. As a purely recreational diver only diving a few times a year I may just sell mine and rent. Over $500.00 to get two regs serviced to use them a few times a year is just a little too steep.

Or just buy some regs that you can service yourself. When I switched over to Deep 6, the investment in tools wasn't significant. @rsingler wrote a great service manual for it. Though I like working with my hands, so it isn't for everybody. Or pick up a less expensive brand to service, as you are diving recreationally. There is no point in paying a premium for purely rec diving.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

I taking the class next week so for to be doin my own. I think for most of my regs (primarily SP firsts (MK11/MK17/H50-D) generic parts kits are available. Probably so also for the APEKS XL4 second stages I prefer.

 

[Nemrod]

The mainline brands (Scubapro, Aqua Lung, Mares, Cressi etc.) we have been with for so long are having to play a razors edge balancing act of initial product costs and service parts/service costs to remain in the game against the box factory brands. The mainline brands innovate and are immediantly copied by the box factory brands. The disadvantage, advantage, depending on which side you sit, is labor, materials, taxes and environment issues the box factory brands seem not to have to deal with to the same degree.

I got a Mk 17 Evo a couple of years ago, it is still my new regulator, but I really wish I had just bought either a Mk 25 Evo or a Mark 2 Evo and stuck the G260 seconds on either of those. But I got a good price on it. Kits are easier to obtain for the Mk 20/25 series and the Mk 2 is also very easy to deal with and really is so rugged with so few parts it just does not need yearly rebuilds. Yeah, it is not balanced, well, G250s are and they are also easy to service and get parts for (as is the G260) and even though the Mk 2 Evo has less than half, maybe even a third the maximum rated air flow of a Mk 25, it is still 50% or more better than the rated flow of the AL Titan/Core/Helix/Legend first stages or any tank valve for that matter. And at nearly 70 yo, I think I will not be diving to 300 feet much anymore (never!) so a Mk 2 (paired with balanced and adjustable seconds) is starting to look really enticing on multiple levels, I will soon find out in a week.

 

[lexvil]

I just sent in my Atomic B2 set along with wifes Mares and was shocked that Atomic 2nd stage parts kit was over $50 compared to Mares at $15. So $105 for both Atomic B2 VS $30.00 for Mares even though Atomic only needs service every two years its still way more than the $60.00 for two years on the Mares. I assume Atomic looked at this and figured shipping etc before setting the parts price so high. As a purely recreational diver only diving a few times a year I may just sell mine and rent. Over $500.00 to get two regs serviced to use them a few times a year is just a little too steep.

Who ever you sent it to added a pretty high mark up, the kit for the second stage can be easily had for $29

 

[BoltSnap]

I just sent in my Atomic B2 set along with wifes Mares and was shocked that Atomic 2nd stage parts kit was over $50 compared to Mares at $15. So $105 for both Atomic B2 VS $30.00 for Mares even though Atomic only needs service every two years its still way more than the $60.00 for two years on the Mares. I assume Atomic looked at this and figured shipping etc before setting the parts price so high. As a purely recreational diver only diving a few times a year I may just sell mine and rent. Over $500.00 to get two regs serviced to use them a few times a year is just a little too steep.

1. How many B2s do you have??

2. You don't have to service the B2 every two years. The B2 is very resilient by design and can take 3 - 4 years between complete overhauls. You just need to do a check including IP check yearly to make sure no problems with the regulator.

For me, the Atomic regulators are the most reliable and certainly the best value and total cost of ownership compared with all other brands. I have used many models and brands in my rental/training equipment fleet in my dive shop when I owned one in NY and in my current dive school, the Atomic regulators are ahead of all other brands especially in reliability and performance.

 

[rsingler]

The mainline brands innovate and are immediantly copied by the box factory brands.

How does one measure value? It's THE question we as scuba consumers wrestle with every time we buy.
My Dad was a pharmaceutical company executive with a reputable firm dedicated to research. He hated the generic companies with a passion, accusing them of gutting the big guys but selling cheaper, but not spending any money on research that would help with future needs. By his measure, he would have been a Scubapro fanboi; no doubt about it!

Innovation in scuba is tough to assess. Certainly on the technical side, dive computers and rebreathers favor those with the resources to give us quality. It's a pleasure to see the success of Shearwater, and I'm more than happy to pay more for gear that is produced with quality, serviced with care, and uses cutting edge technology, even if Shearwater's profit margin might be larger (which may well not be true).

That rationale is harder to justify on the regulator side. How does one innovate with such a mature and simple invention? Sure, materials are a potential source of improvement. And I'm happy to see sturdy lightweight cases take the place of hand-brazed chrome, notwithstanding the loss of bling, simply because performance can be tweaked and the regs are consistent.
But what has that performance tweaking gotten us? A fixation on exhalation work of breathing to improve ANSTI loops that are measured at depths and temperatures dived by virtually no-one in the recreational industry, but are nonetheless mandated by CE authorities.

I honestly believe that the ubiquity of high quality CNC manufacturing capability might be bringing us full circle. It just might be that we are looking at the equivalent of Apple - that some guy in his garage will come up with a solution that the hide-bound big guys (IBM) can't execute (because marketing says it won't sell), and can bring it to us courtesy of high quality Taiwanese manufacture. Heck, even some of Atomic's parts are made there.

While there's sadness that some of the old reliables might fade away (read: go bankrupt), I'm excited that guys like @LandonL can use agility to bring us something innovative. It's called competition! Like @cerich and Deep6, Atomic was founded when talent decamped to a place where they could be more creative.

What remains to be seen is whether quality manufacture can command the prices we are seeing, when innovation is at the margins. If the TFX nails exhalation work of breathing on top of bringing back the fantastic center-balanced valve, and adds new materials and quality execution, I'm happy (at least once) to pay a premium.

But frankly, I'm just as interested in what a company like Deep6 might introduce.

 

[BoltSnap]

It is very easy for people to spend other people's money and recommend to them to ditch their current equipment and buy other equipment just because somebody who isn't an expert or experienced are dealing with what they perceive as an issue with their current equipment.

It is a great disservice and truly a disingenuous advice to just try to persuade people to abandon their top of the line equipment just because of what appears to be a "misunderstanding" in the service of their equipment instead of giving them a real advice to preserve and protect their investment.