Atomic service cost

[BoltSnap]

20% off isn't enough to deal with that service cost and PITA factor of sealing the things.

What you are stating is extremely misleading:

1. You only have to deal with it every many years between servicing

2. You aren't going to be sealing the first stages, the technician will be the one and hence you will have no PITA. Sealing the first stage isn't a PITA or any type of pain actually for the technician. If you have the proper tool and training, it is a straight forward process if you follow the mfg process. At any rate, it doesn't have anything to do with the owner/user and there is absolutely NO PITA for any type of pain anywhere, saying so is a myth at best. In fact, the Atomic regulators have a very low cost of ownership over the lifetime of the regulator compared with all other brand modern regulators with the added benefit of the Atomic regulators having the best performance, reliability and awesomeness.

 

[tbone1004]

What you are stating is extremely misleading:

1. You only have to deal with it every many years between servicing

2. You aren't going to be sealing the first stages, the technician will be the one and hence you will have no PITA. Sealing the first stage isn't a PITA or any type of pain actually for the technician. If you have the proper tool and training, it is a straight forward process if you follow the mfg process. At any rate, it doesn't have anything to do with the owner/user and there is PITA for any pain anywhere. In fact, it is a very low cost of ownership over several years compared with all other modern regulators with the best performance, reliability and awesomeness.

the cost is still a PITA, and you can't claim best performance and reliability. Performance is exceeded by other regulators, and reliability is not statistically proven...

 

[BoltSnap]

SS is not as good as most people seem to think... Chromed brass is still better in general and there are plenty of first

How so??? I own ST1 and it is my main to go regulator and it is fantastic. It doesn't have the corrosion issues other metals do and it is light and awesome.

 

[BoltSnap]

the cost is still a PITA, and you can't claim best performance and reliability. Performance is exceeded by other regulators, and reliability is not statistically proven...

You are bending over backwards and using emotional words that don't have anything to do with reality.

 

[tbone1004]

How so??? I own ST1 and it is my main to go regulator and it is fantastic. It doesn't have the corrosion issues other metals do and it is light and awesome.

from a materials perspective it's not as good for precision machining and the corrosion resistance of SS vs properly chromed brass is not as good believe it or not. SS is corrosion resistant, but not as good as chrome if done properly. It's not a bad thing and I wouldn't argue if someone gave me one, but it's not the best material choice.

 

[tbone1004]

You are bending over backwards and using emotional words that don't have anything to do with reality.

Poseidon Xstream has lower work of breathing and performs better at depth and in the cold.... Reliability is not something that anyone has any empirical data to make claims on since no real comparisons have been done with tests to failure. Nothing about that is emotional. If you think it has to do with reality, show the data!

 

[explore_DMC]

I had my T3 first + T3 second (x 2) serviced a few weeks ago. I waited 5 years to service them. I had them tuned once ($25) during this time.

Cost for this recent service was $192 plus tax.
First stage - $30
Second stage - $26 each ($52)
Labor - $30 per stage ($90)
Seal/Lube - $20

 

[rsingler]

There's no contest here.
My two favorite brands?
Atomic and Poseidon.
(Even if I'm currently very intrigued by the Mk19/D420)

 

[Centrals]

DIY is the best option as you get to know your regs literally inside out.
Service kits and special tools are the main issues you have to considered.
Most divers I know would rather have the tec to do that for them.

Put all your lose change in a piggybank to pay for the service cost!!!!!

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

from a materials perspective it's not as good for precision machining and the corrosion resistance of SS vs properly chromed brass is not as good believe it or not. SS is corrosion resistant, but not as good as chrome if done properly. It's not a bad thing and I wouldn't argue if someone gave me one, but it's not the best material choice.

It depends entirely on the grade of stainless and how well passivated it is. A properly passivated and chloride resistant grade of stainless will be much stronger than an equivalent piece of brass. The reason stainless is harder to machine is one of the reasons why brass predominates. Brass is super-easy on tooling because compared to steel it's butter soft!

Remember, you can plate stainless with chrome and PVD coatings too. Unlike brass, you don't get the 'M&M effect' where you have a super-hard coating on a soft core material. The problem there is while chrome is a great coating, it will endure much better on a harder substrate metal that don't deform when it's whacked.

There is no doubt that stainless will cost more to machine. That said, stainless can be machined with great precision and has superior tensile strength and wear characteristics.