Best regulator for a small dive club?

[oceancurrent]

A friend from a small local dive club has asked me asked me for advice. The club has a small set of regulators and BCDs which they have collected from donations over the years (they are outside the USA, so liability issues are different). The problem is that this gear is not matched and all over the board (AquaLung, ScubaPro, Mares, Sherwood, whatelsenot). This makes maintenance and parts procurement pain in the behind for them. They have very limited financial resources and no access to manufacturer part kits. So all they were doing to keep the regs working over the years is tweak-this-tweak-that until the reg isn't freeflowing. It has gotten to the point that the regs are now misbehaving a lot and they are considering selling them off and purchasing a set of regs of a single model.

Dive centers build their training gear fleet from recent models of the preferred brand that the store sells. My friend's dive club however don't care at all about brands and models for their pool demo gear. All they want is a simple reliable inexpensive durable reg which is as simple as possible to maintain and uses generic parts that can be easily procured from a variety of sources.

My dilemma is what to steer them towards. My experience in not nearly as broad as some of you folks. So, I'd love to hear your suggestions. What do you think would make most sense as a non-presumptuous DIY workhorse reg?

 

[herman]

Scubapro MK-2 hands down IMO. It been around for many years and will likely be here for many more. It's very simple, reliable, parts are pretty much generic (2 o-rings and a simple HP seat) matched with a simple second stage like the 380 it will outlast most of us.

 

[redacted]

The Scubapro suggestion is a good one except parts availability can be a problem. The USA distributor does not support any parts ouside of their dealer network but it is a very popular brand and there are plenty of leaks in their network. If I were starting over, I'd probably look a Zeagle since the manufacturer doe support parts sales to divers (at least for now). And they have a good range of products including this very basic and servicable model: Envoy ReZort - Regulator Models - Regulators - Zeagle Dive Systems

 

[oceancurrent]

Hmm. The Zeagle reg seems nice. However, it does cost $200+ and I am not sure if it uses generic HP and LP seats (for example, Trident). How about an ODS RG-1001/RG1X reincarnation such as the OMS workhorse reg? I have seen these selling new for less than $140, but then again I wonder if their seats are generic and if they have a good track record. Also, there is no requirement that the reg has to be currently in production, so e-bay steals are not totally out of scope if the model is easy to service with good track record. My concern with MK2 would be what I guess awap is alluding to - the HP seat is not off-the-shelf (if I am right, since I don't have any MK2-s).

 

[diversteve]

LeisurePro has the MK2 Plus/R295 combo on sale for $185 currently.

 

[oceancurrent]

So what kind of seat does the MK2+ use and is there an aftermarket generic replacement for it?

 

[awakefie]

I like the Zeagle Rezort regs for this type of use. You can get them pretty reasonable and the parts are easily available. I use them for pony regs.

 

[redacted]

Hmm. The Zeagle reg seems nice. However, it does cost $200+ and I am not sure if it uses generic HP and LP seats (for example, Trident). How about an ODS RG-1001/RG1X reincarnation such as the OMS workhorse reg? I have seen these selling new for less than $140, but then again I wonder if their seats are generic and if they have a good track record. Also, there is no requirement that the reg has to be currently in production, so e-bay steals are not totally out of scope if the model is easy to service with good track record. My concern with MK2 would be what I guess awap is alluding to - the HP seat is not off-the-shelf (if I am right, since I don't have any MK2-s).

Give Scubatoy's a call and discuss this with Joe. They are a Trident dealer and Trident carries a number of generic HP and LP seats as well as filters. They are also a Zeagle dealer and used to be a Scubapro dealer so I expect they will be able to address those 2 brands.

 

[oceancurrent]

How about the lesser known names? If it were for me, I'd probably go with a brand reg, but in this case perhaps a generic will be a better buy?

 

[Texfrazer]

For pool use and bullet-prrofness, I would consider the Sherwood Brut.

One advantage you'll have with it over most other regs is the sealed chamber. Since pool water has a tendency to dry out things like o-rings, you'll probably get a longer service interval with this reg.