Blue steel Pro valves don't work with all yoke regulators!

[mike_s]

Just looking at the posts, do most Faber tanks sold in the USA come with San o Sub valves (Blue Steel) ?? - it would just make sense because Faber Italy buy all their valves from San O Sub and with shipping, warehousing, retailer shelf time etc its not that unusual to get a "new" cylinder thats effectively 12 months old.!

The Fabers I got came with a valve that is clearly made by San-o-sub (if you compare pics of both) but has the Blue Steel name/logo on it....

I personally think that tanks 12-15 months old by Faber have little to do with shipping. that might add an extra month to two in a cargo container....

The reason that a lot of the Fabers are 12-15 months old is that the Worthington tank has a better exterior finish (galvanized) and there are more XS Scuba and Sea Pearls dealers than there are Faber (Blue Steel) Dealers...

I mean you can buy XS Scuba in most dive shops since they sell a lot of accessories.

I'd have to go search to see if there is even a Faber dealer dive shop in my state.

Faber/Blue Steel just doesn't move as many cylinders as XS does, so they get "older" and you can pick them up on special and get some good deals on them.

 

[widget]

Interesting Mike, here Worthington is non existant. Before Worthington bought Heiser in Austria we used to buy the Heiser cylinders direct and they also sold to a few other commercial companies like Drager etc.

Unfortunately, the transition resulted in the process of buying from Heiser (Austria) becoming very difficult, apart from extended lead times up to 6 MONTHS in some instances) the price was not competitive any more.

So, Faber stepped in with 6 weeks max lead time and very competitive rates which has seen them take 100% market share in steel cylinders here over the last 6 odd years..

I personally agree the Worthington galvanised finish is superior, but here most buyers of steel cylinders are commercial companies with BA sets, fire depts, the military, navy etc - (recreational scuba probably only accounts for about 3000 steel cylinders annually and about the same in aluminium) and the Faber product is fine for them, they are not interested in a high quality finish as they sell them off or make them redundant after 5 odd years anyway - and Faber has such control over the market now, they just cut prices so that its uneconomical for distributors to compete with another manufacturers lines.

 

[mike_s]

Interesting Mike, here Worthington is non existant.

Well I was replying to his reference of "Faber tanks sold in the USA" and talking about Faber tanks verses Worthington sales in the USA.

With Worthington tanks being made in Canada, they are just a normal truck route drive into the US.


In South Africa I can see there being a big difference as Faber is a closer manufacturer.

With Fabers being made in Italy, I can see South Africa having easier access to European products over Canadian products. (but that's just a general assumption and nothing that I did any reference to look anything up on either...)

 

[widget]

In South Africa I can see there being a big difference as Faber is a closer manufacturer.

With Fabers being made in Italy, I can see South Africa having easier access to European products over Canadian products. (but that's just a general assumption and nothing that I did any reference to look anything up on either...)

Yes, sure agreed, its easier and quicker shipping wise for us to get product from Europe, about 14 days sailing time from Italy, whereas its close to 30 days out of say NY and longer out of LA.

 

[MSDT Mark]

Just realized that my atomic yoke regulator won't fit on my Blue Steel pro valves. So far I have found a few yokes that fit over it and a few that don't. I plan on switching that reg to DIN so its not that big of a deal, but this could also be a problem when trying to get the tanks filled if they don't have a big enough yoke or a DIN fitting.

~Jess

I have seen the same problem with the new Hollis manifold, very thick. I’m not sure who manufactures this one.

 

[wKkaY]

Sorry for bumping this old thread, but I just encountered this problem too. I bought a second-hand (2 years old) Faber with a San-o-Sub valve in Australia, and the insert doesn't mate with my HOG's yoke. It was really devastating seeing my first ever tank freeflow when plugged in

I tried another insert (brand unknown) I tried at the LDS and it had the same problem. I've already ordered a DIN reg, but I'm still thinking of buying a different brand insert just to see whether it mates.