Buying used, a discriminating shopper's primer

[kwinter]

Only if you actually service them per the manufacturer's plans. I service my regs every three years... I'll save more money over time than anyone buying a new Atomic, without question.

Not necessarily. Some manufacturers require service every two years in order to meet FPPL requirements. I'm not so sure I would want to go 3 years. But I see where you are going with this. Every 6 years means one fewer service. Paying for 2 service kits but saving a 3rd service labor charge might still cost you more. Plus the initial service and parts you have to pay for when you first buy one used. I still think the amount you save buying used will be overshadowed by service costs. If you learn to service your own, that's a whole different ball game.


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[fjpatrum]

Not necessarily. Some manufacturers require service every two years in order to meet FPPL requirements. I'm not so sure I would want to go 3 years. But I see where you are going with this. Every 6 years means one fewer service. Paying for 2 service kits but saving a 3rd service labor charge might still cost you more. Plus the initial service and parts you have to pay for when you first buy one used. I still think the amount you save buying used will be overshadowed by service costs. If you learn to service your own, that's a whole different ball game.


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You may be right, I wasn't thinking about labor since I service my own. It is a consideration and I may have not mentioned it as blatantly in my original post.

Counting my original regs, which I bought as part of a whole kit for $325 (so I'll say $175 for the regs--a Scubapro Mk10/G250 with Oceanic Octo) I've spent about $300 for 7 sets now. Count another $100 for a lifetime supply of all the o-rings I need for tanks and all the regs and a few diaphragms and other parts I should be good to go for the rest of my life for at least 5 divers. So for $400 and some of my own time I've got enough gear for 5 divers to dive these regs indefinitely. What's the price of any new FPFL reg set?

It's definitely a factor but if you service it yourself, as you indicated, the used route wins in a dollar for dollar comparison. (Not counting your own labor cost of course... if you do that it comes closer to even but depends entirely on how much your labor is worth to you.)

 

[Storker]

Plus the initial service and parts you have to pay for when you first buy one used. I still think the amount you save buying used will be overshadowed by service costs. If you learn to service your own, that's a whole different ball game.

It's all about which price buyer and seller agree on. And I don't get *my* numbers to add up to that conclusion.

If price_used_reg + initial_service_costs < price_new_reg, then I'm saving on buying used. As I did. And I would never trust my life to a reg that hadn't been declared fit to dive with by a competent person, so skipping the initial service is not an option for me.

Further service costs will accrue at a rate of one service per two years or hundred dives, regardless of whether I buy new or used, so that cost is independent of the state of the regs.


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[bakodiver391]

I haven't noticed an issue with corrosion after cleaning. I've certainly not dealt with any that can't be disassembled, but it is a good thing to consider and I think covered in the original post.

I do consider heavy corrosion to be a negative but not necessarily a deal breaker, depending upon price. I have yet to see anything so badly corroded it can't be cleaned and serviced but my experience is limited to looking at a dozen regs or so and only purchasing about 7 now.

I deal with 3rd world divers and they usually run their regs till the wheels fall off. I give them (the regs not the divers), 30 minutes in a hot vinegar ultrasound cleaner bath, and if I still can't get them apart I junk them. It happens about 5% of the time with corroded regs.

 

[redacted]

I deal with 3rd world divers and they usually run their regs till the wheels fall off. I give them (the regs not the divers), 30 minutes in a hot vinegar ultrasound cleaner bath, and if I still can't get them apart I junk them. It happens about 5% of the time with corroded regs.

Excessive exposure to too much acid can damage whatever finish might be left and still not get the acid into then threaded connections that are holding the deposits and corrosion. Try hot water and ice so the uneven expansion and contraction of ceased threaded connections can effectively work on the problem.

 

[kwinter]

Further service costs will accrue at a rate of one service per two years or hundred dives, regardless of whether I buy new or used, so that cost is independent of the state of the regs.

You're forgetting that one service per two years for a used reg costs significantly more ($50-60) than for a new reg under a FPFL program.

And take off that phony Santa outfit. You look ridiculous trying to imitate me.

 

[Storker]

You're forgetting that one service per two years for a used reg costs significantly more ($50-60) than for a new reg under a FPFL program.

And you're forgetting that those programs aren't necessarily offered everywhere outside the US, and that not everyone here are from the US.

I've never seen them offered around here.


And re. the outfit and who's imitating whom: Everybody knows where Santa lives, an' that it sure ain't in 'murrica. Just sayin'

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[Bob DBF]

It's definitely a factor but if you service it yourself, as you indicated, the used route wins in a dollar for dollar comparison. (Not counting your own labor cost of course... if you do that it comes closer to even but depends entirely on how much your labor is worth to you.)

Like I'd rather be watching Dancing With The Stars than working on dive gear.

As for the dollar for dollar comparison, recently I paid $50 for a pile of old dive gear out of which I wanted an old horsecollar BC and a couple of Bend-O-Matics, but figured selling the 20# weight belt, jetfins, and two old but quite functional gear bags would cover my expense. The seller says "I found this, do you want it with the rest?" Of course I said yes. After taking it to a shop tech (first time in years) and spending $70 for service I'm the proud owner of a Poseidon Cyklon, pressure gauge and a Scubapro 109 as the safe second (I rebuilt the 109). Even if you took the total cost of $120, that's pretty good for a serviced reg set.

I can see Storkers point, there probably isn't a lot of dive gear on the second hand market being sold cheap over there in Norway. If you can't buy cheap and have to pay for service costs may snowball quickly.

Storker
I would never trust my life to a reg that hadn't been declared fit to dive with by a competent person

Does your competent person repair the reg and then test them in a pool, then use at least a tank at 60', and finally dive a tank at 120' to 150' before you get it back? 'Cause if I hand you a reg, it will have been use tested, not just bench tested. Of course you would be borrowing it since I don't repair regs for a living, then again most shop techs don't either.


Bob
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Sometimes gets lucky.

 

[Storker]

I can see Storkers point, there probably isn't a lot of dive gear on the second hand market being sold cheap over there in Norway. If you can't buy cheap and have to pay for service costs may snowball quickly.

I think you might have misunderstood me. My point was just to factor in the cost of a service before buying used and comparing costs. And that post-purchase costs will be the same around here regardless of whether you buy new or used, since I've never seen the "parts for life" programs offered in our part of the world.

And FTR, there's quite a bit of used equipment available around here. Only problem is that quite a few of the sellers have unrealistic expectations of what they can expect to get for the gear (which generally is somewhere around 50% of what they paid for it).

Does your competent person repair the reg and then test them in a pool, then use at least a tank at 60', and finally dive a tank at 120' to 150' before you get it back? 'Cause if I hand you a reg, it will have been use tested, not just bench tested. Of course you would be borrowing it since I don't repair regs for a living, then again most shop techs don't either.

If I'd known you in person, I might very well trust the reg you loaned me. When buying used from a person I don't know personally, nor ever dived with, I'm going to have the reg looked over and serviced by a competent technician before I take it underwater.

But my risk acceptance level is pretty low, and I'm a firm believer in preventive maintenance.


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[redacted]

If I'd known you in person, I might very well trust the reg you loaned me. When buying used from a person I don't know personally, nor ever dived with, I'm going to have the reg looked over and serviced by a competent technician before I take it underwater.

But my risk acceptance level is pretty low, and I'm a firm believer in preventive maintenance.


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You should be able to do so much better than being being reliant on someone else to determine if your gear is suitable for use. You can also inspect your gear to determine if service is needed rather than following a somewhat arbitrary schedule. A major variable in time to failure is the quality of user care, not time or dive count.