Cold Water Reg Suggestions?

[JohnN]

Guys , come on, the point with being able officially servicing the reg is sort of mute. You need to invest another 1.5k in classes and tools to be able to service it officially if you are only a rec diver using that money you can service an single set for at least 20 years

Agreed that Apek makes a fine product. The whole thing started with KD8NPB's mis-statement that 'parts-for-life' justified purchasing Apek regulators.

KD8NPB gave the service price for Apeks with "free" parts: $100/regulator over two years. This is what you'd need to spend at his shop to keep the free parts deal.

I would encourage you to check out what it costs to get a HOG serviced every two years, and then compare those two numbers.

Parts-for-life is brilliant marketing, but by no means is it either "free" or the least expensive.

 

[beaverdivers]

The Scubapro MK17 DIN/ G250V is an excellent cold water reg.

 

[KD8NPB]

Guys , come on, the point with being able officially servicing the reg is sort of mute. You need to invest another 1.5k in classes and tools to be able to service it officially if you are only a rec diver

using that money you can service an single set for at least 20 years

That's kinda the point I've been getting at.

Not everybody wants to service their own regulators.

HOG are fantastic if
1.) You service your own regulators
2.) You never service your regulators until something goes wrong with them (I've met plenty of these people)
3.) You want to do an extended service interval

Most people like doing the inspection/overhaul schedule. It gives them peace of mind. Or, they simply fall into #2. I can't tell you how many regulators I get brought into the shop over the summer "Can you look at this? I don't know if it works, I haven't had it serviced in 6 years."

Actually not true. You're supposed to take the course. It is highly recommended as these are not "copies" and there are things that make servicing easier that you find out in the class. But you don't need to take it to buy the kits.

I like that business philosophy of not caring what the customer does with the end product. If they kill themselves through their own neglect, it's not like you forced them to rebuild a regulator without the proper education or proper tools.

Aqualung instead chooses the nanny perspective of not even giving their customers the option...not with authorized Aqualung service kits anyways. You can kill yourself with generic o-rings and LP / HP seats through Trident all you want! :lol:

 

[lucky83]

I don't know if this helps you but Aqualung is having a sellout of their 2011 Legend ACD LX supreme + Octopus

for around $600 here in a place in Sweden. I don't know if it's cheap or not, but if you would like to i could help you out with it.

Edit: For me it was crazy cheap, so i got it ASAP I only had it for a pool sesh until now, but it certainly looks promising. This is a reg that will be in my hands for many years to come, qualitywise it feels really really good.

Edit 2: It's with a DIN valve btw

 

[oldschoolto]

I have a real problem with this statement.... The o-rings that are used are generic, Just like the generic o-rings in " FACTORY " kits... If a o-ring, seal or gasket is a special one-off for a company you can't get it.... Very few parts are truly specifically made to order...

And as to servicing a regulator every year... I bought two new old stock conshelf supreme 2yrs ago... One for the wife, That I rebuilt 1st stage, 2nd stage and the octo with all new parts..... (they looked fine) ... And the other for me, I opened the 2nd stage for a look see and checked the crack pressures and for IP creep... You can't tell the difference ... So I'm using a conshelf built in 1978 and sat on a shelf in a box for 33 yrs...

As a lawyer would say.... Sir, Your case does not hold water....

Jim...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

"I like that business philosophy of not caring what the customer does with the end product. If they kill themselves through their own neglect, it's not like you forced them to rebuild a regulator without the proper education or proper tools."

You mean like GM, FORD, CHRYSLER, HONDA, TOYOTA, YAMAHA, SUZUKI, KAWASAKI, etc. all do? I just bought brakes for my RAV4, and my Vulcan is going to need a few things for spring. No one asked me if I had the proper tools, a Totyota/Kawasaki mechanic's cert, or even knew where the parts I was replacing go. All they wanted to see was my Mastercard.

Granted there are some people who should not under any circumstance be working on their regs. More than a few of them shouldn't have an open water card. But it is not rocket science. If a guy can rebuild the carb on his vintage car or bike, an engineer build and test an airplane engine, or a surgeon operate on a heart, why shouldn't they be allowed to work on their own regulator?

And I don't want to do business with a company that feels I am so stupid and incompetent that I need a "nanny". I kinda doubt they want to be known as the company with a "Nanny" mentality. Kinda takes away from the adventure image they have been going by for so long. So will that be the new slogan.
"Scuba Diver? Need a nanny? Here we are - AL"

 

[KD8NPB]

I have a real problem with this statement.... The o-rings that are used are generic, Just like the generic o-rings in " FACTORY " kits... If a o-ring, seal or gasket is a special one-off for a company you can't get it.... Very few parts are truly specifically made to order...

And as to servicing a regulator every year... I bought two new old stock conshelf supreme 2yrs ago... One for the wife, That I rebuilt 1st stage, 2nd stage and the octo with all new parts..... (they looked fine) ... And the other for me, I opened the 2nd stage for a look see and checked the crack pressures and for IP creep... You can't tell the difference ... So I'm using a conshelf built in 1978 and sat on a shelf in a box for 33 yrs...

As a lawyer would say.... Sir, Your case does not hold water....

Jim...

I didn't make a case. I merely stated Aqualung's perspective.

I don't disagree either. If I found a 60 year old Mistral that held pressure with no creep or leakage, I'd dive the heck out of it.

Also, Aqualung uses PLENTY of specialty o-rings! I've found that out the hard way with a dropped o-ring, only to look in our 3 cases of 70 duro viton o-rings, only to not find a single match... Oops. Thus, another service kit gets opened and marked "used o-ring #123456".

"I like that business philosophy of not caring what the customer does with the end product. If they kill themselves through their own neglect, it's not like you forced them to rebuild a regulator without the proper education or proper tools."

You mean like GM, FORD, CHRYSLER, HONDA, TOYOTA, YAMAHA, SUZUKI, KAWASAKI, etc. all do? I just bought brakes for my RAV4, and my Vulcan is going to need a few things for spring. No one asked me if I had the proper tools, a Totyota/Kawasaki mechanic's cert, or even knew where the parts I was replacing go. All they wanted to see was my Mastercard.

Granted there are some people who should not under any circumstance be working on their regs. More than a few of them shouldn't have an open water card. But it is not rocket science. If a guy can rebuild the carb on his vintage car or bike, an engineer build and test an airplane engine, or a surgeon operate on a heart, why shouldn't they be allowed to work on their own regulator?

And I don't want to do business with a company that feels I am so stupid and incompetent that I need a "nanny". I kinda doubt they want to be known as the company with a "Nanny" mentality. Kinda takes away from the adventure image they have been going by for so long. So will that be the new slogan.
"Scuba Diver? Need a nanny? Here we are - AL"

GM, FORD, CHRYSLER, HONDA, TOYOTA, YAMAHA, SUZUKI, KAWASAKI, etc don't let you do your own warranty work...the Aqualung "free parts for life" program is akin to a manufacturers warranty for your car... kinda like how the warranty is invalid if you don't get oil changes, or you try to run your car on vodka. There's a few simple stipulations to be met to keep the warranty.

But, you're pretty much spot on. I would love to be able to sell an OEM Conshelf parts kit to a customer...but I can't, and I'm not going to risk the shop's retail status with Aqualung over it. We've been in business since 1956 and I'd rather not jeopardize that.

Simply put, if you don't rebuild your own regulators, dive more than 10 times a year, want to save money, and want to stick to a fairly basic maintenance schedule...then Aqualung / Apeks is the way to go.

Not only that, but Aqualung is going nowhere soon. They're the original SCUBA company. You can get your regs serviced in Laos, Vietnam, Siberia, or Cozumel... There's Aqualung certified service centers everywhere. You can't really say the same for HOG, they're still a new company. That doesn't make them bad, but it does make it pretty inconvenient if you need a certain part in a pinch... say you lose an exhaust valve during a drift dive (it's happened before!).

 

[JohnN]

GM, FORD, CHRYSLER, HONDA, TOYOTA, YAMAHA, SUZUKI, KAWASAKI, etc don't let you do your own warranty work...the Aqualung "free parts for life" program is akin to a manufacturers warranty for your car... kinda like how the warranty is invalid if you don't get oil changes,

Excellent analogy. But I can change the oil in my GM / Ford / Chrysler / Honda / Toyota / Yamaha / Suzuki et. al. and not voilate the warranty.

So no, the "free parts for life" is not really the same. As we've discussed, it is damn clever marketing, but however much perfume you put on the pig, it's still a pig. The customer pays up-front for the parts, its wrapped into the purchase price.

 

[Dhboner]

I'e used my HOG's in 35 degree water in Lake Ontario without any problems. The Dive Academy in Oakville is a HOG dealer and can service them.

 

[jIM STEELE]

If you like to spend a lot of money don't buy a old us divers conshlef 21 22 or 16 from e bay a very fine us navy approved regulator also the usd sea or se is a A class approved to 198 ft to rebuild them all you need is a hp seat lp seat one oring and diaphragm the kit is less than 16$