Dacor equipment ?'s

[Diver0311]

I have a friend who has offered me some of his older gear that he no longer uses. He doesn't dive much anymore but he said it is all still good equipment. I trust him, besides working with him I see the way he takes care of his car, home, etc he is a meticulous person, on the verge of OCD actually.

Anyway he has a Dacor Regulator set that was last used in 2008, but he said he stopped using it when they were bought out or went out of business? I know nothing about that company.

He said he has a dive computer that I can have that is from the 90's haha He said he couldn't remember the name of it but that it was metal, and used a 9 volt battery, he said it was about the size of his gauge displays. Not sure if this rings a bell for you guys he said he would bring me the operators manual with it...Like I said 20 years later still has owners manual...OCD

Last he has a pair of Aqualung fins that he last used in 2008 also, he has a mask and BCD too but he said the mask was no good, and he is about 25lbs lighter than me so I don't think the BCD will fit. Will it even be worth it to take this gear to the shop to get it spec'd? Would you still use it?

One last question, I have not dove since 2009 and even at that time didn't own anything other than a Bodyglove 3mm shorty and a .5m rash guard and US Diver Mask, Fin, Snorkel set, and a Scubapro BC that I have since sold...hard times and all....

I'm going to be doing my RD soon then in Oct starting with FDI in Orlando to go from RD to OWSI and eventually MSDT...

I'm not made of money, what would be your key purchases before starting the DM?

Thanks guys & girls

 

[mark01]

I don't think there is anything unwise or unsafe about using an older BC and/or reg set provided it's in good working condition. One of my dive buddies uses a reg set which is 20 years old, fins which are of about the same vintage, and we are doing DM training together. He gets it serviced each year and the stuff performs flawlessly.

If the gear(reg and BC) can be serviced, there is no reason not to use it. However, you might want to check with your shop or tech service to see if the stuff can still be serviced. There are a couple of places still doing Dacor service work.

The computer may be a different question. You probably want something which can handle Nitrox given your goals for DM and instructor/trainer. Don't know if the one you are considering does Nitrox, but you might want to check that out first.

JMHO

Mark

 

[Diver0311]

Thanks Mark, I completely forgot about Nitrox and didn't ask him. I will see tomorrow hopefully. I'll call the shops around and see if they service Dacor.

 

[CuNanoTube]

My father still dives with his Pacer XL (with a Pacer as an octo) that he bought new in the 80s. They are superb regulators. My pony has a dacor aero first on it and my gauge console is again dacor. If your friend has any of the pacer series you can get parts for service off of ebay no problem.

If the computer is from the 90's I would not expect it to do nitrox as nitrox was not widely used in tech diving. NAUI was the first agency to offer a course, and that was in 1996. (I may be doing my nitrox cert.)

 

[keyshunter]

2008 doesnt seem correct since the "OLD" Dacor was bought out by Mares more than 10 years ago. Mares used (and possibly still does use) the Dacor name on their own rebadged gear, but did not produce any parts for the older Dacor gear. Most of the older Dacor gear was good, but repair parts supply is rapidly drying up.

 

[Diver0311]

Keyshunter, he didn't buy it in 08, thats the last time he used it. I see where the confusion is, he said when he went to get a part for it in 2008 he found out they were out of business, I assumed that meant they went out of business at that time, sorry for the confusion. He said he bought all of his equipment between 91-97, and the reg is from 94

 

[Diver0311]

I should be getting the gear from him tomorrow or friday morning, I will take some pics of it and post them to clear up any confusion. He said the computer is not set up for Nitrox. Oh well, I think I am going to want a newer computer anyway. As far as parts go, for O rings do I need rings from Dacor or are there generic sets?

 

[Diver0311]

I picked up the gear from him today, It is a Dacor Octo, and a Scubapro Mk200 octo. He also gave me a set of Dacor Turbo fins, An AL80 tank, and the dive computer is an Orca Edge hahaha the date stamp on it is from 1986 HAHA. He said he still dove with it and loved it cause it was so simple.