"disposable regulators" vs servicing?

[rsingler]

I was going to buy a set of Scubapro G250s with a MK10 first stage off FB Marketplace and use those to learn how a regulator works and put it back together - I know someone who took rsingler’s class. Never heard back.

Never heard back from me? Or did I misinterpret? It's possible that a DM dropped so far down the list I never replied. I get lots of DM's.
Still doing seminars every 6-8 weeks.
Waiting list is about 5 months long. I wish I could do it every month, but I'm married. But it'll take you most of that wait to put your workshop together.
Don't DM me. E-mail me at NapaScuba@gmail.com.
We'll get you situated for DIY.
"It ain't rocket science. It's just very precise. "

You'll easily be able to service your Mares set, no problem (if you can get service kits).

But yes, get a Deep6 reg set. It is most definitely worth more than you pay for it. They don't force you to pay for high-power marketing and advertising, and instead just charge you for the quality. Learn to service it yourself and you're so far ahead of the game you'll never look back...

 

[Green Frog]

+1 for @rsingler courses, service and communication. He never fails to respond to my e-mails, usually mundane but sometimes in a bit of a panic. He shows a genuine interest in taking you from where you are to where you want or need to be. I’ve never heard a bad word from anyone who has actually dealt with him.
Charlie Shaeff

 

[patgrayjr]

But yes, get a Deep6 reg set. It is most definitely worth more than you pay for it. They don't force you to pay for high-power marketing and advertising, and instead just charge you for the quality. Learn to service it yourself and you're so far ahead of the game you'll never look back...

I'm in a similar boat to OP, with the added wrinkle that my son has started diving and potentially one or two of the other kids may start.

My wife and I currently have 20 yo. Oceanic regs, with the infamous "puck" octo which started disintegrating, and which our LDS charged about $300 to disassemble, determine they could not get parts, and then reassembly only my wifes reg now breathes too hard. We figured we'd buy new gear for our 20th anniversary and an upcoming "big trip," but the LDS sells Aqualung and associated brands, and I don't want to go down that road as the company seems to be in trouble.

I looked at Scubapro at another shop, and acquisition/service costs aside, I wonder about convenience and whether the shop would put the time and attention into service that the manufacturer or I would. I've been "in back" at a couple of shops and was not impressed with the service areas. The organization and care certainly don't match the mythology about "critical life support equipment" and "it's nearly rocket surgery best left to professionals."

This all has me leaning heavily towards Deep6. I like that I can just throw them in a box and ship them off where the manufacturer presumably has their stuff together and an incentive to keep the reg performing well, versus driving to the LDS for an indeterminate wait and unknown cost. I also have the option to get DIY, with manuf support, for the price of a course if I decide to take that on, which starts to make more sense if I have 3+ sets to service.

 

[CT-Rich]

I'm in a similar boat to OP, with the added wrinkle that my son has started diving and potentially one or two of the other kids may start.

My wife and I currently have 20 yo. Oceanic regs, with the infamous "puck" octo which started disintegrating, and which our LDS charged about $300 to disassemble, determine they could not get parts, and then reassembly only my wifes reg now breathes too hard. We figured we'd buy new gear for our 20th anniversary and an upcoming "big trip," but the LDS sells Aqualung and associated brands, and I don't want to go down that road as the company seems to be in trouble.

I looked at Scubapro at another shop, and acquisition/service costs aside, I wonder about convenience and whether the shop would put the time and attention into service that the manufacturer or I would. I've been "in back" at a couple of shops and was not impressed with the service areas. The organization and care certainly don't match the mythology about "critical life support equipment" and "it's nearly rocket surgery best left to professionals."

This all has me leaning heavily towards Deep6. I like that I can just throw them in a box and ship them off where the manufacturer presumably has their stuff together and an incentive to keep the reg performing well, versus driving to the LDS for an indeterminate wait and unknown cost. I also have the option to get DIY, with manuf support, for the price of a course if I decide to take that on, which starts to make more sense if I have 3+ sets to service.

Why they had to charge you $300 to announce they couldn't get parts is beyond me. They should have should have just given it back and said they could no longer service it without doing any work on it. Charging you for work they should have determined they couldn't complete is bad business practice.

 

[Scott G. Bonser]

Why they had to charge you $300 to announce they couldn't get parts is beyond me. They should have should have just given it back and said they could no longer service it without doing any work on it. Charging you for work they should have determined they couldn't complete is bad business practice.

AMEN to that response. There are so many more Dive Shops and repair facilities that WON’T try to steer you into service they can’t do then charge you like it was completed. If I need service, I send my gear to ‘Tarpoon Dive Center’ as well as a few others associated with vdh website. They will give it to you straight if there is no hope and will only charge for shipping the items.

 

[Mobulai]

I'm in a similar boat to OP, with the added wrinkle that my son has started diving and potentially one or two of the other kids may start.

My wife and I currently have 20 yo. Oceanic regs, with the infamous "puck" octo which started disintegrating, and which our LDS charged about $300 to disassemble, determine they could not get parts, and then reassembly only my wifes reg now breathes too hard. We figured we'd buy new gear for our 20th anniversary and an upcoming "big trip," but the LDS sells Aqualung and associated brands, and I don't want to go down that road as the company seems to be in trouble.

I looked at Scubapro at another shop, and acquisition/service costs aside, I wonder about convenience and whether the shop would put the time and attention into service that the manufacturer or I would. I've been "in back" at a couple of shops and was not impressed with the service areas. The organization and care certainly don't match the mythology about "critical life support equipment" and "it's nearly rocket surgery best left to professionals."

This all has me leaning heavily towards Deep6. I like that I can just throw them in a box and ship them off where the manufacturer presumably has their stuff together and an incentive to keep the reg performing well, versus driving to the LDS for an indeterminate wait and unknown cost. I also have the option to get DIY, with manuf support, for the price of a course if I decide to take that on, which starts to make more sense if I have 3+ sets to service.

I am so sorry you had to exprience this

Y'all need need a right to repair revloution in the US, it's happening but slow -- and it's not really trickling down to Scuba gear.
I am not saying it's all fine and dandy in EU, but.. even SP (or their dealers) can't pull something like that over here

this is not strictly regulators, so forgive me being out of forum, but the sentiment still holds:
in January I got a G2HUD computer from ebay; when it arrived it was in dead mode.
I wrote SP and they told me all I had to do is drop it at an affiliated shop around me.
They shop forwarded it SP, they revived it out of deep sleep mode, contacted me for pickup, and charged me 20€ for round trip shipping to Uwatec (switzerland) where it got fixed.
Now mind you I am not the original owner of that computer; none of them were under any legal obligation to honor warranty/service agreements.

Now with regards to regs, they still want you to go through their affiliated authorized dealers; but service kits are available to the public (via retailers not via SP dealers, equivelants in US are DGX and DRIS maybe); so you can still go to a 3rd party or DIY it without crossing into a grey area or putting a shop owner in a tight spot.
Not perfect, but it works -- I buy my kits and do it at home; and the SP authorized dealers (and LDS) rent me the tanks I need knowing I will use that air to tune and check what I just serviced.

If it wasn't for the lack of EU true presence -- and some appreciation on my side for some older SP models -- I would have also been a D6 user; and the next new reg set I aquire probably will be from a company like that (I am already considering a few of the new ScubaGaskets MK10 clone)
But my next reg will probably be an old SP one that I find on some classifieds ad.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I think I might have figured out why companies like Scubapro are double the cost on their products in the US vs Europe and why they will not sell you parts in the US as opposed to Europe where they openly sell parts to the public.
I had a conversation with a gentleman about airplanes and he explained to me that Cessna had to stop making planes for a while because their insurance ran so high. According to him about half the cost of a new plane went to cover the insurance that the company must have on that plane for the rest of the life of that airplane.
So if you bought a brand new Cessna 50 years ago then Cessna is still paying for liability insurance on that airplane and will until that plane is decomissioned.
I’m just wondering if something similar is happening with regulator companies or if it’s just a money grab?

 

[Mobulai]

I think I might have figured out why companies like Scubapro are double the cost on their products in the US vs Europe and why they will not sell you parts in the US as opposed to Europe where they openly sell parts to the public.
I had a conversation with a gentleman about airplanes and he explained to me that Cessna had to stop making planes for a while because their insurance ran so high. According to him about half the cost of a new plane went to cover the insurance that the company must have on that plane for the rest of the life of that airplane.
So if you bought a brand new Cessna 50 years ago then Cessna is still paying for liability insurance on that airplane and will until that plane is decomissioned.
I’m just wondering if something similar is happening with regulator companies or if it’s just a money grab?

that makes a lot of sense -- but.. do regulators get decomissioned? no FAA equivelincy or actual enforcing agency
I think you're onto something -- maybe worth a thread in the litigation section?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

that makes a lot of sense -- but.. do regulators get decomissioned? no FAA equivelincy or actual enforcing agency
I think you're onto something -- maybe worth a thread in the litigation section?

Well they do get decommissioned by choice or perhaps becoming obsolete, but there are a lot of them still kicking too. If it’s so, I would speculate that they have an algorithm or an average life span of a reg that they base the premium on.

 

[Mobulai]

Well they do get decommissioned by choice or perhaps becoming obsolete, but there are a lot of them still kicking too. If it’s so, I would speculate that they have an algorithm or an average life span of a reg that they base the premium on.

I know such algos exist for in auto insurance/maintnance industry -- but still no "fleet grounding" capabilities (unless it gets to massive recall because breaks stopped working level scandal)

Edit: hearing that in my head -- I take it back; it's probablly why mk20s for example have been killed off, or the xdeep 1st stage recalls