Question First regulator

[BoltSnap]

You two are so adorable together, one talks and the other one provides the echo.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

What makes atomic regulators better?

The extra grease required to "seal" the piston first stage.

Piston or diaphragm 1st stage ?

Hi everyone, I've been on a couple of dives but quite new to diving and am trying to teach my self more detail about gear before purchasing my own (and also cause I just like learning about it ). I was more inclined towards a piston first stage to be honest however a source stated that piston...

scubaboard.com

 

[scrane]

What makes the older D300 - D400 second stage regulators remarkable is not just their easy breathing but their easy breathing in all orientations.
But the older D series have been discontinued for many years, parts and service can be hard to find, and they look kind of dorky .
Atomic makes great conventional design regulators that perform well.

 

[Endler's]

If I lived in Germany, I would be diving Poseidon Xstreams.

The Poseidon's First stage, is one of Scubaboard's Resident Regulator Guru, rsingler's favorites.

From the manufacturer's website:

A patented ruby ball seal is automatically positioned by the floating seat which balances any upstream pressure equally with the pressure adjustment spring, maintaining the benefits of having a perfect ball as the sealing element without the risks that follow with incorrect sealing pressures. This makes the Xstream Range self-balancing, giving the same high performance, irrespective of the pressure in the cylinder.

Added to this the range has a built in anti freeze protection in its construction. The TDA (Thermo Dynamic Antifreeze) ensures that the through-flowing water keeps the ice away, entirely without fluids or extra diaphragms.

Picture from [SIZE=3]tbone1004[/SIZE]
The side exhaust seconds look cool too...

Lastly, if you decide you want to service your own regulators, you can take their class.

 

[Scubagermany]

First of all thanx for the detailed description of Atomic regulators. Might all be nice, I doubt that it will be any use to me considering the dives I usually do.

If I lived in Germany, I would be diving Poseidon Xstreams.



Lastly, if you decide you want to service your own regulators, you can take their class.

As a matter of fact I thought about buying a Poseidon Xstream because I like the design a lot.
I was advised though that they weigh even more than the Scubapro and also that it might not be possible to get it serviced or repaired if you are diving in some remote area with a small diveshop in case there is a problem with the regulator.

I chose the two regulators in my opening post because they seem to do everything I need without any added brickabrack that I will probably never need. I have no aspirations to go technical anytime.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Scubapro is an American brand too.
You can get Atomic regs and service here easily. HOG/DiveRite/DGX/Deep6/etc. not so much.

What makes them better?

Well, actually Scibapro is an American-Italian company. Most of their regs are manufactured here in Italy, in Casarza Ligure.
This explains why they are much cheaper here than in US. And here you can easily purchase service kits and service them yourself, something apparently more difficult in US.
But they can be easily serviced all around the world, much more than any other brand.
The best thing of Scubapro regs is their longevity, which is due to a number of factors, including the fact that parts are available even for my old MK5-R109 purchased in 1976...
Which also means that, if you are in a strict budget constraint, you could easily opt for a bargain on Ebay.
A used MK10 plus a pair of G250 can be under 100 eur. Spend other 100 in service, and you have a top notch set which will last other 20 years.

 

[ams511]

Well, actually Scibapro is an American-Italian company. Most of their regs are manufactured here in Italy, in Casarza Ligure.
This explains why they are much cheaper here than in US. And here you can easily purchase service kits and service them yourself, something apparently more difficult in US.
But they can be easily serviced all around the world, much more than any other brand.
The best thing of Scubapro regs is their longevity, which is due to a number of factors, including the fact that parts are available even for my old MK5-R109 purchased in 1976...
Which also means that, if you are in a strict budget constraint, you could easily opt for a bargain on Ebay.
A used MK10 plus a pair of G250 can be under 100 eur. Spend other 100 in service, and you have a top notch set which will last other 20 years.

My understanding is that Scuba Pro was started by two former Healthways employees and that the company has a global supply chain with regulators made in Italy, Japan, and sometimes the US. Was one founder Italian?

Regulators are more expensive in the US because Americans are willing to pay more. The big Scuba companies have been successful in shutting down grey market imports from Europe. Also the EU is much more consumer friendly than the US, which is why you can buy service kits there but not here.

In the US, I don't think you could buy 2 G250s and a MK10 for $100 nor get them serviced for $100. I may need to move to Italy.

Italy seems to have a large scuba industry.

 

[berndo]

The big Scuba companies have been successful in shutting down grey market imports from Europe. Also the EU is much more consumer friendly than the US, which is why you can buy service kits there but not here.

Scubapro dealers don't officially sell service kits to consumers either... those are 'travel kits' you're supposed to 'travel with them in case you need service on vacation'... wink wink.

In the US, I don't think you could buy 2 G250s and a MK10 for $100 nor get them serviced for $100. I may need to move to Italy.

It might be because the market here is bigger and there is more competition than in the States. The German used marked alone seems to be bigger than the US market when it comes to regs. I looked at the US ebay stuff and prices do seem to be crazy high and not much on offer either. Maybe I should start a import-export business for 90s scubapro regs... I can get them by the bucket load.

 

[ams511]

Scubapro dealers don't officially sell service kits to consumers either... those are 'travel kits' you're supposed to 'travel with them in case you need service on vacation'... wink wink.


It might be because the market here is bigger and there is more competition than in the States. The German used marked alone seems to be bigger than the US market when it comes to regs. I looked at the US ebay stuff and prices do seem to be crazy high and not much on offer either. Maybe I should start a import-export business for 90s scubapro regs... I can get them by the bucket load.

They used to sell travel kits in the US also, but it was discontinued. I was able to buy parts kits in the Philippines no questions asked, although they were not cheap (but better than US ebay prices).

In Europe you do have more brands than in the US. Companies like Poseidon, Seac, Beuchat, Colti, etc. do not seem to have much of a presence in the US. Also on average, Europeans have more vacation time than Americans so more time to dive.

Back in the day, we were able to purchase regs from the EU. IIRC, there was a change or reinterpretation of the law that now allowed manufacturers to restrict sales outside the EU. Companies like DiveInn used to aggressively market to the US, now they won't ever list a price. Leisure Pro used to import gray market regulators at very good prices but stopped once they became a dealer.

If you can get the regs cheap then go for it, but I suspect eBay fees and shipping would substantially eat into your profits. I am cheap, so I am envious of EU prices.

 

[lowwall]

My understanding is that Scuba Pro was started by two former Healthways employees and that the company has a global supply chain with regulators made in Italy, Japan, and sometimes the US. Was one founder Italian?

Gustav Dalla Valle.

"SCUBAPRO was initially set up by Healthways (a company which sold bar bells and water skis) as a subsidiary to produce diving gear specifically for professional dive stores, a concept Dick Bonin had pioneered while he was working for Swimaster. A former Submersible Operations Officer with the US Navy SEALS, Bonin was brought in by R&D Director Gustav Dalla Valle to help produce diving gear for SCUBAPRO. In 1962, when Healthways went bankrupt, Gustav bought the rights to the SCUBAPRO name for one dollar and using Gustav’s $20,000 European credit line, Bonin and Dalla Valle engaged the most brilliant engineers they could find to push the R&D department in their new venture to produce the industry’s most cutting edge diving equipment.

In the first two years, SCUBAPRO successfully developed the first reliable piston first stage regulator, which reduced maintenance requirements through its simpler mechanism with less moving parts and produced the high air delivery rate that only a balanced piston can deliver. SCUBAPRO also popularized the Jet Fin invented by Rene Beauchat. SCUBAPRO’s many firsts in the industry – the first flowthrough Mark V piston regulator introduced in 1970, the first low pressure BC (buoyancy compensator) inflator, the first back-mounted BC for widespread distribution, the first silicone mask, the first jacket-style BC, the first pilot valve assisted second stage (Air I), the first integrated inflator/second stage regulator (Air II)..."