Got Burned by DACOR

[toliver66]

toliver
Although the 360 was the best thing Dacor ever made, it was the "bastardized copy" of the US Divers Conshelf and not the other way around.
And the Pacer was a copy of the Scubapro 109.

Hmmm..... don't recall saying anything about the US Divers Conshelf?

I believe it was the Mares MR12 that I mentioned.

US divers also had a copy of the Scubapro 109. Or was it the other way around?

​

 

[Fishpie]

Okay......the MR12 and the 360 are both copies of the Conshelf....
No, USD never had a barrel poppet 2nd stage until Apeks made one for them.

 

[timakempton]

I relate totally I have a 950 first stage with a Pair of XLE's I bought 20 years ago. I would class it as the Rolls Royce of reg's 4xLP's 2xHP's and ready to use for ice diving... I doubt many modern regs could match it!!! Mine has been in storage for about 10 years because I had to stop diving for health reasons. Now I am finally getting back in to a situation where I may be able to get back in the water I find that Mares bought Dacor and they have made getting parts difficult.

If you search around you can find parts. I found a New HP Seat on eBay and some service kits on Amazon of all places. I don't think I need them right now but I am buying up my own little parts kit for them so I can keep them for as long as possible.

Don't pay any attention to those who say that Dacor gear is junk in these forums. It's comes from Mares using the Dacor brand as a low quality brand after the take over. The people that make such comments have never dived with the original quality Dacor gear and now they see it selling for next to nothing on eBay and hear about the lack of service back-up in some shops and then ASSUME. You will find that any store that has a tech that has been around for a while like we have, he will love to work on your gear. It will take him back to the good old days.

 

[jar546]

Didn't Mares offer trade ins for Dacor regs when they bought Dacor? I believe there was a program that allowed you to trade in your Dacor for a brand new Mares for very little money. That was a couple of years ago.

I believe Dacor's motto was "If a regulator needs 10 parts, we'll use 20" LOL

 

[Nemrod]

Hello all, I'm new here on scubaboard.com. I got my PADI open water cert. in 1990 and advanced plus and rescue diver certs in 1993. Although I am a competent diver I would in no way consider myself to still be a qualified rescue diver after 19 years. The last time I went diving was in the summer of 2000. I have a 7 year old son who has discovered and taken a keen interest in snorkeling this summer which just happens to be the same age I was when I discovered snorkeling. My sons enthusiastic excitement and passion for his new found sport has reignited my own passion for scuba diving. I am (was) a Dacor fan. In 1991 I bought a brand new: Dacor 360 with 2 Pacer XLE second stages, one for primary, one for octo., Dacor Caribbean bcd, and a Dacor Vista View mask. I did extensive research on various brands of scuba gear. I even went as far as to rent various brands of rental gear from every dive shop within 50 miles of my home. I settled on Dacor because IMO it gave the best performance. Plus I liked the style and colors of Dacor and the fact that they were one of the only manufactures to offer solid metal second stages. And finaly, because Dacor was a reputable company and had been around since the early days of scuba and were still going strong and appeared would be around forever. So I thought I had made a sound investment. I sunk $1,800 into my Dacor scuba kit. I've loved it, breathes just as easy at 90ft as it does at 2ft and I have never had a problem with any of it. I've taken very good care of my gear and its in near mint condition. Now I find out that Dacor, for all points and purposes, has gone belly up and parts are none exsistant and no one will service Dacor gear. So what I have ended up with is a few very expensive shiny door stops and a nice paper weight. I've looked at new gear but it just burns my south side to even consider buying new gear with perfectly good gear sitting right here. Does Dacor gear have any resale value at all or is it just a pile of scrap metal? Who makes the best equipment these days? I won't be buying name brand again, any feed back on a Sea Elite RX330 Scout regulator?

There is no best, buy what works and fits. Companies come and go, nowadays companies go out of business and then the brand names are sold. The Dacor of yore is gone, gone, gone, like many good things, massive transfer of jobs and wealth to offshore conglomerates. Scwhinn, RCA, Woolworths, Oldsmobile, Outboard Marine Corporation, on and on and on.

Your Dacor regulators can be serviced, they are simple designs for which parts can be found or sourced from other equipment or just do yourself a favor and get your son and yourself a set of Titan LX regs, the first stage internals date back to the 60s in the Royal Aqua Master and Conshelf regulators and the second is simple and robust and AL seems pretty good about supply parts down the road, Scuba Pro is another that supports their equipment for a long time. Mares, which I think owns the Dacor brand?? is famous for not through again, much of their stuff is simple enough that parts can be found. Either of those two, AL or Scuba Pro, should keep you in business for a couple of decades.

Somethings are timeless, this is not:

N

 

[TSandM]

I'm very glad that people have offered you a lot of options for keeping your Dacor stuff going. But I'm still shaking my head at the idea that someone would really be surprised and angry to discover that a company that made something they bought 20 years ago was no longer in business . . .

 

[vladimir]

Because 22 years ago there were no internet scuba sales. Dive shops charged full price or full price and then some.

No, but 35 years ago we had Central Skindivers, on Long Island (or maybe Queens). They advertised in the back of SkinDiver magazine and shipped nationally. The LeisurePro of their day.

 

[keyshunter]

I'm very glad that people have offered you a lot of options for keeping your Dacor stuff going. But I'm still shaking my head at the idea that someone would really be surprised and angry to discover that a company that made something they bought 20 years ago was no longer in business . . .

I agree completely Lynne. I get an extra special chuckle out of the inflammatory title (no pun) used in the OP.

 

[pmurphy]

Does anyone have a good source for parts other than eBay or Amazon. I'm looking for a low pressure seat (part#0170-98) for a Pacer XLS second stage. I love my regulator and would like to keep it going a few years longer!!
Thanks,
Pat

 

[dsenloe]

Is that #0107-98 by chance? I have the Part/parts you need contact me via PM Regards Scott enloe.d@sbcglobal.net