Hog reg question

[manni-yunk]

OK. They have been out for a while now and Ive read nothing but glowing reviews. I own 2 of them and I love them. I am on the verge of ordering 2 more....but then - for the first and second time (and all in 1 week)I heard about an issue. One - from a rebreather diver that has the regs on his bailout bottles had a bad failure - and - the other from a dive shop that told me that I probably dont want to buy them. They "claim" to be having issues with rebuilds and getting them together properly. They said that for some reason, the internal tolerances of either the regs or rebuild kits do not match up a good portion of the time and they have great difficulty getting the IPs set. They are HOG certified and know what they are going. They said basically, for the price they are prving to be a great reg...but..maybe consider it a "few year then throw away reg".

I was wondering - who has had theirs long enough to do rebuilds? Is this hog wash (no pun intended ) as I suspect? I kind of figured that since the price is so low, the dive shops might have a much smaller margin on these and stories like this would pop up.

Any truth?

As I mentioned - Im on the verge of ordering 2 more but I want to get a little feedback.


BTW - Ive had mine to 150FSW and they performed great. The 2 additional will be for deeper dives and stage bottles.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I’ve rebuilt a few HOG D1’s and a few Dive Rite RG1208’s and a few Salvo’s and a few Apeks.

I would love to know some super easy way to remove the plastic ring on top of the diaphragm easily…it always seems to take a minute to coax out.

I also sometimes have problems with the DIN connection onto the body of the regulator…I don’t know if it’s brand specific, but sometimes that is stuck on there pretty well! Zeagle, I think, sells a small box to hold the body of the regulator without scratching it, it’s a very handy tool! Also, buy good allen wrenches, and torque things properly.

I’ve never had any issue putting a HOG back together. The biggest problem I have is putting the lever and poppet assembly back together quickly on the HOG 2nd stages, but the 1st stages have never been an issue.

I’ve had one HOG and one Dive Rite 1st stage blow up, both times the diaphragm let go. On the Dive Rite, it blew the plastic pressure transmitter piece out of the environmental seal, and flooded the regulator…

Is it possible that the shop has a less than perfect batch of rebuilt kits? They happen sometimes, to all manufacturers.

 

[manni-yunk]

I’ve rebuilt a few HOG D1’s and a few Dive Rite RG1208’s and a few Salvo’s and a few Apeks.

I would love to know some super easy way to remove the plastic ring on top of the diaphragm easily…it always seems to take a minute to coax out.

I also sometimes have problems with the DIN connection onto the body of the regulator…I don’t know if it’s brand specific, but sometimes that is stuck on there pretty well! Zeagle, I think, sells a small box to hold the body of the regulator without scratching it, it’s a very handy tool! Also, buy good allen wrenches, and torque things properly.

I’ve never had any issue putting a HOG back together. The biggest problem I have is putting the lever and poppet assembly back together quickly on the HOG 2nd stages, but the 1st stages have never been an issue.

I’ve had one HOG and one Dive Rite 1st stage blow up, both times the diaphragm let go. On the Dive Rite, it blew the plastic pressure transmitter piece out of the environmental seal, and flooded the regulator…

Is it possible that the shop has a less than perfect batch of rebuilt kits? They happen sometimes, to all manufacturers.

So, when the Dive Rite and Hog blew out at the first stage, did it happen immediately after rubuilding when pressurized OR at depth?

IN other words, if its going to happen, is it likely to happen on the surface? Ive seen that happen to a reg - but never at depth.


Also - would you then say that the HOG reg is any worse than the others you have worked on??

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Both situations occurred at depth, neither at the very start of a dive. I believe both were using original parts. After I rebuilt them both, they have been rock solid for about 2 years now. I've also had SPG's leak, 2nd stage freeflow, and SPG hoses blow up (miflex, the original kind). I think if you have enough regulators and you dive them enough it's just a matter of time before something breaks, and proper gas management makes it relatively safe to dive knowing that you can experience gear failure, something you probably know if you are diving to 150

The original HOG 2nd stage plastic seemed more brittle than the newer stuff. I had one 2nd stage crack. (I used to leave my gear on my sidemount bottles all of the time, most likely one tank rolled into another) I mentioned it to Cerich, and lets just say that he took care of me. I can't even call it customer service, but to replace something a customer probably broke on their own...I haven't bought a new regulator that wasn't HOG since then. (I have gotten a few used, though)

I have no complaints about the HOGS. I can't say it's any worse. I also don't know if it's anything better...it just works. My other regs just work. Some say you can tune this reg better or worse than that one...I don't need the best breathing regulator, so I don't care quite as much about the exact performance you can squeeze out of them. I'm more concerned with long term reliability and not free flowing in high flow caves while scootering, and the HOG's deliver.

Some say the chrome scratches easily...it does, or atleast it shows it more, than the matte kind of plating on silver DR regs, but it's no different than the way the black DR's don't stay shiny. It's just not an issue for me...

 

[manni-yunk]

Both situations occurred at depth, neither at the very start of a dive. I believe both were using original parts. After I rebuilt them both, they have been rock solid for about 2 years now. I've also had SPG's leak, 2nd stage freeflow, and SPG hoses blow up (miflex, the original kind). I think if you have enough regulators and you dive them enough it's just a matter of time before something breaks, and proper gas management makes it relatively safe to dive knowing that you can experience gear failure, something you probably know if you are diving to 150

...

Not real concerned - just wondering. Although I think most of us are prepared to handle a gear failure at depth - Id still rather avoid having to. Hogs are a great value for the $, but I wouldnt be afraid to spend more on something else if they were not demonstrating top of the line reliability. Ive had a high pressure hose start bubbling all over, and a button gauge "explode", but so far nothing on a first stage!



Starting to get deeper and deeper and looking to get more into trimix for next summer so planning more gear now and want to make the right decision!

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Like I said, I've had equal amounts of dive rite and hog first stages blowing up...

The least amount of blowing up first stages have been Beauchat diaphragm knockoffs and oceanic/scubapro/OMS unbalanced pistons. But, the pistons are deco regs that don't get nearly as much breathing time as back gas regs, and the Beauchat knockoffs have had the most problematic IP creep.

Pick your poison, but all gear breaks sooner or later!

 

[manni-yunk]

Went ahead and ordered another one (up to 3)! Now to figure out whether to keep my zeagles....or sell them and eventually end up with all Hogs.
I love the zeagles...but I also like consistency.