Is Dacor junk??

[montyb]

Up until last month, my wife and I have owned and used Dacor regs - 960 1st. stage, xlb & xlp 2nd stages and pacer octo's. These regs performed flawlessly at all depths. That being said - I recently got us new regs. Poseidon jet stream's 1st & 2nd stages and jet stream octo. I did that because of Dacor's not going to provide repair parts for their regs. I think that is definately a raw deal, and after that I would never buy any equipment produced by Dacor or Mares. I think poseidon and aqualung (US Divers) have certainly set the highest example of manufacturers taking care of customers that have purchased their products, even if those products are out of warranty and getting old.

 

[jdavishornet]

see a lot of dacor for sale on ebay cheaper than other gear. what does that tell you?

 

[Paul Evans]

see a lot of dacor for sale on ebay cheaper than other gear. what does that tell you?

Have you read this thread

 

[Paul Evans]

I can't speak specifically for Dacor, but since Dacor and Mares are the same company, I can speak for Mares.

I was on a dive trip last year with 8 other divers. We had 2 equipment failures - both were free-flowing Mares 1st stages. Scary.

And then my friend's Mares Ruby regulator has gone out on her twice now in the 3 years that she has owned it (once it free-flowed). And she goes on 2 dive trips per year with an annual service each year, so it is not being abused.

Lastly, the "remote" dive shops that I have been to have said very bad things about Mares/Dacor regulators. They tell me that they are very odd and require special tools. Oceanic, Scubapro, and other brands don't and are easier to fix. When I was in the Bay Islands off Honduras, one of the dive masters our boat could not find a local dive shop that could fix her Dacor regulator. So she ended up renting another regulator until parts could be special-ordered. Had she been in a large city in the USA, she could have found somebody to fix the regulator no problem. But in remote areas -- that's a different story.

So although my experience is far from "scientific", I've seen enough negative about the Mares line of products to warrant concern. And since Mares is Dacor, I would stay away from that brand as well. At least with regulators.

For regulators, stick with Scubapro, Oceanic, Atomic, Sherwood, or Apeks products. For BC's, go with Scubapro, Seaquest, Oceanic, Sherwood, or DiveRite. And with computers, check out Aeris, Oceanic, Suunto, or Sherwood. They are all better brands at equivalent prices to Mares/Dacor. And they all should be easier to service.

Of course, this is all my humble opinion.

What special tools????? unless an alllen key is special in your part of the world.

Regular service has nothing to with abuse, if an item of kit is abused the day after service is it the techs fault?

I could if I wished, order a service kit for any Mares reg and service it myself. The kits are avalible on-line.

 

[LosR3]

I dive a dacor Viper America..I love it. My first bc was a Scubapro Superhawk preowned I enjoy it but just recently purchased a DAcor Rave..I really enjoy it as well .
I have to say that as a dive tender most of the popular opinion was Dacor. I was told it was budget orented dive gear but for the recreational diving I do It suits me well. I may have a different opinion later ot if I was doing some major tec diving.

 

[android]

We went diving with father in law and his girlfriend in the Keys. He's got a Dacor Eagle less than a year old based on her recommendation since she used to own a dive shop for 20 years.

We come up from dive and his purge button is missing and a spring is hanging out of the regulator. The insides looked like cheap plastic used to make Happy-Meal toys.

 

[montyb]

Dacor used to be a fine top quality manufacturer. I and my wife switched to Dacor Regs in 1989. (2) Dacor 960's with pacer xlb and xlp 2nd stage for her. These reg's worked perfectly were one of the best breather's at all depth. Problem is, Dacor forgot about its faithful customers and when bought out by Mares let them discontinue parts for the older (but still good) regs. I would not purchase anything from Mares or Dacor today...(thats my decision). I have since purchased a poseidon jet stream 1st, 2nd, and jetstream octo. As much as I liked my 960 my poseidon out breaths and out performs it hands down. It isn't so much the equipment - its the service you can receive after the sale.
montyb

 

[busraider1]

My first set of gear, back in 1995 was dacor extreme plus, 1st , 2nd stage, dacor omipro dive computer, and the original RIG... Just this past spring upgraded to newer gear, but with over 300 dives on my dacor gear it worked flawlessly. a dozen or so dives to 110 feet, and never a problem. All this talk about dacor being junk, is from what i'm assuming people who never even bothered to try the equipment. Sure with dacor being taken over by another company, problems will arise, with parts, warranties etc.. but has there ever been a smooth sailing take over of another company where everything fits into place. I found that my local dive shop to be very friendly and forward and for yearly over hauls had it back in my hand the next day... So it was convienant for me to purchase dacor..when purchasing my gear back in the day (1995), the LDS recommended dacor, since that was what the owners and a few instructors there were using at the time. So all you nah sayers, who think dacor is junk, try reading some of these posts about the great preformance of dacor, from many people ..... Granted I'm now getting into tech diving, and have upgraded, but for a newbie who dove from shore and did the occasional boat dive to 110 feet here and there, dacors performance was well worth the money when i first started. and compared to other more expensive gear, i think close to a decade of service is worth a look for people who don't know the joys of diving dacor. Granted it's personal opinion, but here's a vote for dacor.

 

[Randy43068]

I've got a Dacor RIGII BC and really like it. I've had it a couple of years now and haven't had any problems with it.
Perhaps some of their equipment isn't as good as it could be, but that goes with just about any brand.

 

[ShakaZulu]

My answer is YES, "Is that you final answer?", YES!!!!!!!!!!!!