looking for parts for my scubapro AIR 1

[abman]

how many of you actually remember the old scubapro AIR 1. being's that i can't take it to my lds. and get it serviced any more i am looking for parts, mainly the poppet. i have dove a lot of regs over the years, and i have to admit, i have never found a reg that breathes better. i'm currently diving a ledgend L X and a zeagle IV they are both great regs, but they don't hold a candle to the AIR I. any help would be great, thanks ken

 

[tribaltim]

how many of you actually remember the old scubapro AIR 1. being's that i can't take it to my lds. and get it serviced any more i am looking for parts, mainly the poppet. i have dove a lot of regs over the years, and i have to admit, i have never found a reg that breathes better. i'm currently diving a ledgend L X and a zeagle IV they are both great regs, but they don't hold a candle to the AIR I. any help would be great, thanks ken

I'm curious what's an Air I. I mean I have a Scuba Pro Air II is the Air one just the first version of it and what's this Air 3 I hear of is their really an Air 3 out their already?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The Air 1 is a predecessor to the D300,D350 and D400. The poppet assembly was basically identical to the D300 but the diaphragm was on the back of the regulator body and the exhaust valve was not present but rather was exhausted out the edge of the diaphragm.

They moved the diaphragm to the front and added a coaxial exhaust valve to reduce the potential for wet breathing in some situations.

The diaphragm was retained on the case with a metal clip and it was easy to put a hole in the diaphragm when installing or uninstalling the diaphragm and new diaphragms are no longer available.

However a D300/350/400 poppet will work just fine in an Air 1 and is still available from SP in the D400 annual service kit.

The problem is nearly all shops have stopped servicing the Air 1 due to liability issues stemming from SP discontinuing support. The Air 1 and Pilot are essentially the only second stages that SP no longer supports, and this is due to the extremely small number still in service and the lack of commonality in service techniques with anything else. This has led to a problem of keeping/finding techs who are still familiar with them. When you only do one or so per year, it's very hard for a tech to say they are "competent" to work on one. And other liability issues aside, with the lack of diaphragms, if you poke a hole in one you have a very angry customer with a new paperweight.

My suggestion is to find a good used D300, D350 or D400 and retire your Air 1 as the performance of any of the D series is equally excellent.

 

[abman]

The Air 1 is a predecessor to the D300,D350 and D400. The poppet assembly was basically identical to the D300 but the diaphragm was on the back of the regulator body and the exhaust valve was not present but rather was exhausted out the edge of the diaphragm.

They moved the diaphragm to the front and added a coaxial exhaust valve to reduce the potential for wet breathing in some situations.

The diaphragm was retained on the case with a metal clip and it was easy to put a hole in the diaphragm when installing or uninstalling the diaphragm and new diaphragms are no longer available.

However a D300/350/400 poppet will work just fine in an Air 1 and is still available from SP in the D400 annual service kit.

The problem is nearly all shops have stopped servicing the Air 1 due to liability issues stemming from SP discontinuing support. The Air 1 and Pilot are essentially the only second stages that SP no longer supports, and this is due to the extremely small number still in service and the lack of commonality in service techniques with anything else. This has led to a problem of keeping/finding techs who are still familiar with them. When you only do one or so per year, it's very hard for a tech to say they are "competent" to work on one. And other liability issues aside, with the lack of diaphragms, if you poke a hole in one you have a very angry customer with a new paperweight.

My suggestion is to find a good used D300, D350 or D400 and retire your Air 1 as the performance of any of the D series is equally excellent.

i must ad mit it's kinda nice hearing form someone who actually knows about the air 1. and how and why. i have been talking with the sp tech at dolphin dive lds. here in sac . he has told me that the poppt is a little different on the air 1 vs. the d300. on the air 1 the poppet and the stem is one piece, on the d 300 it is 2 pieces and they won't interchange. i do have a few of the diaphrams left, but one 1 poppet left in my repair kit. when i get that low on parts i start to sweat a bit. i would really hate to have to put it in the muesuem with some of my other working regs, just because i can't get parts for them any more. i guess that sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and upgrade. damn.................... thanks ken p.s. i haven't tried either the d300, 350 or 400 yet, maybe it's time... i know that the air 1 was WAY ahead of it's time.

 

[rockinrebel]

I know this thread is ancient, but I just had my Scubapro Air 1 serviced a couple of weeks ago (July 2008). And I agree, nothing breathes better. I like the Air 1 way better than my wifes S600 (even though the S600 is a great regulator).

 

[EdTeach]

Abman,
What did you do with your Air 1's and parts?

 

[halocline]

Since it's been almost 7 years since abman started this thread, I suspect he's no longer active on the forum. However, if you need Air 1 parts, I have a couple of them I could sell for parts. Send me a PM if you're interested. It might be a few weeks before I'll be able to go through what I have, though.