Metal second stage regulator?

[slackercruster]

Luis H writes:

"I can easily go many years without servicing a double hose or a metal second stage regulator, and most first stages."

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/3853388-post5.html



We sometime have this discussion on digital photography forums about photo lenses for DSLR's. In the old days the SLR's lens housings were all metal. Now they are made cheap plastic.

Once in while the lens companies like Nikon will add some metal and charge big bucks for it. But the lenses don't seem to test out that much better than some plastic housed models.

All my regs (Sherwood and Oceanic) bought in the last 5 or 6 years are budget models and have plastic 2nd stages What is so special about metal 2nd stage regs?

Is metal a sign of high quality and better build with regs? Or is it more of a prerequisite to just charge more $$ for the regs?

 

[redacted]

Metal 2nd stages tend to be more durable. My dented metal 2nds would have been cracked or shattered plastic cases. And there are less components to go bad. My old scubapro 109s have a simple "hockey puck" style LP seat and only 2 o-rings (one on the metal orifice and another on the adjustment knob). I DIY and make my own LP seats so the parts cost me under $.50 to service.

 

[Greg Barlow]

The reason why metal regs are uncommon in today's catalogs is due to $$$$$$$. It is much more expensive to manufacture a metal bodied second stage. You must first form the body, and then braze additional pieces to it. After polishing, it is then plated with copper, nickle, and finally chrome. In short, a multi-step process that requires quite a bit of hand work.

Polymer bodied regs are made using injection molding technology. Sure, the initial mold cost is high, but the actual produced item cost relatively little.

When I am not diving with vintage single and double hose regs, I typically am using my V42 Mares Proton Metal. It works wonderfully whether I am ice diving, or venturing into Florida's caves. In cold waters, its high thermal conductivity wards off icing. In temperate/warm waters it keeps my mouth moist.

One additional plus is that I find it to be pleasing to my eyes. I can't say that about very many plastic versions.

Greg Barlow

 

[hudson]

Huge difference for me in drymouth between my plastic regs and my 109s. And it's nice to be able to abuse them.. I frequently place my tanks on their sides with the second stage bungeed on the tanks, and with a plastic 2nd I need to be careful not to smash the reg. With the 109s no problem.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I had a dive buddy panic once at 130 ft when his plastic second stage cracked and flooded.

Plastic second stages are much cheaper to produce. A plastic second stage case for example will have a dealer cost of maybe $4 and a production cost perhpas have that - $2. A chrome plated brass case in contrast would easily cost 10-15 times that amount to produce - $20-$30, with a dealer cost of $40-$60.

Now, many divers would gladly pay another $40-60 for a new metal cased reg due to the duirability, decreased dry mouth, better heat transfer and cold water performance, etc, but the irony here was that when most companies introduced plastic cased regs they hyped them as an advance in technology and charged more for them than comparable metal cased regs. It was a major rip off by the dive industry.

 

[Belce]

sigh

how tough, durable or strong your regulator is depends on the matrials it is made from.

and if it is plastic, it depends on the plastic

if it is metal, it depends on the metal

cheap will always be cheap, but can be expensive to buy