quickshaftone
Guest
was wondering if anybody knows what a dacor quantum 1st,2nd,octo,and gauges is worth? they have been well taken care of just serviced 9 months ago and once a year there before.
Old Dacor stuff, what's it worth?
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I would see if Mares makes parts for it (Mares bought out Dacor). If they do not, then I would see if any of the generic parts (like Trident) would work in the reg. All second stages can pretty much be rebuilt with generic parts, it is the first stage high pressure seat that may be difficult to locate. If you can make it a fully functioning regulator, I could see paying 75-150 bucks for it provided it is in good shape. Even if the first stage was shot, you still got two second stages and gauges for around 100 beans. You can't touch that price in new gear unless you buy foreign no-name stuff.
diver1011
Registered
I have the Quantum and the Extreme and have been diving with them for over 10 years. The story from Mares is that all of the molds for the parts for the Dacor regs were destroyed. I talked to Bruce Bowker in Bonaire last year and he confirmed that he had used up all of his inventory of parts. Pretty much sucks since they were pretty decent regs. I'm thinking about replacing mine this year although Bruce said that with care they should last a long time.
Dacor products were great. They were around for a very long time and were great workhorse regulators. After Head Sports / Mares bought up Dacor they had the line for a few years then when they stopped the Dacor Brand they destroyed all the service parts. To that end there are virtually no parts available for these products anymore unless a dealer has old stock. Orings and things can be interchanged from standard sizes but "parts" that are broken cannot be replaced.
Some things are not meant to last forever.
Cheers
Some things are not meant to last forever.
Cheers
Matthew Mandziuk
Registered
Is that you Joel? You rock!
Dacor is dead, a legacy that was better in quality and performance than USD and Scubapro at it's time.
Mares bought the company for peanuts, ran it into the ground, destroyed the molds and they have 2 upgrades available.
You can get a Voltrex 42 (same 2nd stage as Abyss), or a Prestige 12, which is their unbalanced carbon fiber 2nd stage. You can email me, as I am an authorized Mares dealer, or your local dealer and we'll give you a great price on a new Mares reg.
I dove a Quantum in the early '90's and it was a nice reg, but compared to what's out there today for cold water performance and reliability, you'll be happier with something else.
Dacor is dead, a legacy that was better in quality and performance than USD and Scubapro at it's time.
Mares bought the company for peanuts, ran it into the ground, destroyed the molds and they have 2 upgrades available.
You can get a Voltrex 42 (same 2nd stage as Abyss), or a Prestige 12, which is their unbalanced carbon fiber 2nd stage. You can email me, as I am an authorized Mares dealer, or your local dealer and we'll give you a great price on a new Mares reg.
I dove a Quantum in the early '90's and it was a nice reg, but compared to what's out there today for cold water performance and reliability, you'll be happier with something else.
Sorry gotta disagree with with the statement that the quality and performance of Dacor outclassed USD and Scubapro. I do not believe that Dacor has ever produced a regulator that has performed better than its rivals.
Clippers and Dial-a-Breaths never had the same performance as Mistral, DAAM, or RAM....though I did like the double diaphragm idea.
Dacor Dart or Scubapro/Healthways MK2?....no contest.
Dacor 300/350/360 or USD Conshelf 14/21/SE2?
Dacor 600 or Scubapro MK5?.....anybody gonna pick the Dacor here?
Can anybody argue that an Aero or Pacer is better than a 109, Balanced Adjustable or USD 2nd stage?
Dacor 900/950/960 may have a similar cold water performance as Conshelf ,SEA Supreme or SPEC'd MK5 or 10 but couldn't compare in the gas delivery area.
Enduro, Quantum and Extreme were perfectly fine breathing regs, but what a horrible design...the final nail in the coffin for Dacor.
Clippers and Dial-a-Breaths never had the same performance as Mistral, DAAM, or RAM....though I did like the double diaphragm idea.
Dacor Dart or Scubapro/Healthways MK2?....no contest.
Dacor 300/350/360 or USD Conshelf 14/21/SE2?
Dacor 600 or Scubapro MK5?.....anybody gonna pick the Dacor here?
Can anybody argue that an Aero or Pacer is better than a 109, Balanced Adjustable or USD 2nd stage?
Dacor 900/950/960 may have a similar cold water performance as Conshelf ,SEA Supreme or SPEC'd MK5 or 10 but couldn't compare in the gas delivery area.
Enduro, Quantum and Extreme were perfectly fine breathing regs, but what a horrible design...the final nail in the coffin for Dacor.
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TN Traveler
Contributor
Sorry to tell you - but you got the story WRONG!!!
The Dacor molds were destroyed BEFORE Mares bought Dacor. Dacor was bankrupt and owed suppliers lots of $$$ and since the suppliers saw no hope of recovery, they discarded/destroyed the molds (do you really believe that Dacor manufactured all it's own parts
)Mares supplied parts as long as possible from the stock they got from Dacor and then offered a great trade-in program for those that owned Dacor equipment. Mares did not ruin Dacor - DACOR RUINED DACOR!!!!
Mares mistake was trying to keep a great old name alive - for which it has gotten trashed. Not surprising that Mares is not pushing the Dacor name anymore.
I definitely think that USD outclassed Dacor in terms of performance. Dacor never (to my knowledge and my copy of the ANU) had any regulators that were authorized for Navy use. U.S. Diver's had more than I can count. As for Mares, the last MR12 (or whatever they call it this week) that I took apart looked like a flagrant copy of the venerable USD royal aquamaster first stage. I guess emulation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Keep in mind though, even though Dacor parts are gone, many generic parts will work. I know for a fact that Trident sells at least three HP seats that will fit in Dacor regs. Besides O-rings and filters, that's reall the only part you need.
Keep in mind though, even though Dacor parts are gone, many generic parts will work. I know for a fact that Trident sells at least three HP seats that will fit in Dacor regs. Besides O-rings and filters, that's reall the only part you need.
OceansBlue
Contributor
I was a long time user of Dacor and thought that there product was superior back in the day. I had my Extreme Plus regulator for 13 years and it was still going strong. I recently upgraded it to an Oceanic EOS since my LDS ran out of parts for it. Not too mention that Oceanic had a great deal with 20% off for a trade in. I couldn't turn that down.
Doug
Doug
Hopefully this helps people with Dacor Regs. This is a list from MARES.
All regs older than 2000 can be turned in to an authorized Mares dealer for the upgrade program. It runs through the end of this year. See your local dealer for more details on the program.
*I attached the image as a .pdf for anyone who wants it or if the image becomes unavailable.*
--
Matt
All regs older than 2000 can be turned in to an authorized Mares dealer for the upgrade program. It runs through the end of this year. See your local dealer for more details on the program.
*I attached the image as a .pdf for anyone who wants it or if the image becomes unavailable.*
--
Matt
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