Poll: What are the top tier regulator brands?

[tbone1004]

They aren't "top tier."

the Navies of a myriad of countries and commercial divers would beg to differ on Poseidon in particular

 

[BoltSnap]

the Navies of a myriad of countries and commercial divers would beg to differ on Poseidon in particular

Although military and commercial diving needs are largely different from civilian recreational divers needs, I am referring to the big picture of availability of support at local and international locations and ease of adjustment and reliability of the equipment. Poseidon is no doubt a top of the line regulator but it is finicky and it will be very difficult to find a competent service technician who can do a good job in servicing their regulators.

 

[tbone1004]

Although military and commercial diving needs are largely different from civilian recreational divers needs, I am referring to the big picture of availability of support at local and international locations and ease of adjustment and reliability of the equipment. Poseidon is no doubt a top of the line regulator but it is finicky and it will be very difficult to find a competent service technician who can do a good job in servicing their regulators.

that I can't deny, however they do offer parts kits and a service course to end users which Atomic is very much against and that is a big negative to me as a tech diver.

 

[Fibonacci]

that I can't deny, however they do offer parts kits and a service course to end users which Atomic is very much against and that is a big negative to me as a tech diver.

That's what really bugs me about Atomic too, otherwise a very innovative company with well-designed high quality products.
The difficulty getting in parts and good service at a reasonable price is unfortunately a significant negative for the brand here in Australia.

 

[Doctor Rig]

Good discussion, as these issues are metrics within our poll!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

No regulator companies that I know of officially approve of the customer obtaining parts and doing their own service work, except for Hog and Deep6.
I was unaware that Poseidon allowed it finally (after a course).
Whether or not the end user can find parts for the various brands on their own is a different story. Yes, thanks to the internet and secret connections, black market parts can be obtained quite easily.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

I have my stock of Oceanic parts after the local dive shop shut down. But why buy a regulator from company like ScubaPro that will not provide parts to the end user? Is this consumer hostile? Are there others? If a company will not sell you maintenance parts after just a few years why buy from them?

 

[Doctor Rig]

I have my stock of Oceanic parts after the local dive shop shut down. But why buy a regulator from company like ScubaPro that will not provide parts to the end user? Is this consumer hostile? Are there others? If a company will not sell you maintenance parts after just a few years why buy from them?

Good comment on our poll “service” metric! To expand this issue further, many companies won’t even sell parts to dive shops unless they sell their products. This may be good for the LDS in the short term, but not in the long term for retaining customer loyalty.

Is this service issue so widespread that dive consumers just ignore it? I’m surprised the Deep 6 service model isn’t being duplicated by other companies.

 

[Pyro_]

easier to avoid liability for the companies if only trained service techs have access to the parts...

 

[Fibonacci]

Yet I can go a car dealer and buy OEM parts or go to an aftermarket source and 'have a go' at brake repairs

easier to avoid liability for the companies if only trained service techs have access to the parts...

And limiting the number of trained technicians in any given city will raise revenue opportunities for factory-accredited local dive shops performing mandatory 'life-support equipment' servicing