Quality of new regs

[Garrobo]

I'm starting to wonder about the quality of the new regs on the market. I've been using some old Dacor regs which I had rebuilt a couple years ago with no problems whatsoever. I recently bought a set of new Oceanic regs and octo. Within 12 dives the first stage was recalled for a defective high pressure seat and the second stage started breathing wet within the next two dives necessitating that I send the whole outfit in to the manufacturer to be examined and adjusted. Sort of makes me want to go back to my brass and chrome stuff and use the plastic for a backup. Huh?

 

[Shellback]

Garrobo, sorry to hear that you had a stroke of bad luck with the new regs ! Personally I find that I use what works and try not to fall prey to all the marketing of the latest, greatest features that are constantly promoted by manufacturers. I have been using the first Oceanic Delta reg since the 80s and it works great at any depth.

Although not having used all the regs on the market certainly cannot comment on their performance but it does seem that any new reg out there should perform at least as any rec diver would demand. After all, the device is simply a couple valves with a pressure reduction and a mouth piece. Use what works for you and have fun.

I have used Dacors in the past and they worked great, wish I still had them in my bag.

Time to go find the old Scubapro in the garage and dust it off !

 

[Nismo]

Build quality seems to be an issue of mass produced, assembly line products. Plastics and polymers have come a long way so I don't neccessarily believe it's the materials as much as the assembly process. Unfortunately that's what happens in the process of outsourcing to unskilled laborers. Figure the older equipment probably had a lot more though and care in the production aspect not just the design.

 

[halocline]

I like the older SP stuff. It's hard to beat a metal case 2nd stage, with a brass orifice, and a 1st stage that has 3 rebuild parts; hp seat and 2 o-rings. Other than that, a few static o-rings, and the dust cap, it's all metal.

 

[Scubagolf]

I don't neccessarily believe it's the materials as much as the assembly process. Unfortunately that's what happens in the process of outsourcing to unskilled laborers.

Do you have any information about outsourcing of scuba equipment manufacturing or the relative skill of the people who assemble the equipment?

 

[Garrobo]

Scubagolf::I doubt seriously if any or all of the regs on the market today are manufactured in the US, by citizens of the US, in the US, let alone assemble here.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Most manufacturing that I deal with is now run by Accountants/Admin types not engineers/technical people. I don't have anything against accountants/Admin types they just shouldn't run factories.

Edit: I don't deal with Scuba Equipment Manufacturers.

 

[captain]

Build quality seems to be an issue of mass produced, assembly line products. Plastics and polymers have come a long way so I don't neccessarily believe it's the materials as much as the assembly process. Unfortunately that's what happens in the process of outsourcing to unskilled laborers. Figure the older equipment probably had a lot more though and care in the production aspect not just the design.

When Rene' Bossoz started U S Divers in the early 1950's it was cheaper to import regulator parts rather than complete regulators because of import duty rates. At the time he was the owner of Rene's Sports, a sporting goods store in Los Angeles and the store's janitor assembled the parts into whole regulators.

 

[ronbeau]

I'm starting to wonder about the quality of the new regs on the market. I've been using some old Dacor regs which I had rebuilt a couple years ago with no problems whatsoever. I recently bought a set of new Oceanic regs and octo. Within 12 dives the first stage was recalled for a defective high pressure seat and the second stage started breathing wet within the next two dives necessitating that I send the whole outfit in to the manufacturer to be examined and adjusted. Sort of makes me want to go back to my brass and chrome stuff and use the plastic for a backup. Huh?

My family has three regulators as follows:

ScubaPro MK25SA/S600 - 3 years old
Atomic B2 - 2 years old
Atomic B2 - 1 year old

I have had no problems whatsoever with any of the three regulators.

 

[Satori]

I've had zero problems with my Apeks ATX 200