Retired Rental Regulators...

[jpsexton]

I may be able to buy some regulators that have been retired out of a store rental department. If I have them serviced, are they considered to be functionally like new? With the cost of service they will still be a bargain and I'd like to have a spare set of regulators, but being rentals I'm sure they have many, many dives on them. Would they be as new, or at least safe?

John

 

[JKSteger]

all of my regulators have been purchased from my LDS's old rental fleet or from my LDS owner himself. They have all been serviced and perform great. I've saved houndreds of dollars by doing this.

I see no problem with it as long as you have them serviced or the store performs a full service on the regulators before you buy them.

I wouldn't do this with someone / somewhere that I didn't know and trust.

Jeremy

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Depends on the regs and how they were taken care of. Most reputable shops service their rentals on a regular basis. And while there may be cosmetic issues (scratches, fading of colors, etc) they are perfectly workable and reliable. My first set of regs were former rentals. It was what I could afford at the time. Stll have em and use em for my pony or when my primary is being annualed If I need to dive. My lds sells it's rentals with the addition of a regular annual service before you take them and mine also came with a 1 yr warranty from him. It is still covered under the manufacurers parts policy at annual and I pay for labor until this year when part of my gear course is going to be servicing all 4 of my regs. I'll not be a certified tech but I'll get experience on oceanic, sherwood and aqualung while saving cash at the same time. I'll be doing the labor under his supervision and be guided thru each step.

 

[redacted]

Depends on how well the shop cared for them. Clearly the renter should not be expected to do the job. Old (really old too) regulators can be as good, or even better than, new regulators. I usually use 20 to 30 year old regs that are safe, reliable, and high performance. Some were very well cared for and look it. Others were not but were luckily revivable as critical surfaces were not permenantly damaged. If rental regs were properly cleaned and maintained by the shop they should be an excellent buy. If you can't do the work yourself, I'd suggest you have the shop service them (or demonstrate that service in unnecessary) before you buy them. I'd be very cautious if they decline as that would suggest to me that there may well be more than normal wear & tear.

 

[Hoosier]

There are many factors you have to consider

1. brand & model. Like a car, there is a different maintenance review over time depending on the model.
2. Maintenance, some LDS do not take care of the regualtor regularly. Instead, they used to sell it periodically, every two or three years.
3. Frequency, how many rental customers your LDS have? The rental regulators weren't used that much,
4. Salt or fresh water: It is used mainly in a fresh water or salt water. The reg in a fresh water is much more clean inside.

If I got the rental reg from LDS, I would only get the top notch brand and model, such as Atomic, Apeks, or ScubaPro.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Many dive shops are offerred opportunities to upgrade their regs every couple of years. Scubapro for example gives dealers sweetheart deals on rental regs and then lets them sell them off after 2 years of service - which usually generates enough money for the shop to upgrade to new rental regs. Scubapro also automatically sends enough annual service kits to service the rental regs 3-4 times per year.

So...ex-rental regs can be a great deal and in most cases will have a history of being well maintained. Some shops also offer what amounts to a store warranty where they will guarentee the reg to work and maybe offer free annual services the first year or two.

Rental regs tend to be lower end entry level models, so they tend to be less expensive. That can make them an excellent first reg for a cash challenged diver and it can make them very attractive as back up, pony and deco regs as well.

But...with any used reg, condition is everything and while scratched second stage cases and purge covers are not mechanically important, you want to be sure the reg you are buying is in perfect working condition and is freshly serviced.