Scubamax regulator vs Apeks. Huge difference in price...what about quality?
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Apeks FSR 1st stage, the one normally couple with 200 series 2nd stage, comes with an replaceable seat as well.
My main regulator is an Atomic M1. My main travel regulator and my Son's main regulator is also Atomic. I also have a scubapro backup reg.
My instructor and main dive buddy use Scubamax. They have nothing but good things to say about those regs. My Atomics are all in the shop and I decided to get a loaner Scubamax reg for this Friday's dive. We probably won't get below 100 ft where we will be diving, so I'm not sure if it will be a good test or not. Either way I'll report back my comparisons on Friday.
One thing to consider is maintenance. The Scubamax kits cost $12 (wholesale cost) for two second stages and one first stage. My instructor is a good friend and would not charge me any labor. He says it's a really easy reg to work on so I can't imagine labor would be that much. After dropping $700 at the Atomic Aquatics factory for maintenance and every upgrade available for six second stages and three first stages, if I like how Scubamax breathes, there may be an equipment change in order.
BTW, I buy all my regulators used. Here is San Diego there are a lot of people that go on these cruises and participate in the "adventure dive" where you don't need a certification. They get all geeked up on diving, spend WAY too much on equipment and after their four OW certification dives they realize:
THE OCEAN IS F'N COLD IN SAN DIEGO. As a result there are always top end used regulators with four dives on the market in this area. They typically go for about 30%-50% of what they would cost new.
My instructor and main dive buddy use Scubamax. They have nothing but good things to say about those regs. My Atomics are all in the shop and I decided to get a loaner Scubamax reg for this Friday's dive. We probably won't get below 100 ft where we will be diving, so I'm not sure if it will be a good test or not. Either way I'll report back my comparisons on Friday.
One thing to consider is maintenance. The Scubamax kits cost $12 (wholesale cost) for two second stages and one first stage. My instructor is a good friend and would not charge me any labor. He says it's a really easy reg to work on so I can't imagine labor would be that much. After dropping $700 at the Atomic Aquatics factory for maintenance and every upgrade available for six second stages and three first stages, if I like how Scubamax breathes, there may be an equipment change in order.
BTW, I buy all my regulators used. Here is San Diego there are a lot of people that go on these cruises and participate in the "adventure dive" where you don't need a certification. They get all geeked up on diving, spend WAY too much on equipment and after their four OW certification dives they realize:
THE OCEAN IS F'N COLD IN SAN DIEGO. As a result there are always top end used regulators with four dives on the market in this area. They typically go for about 30%-50% of what they would cost new.
Bubbletrubble
Contributor
Since your dive buddy is an instructor who services Scubamax regs, I'm not surprised that you're seriously considering that brand of regs. If you only have to pay the wholesale cost of the overhaul kits (which BTW is very low for any manufacturer's regs) during regulator servicing, that drives down the cost of reg ownership considerably.
$700. Yikes. I spent $200 for a used (very good condition), freshly-serviced Apeks reg (XTX200/50/FSR) setup two years ago. A few years before that, I bought a heavily discounted Apeks reg (brand new; ATX100/50/FST) for $300. $700 is a lot of money to be spending on regulator maintenance alone (even if it was for 3 reg setups and included "upgrades").
Out of curiosity, where are you getting your Atomic regs serviced in San Diego?
Seraphimx
Contributor
Just a question throw in this jumble.
People talk about HOG and being unable to service it outside of the country. (ie: on vacation)
Since the D1 is a DST & the D2 is a DS4, and there's plenty of Aqualung Dive-shops around the world, wouldn't it be easier to carry around a parts kit and take it somewhere if you don't know how to service/fix it?
Since fixing it wouldn't be a problem to someone who opened a DS4.
I don't know about ScubaMax, are there similar reg on the market that have the same design?
People talk about HOG and being unable to service it outside of the country. (ie: on vacation)
Since the D1 is a DST & the D2 is a DS4, and there's plenty of Aqualung Dive-shops around the world, wouldn't it be easier to carry around a parts kit and take it somewhere if you don't know how to service/fix it?
Since fixing it wouldn't be a problem to someone who opened a DS4.
I don't know about ScubaMax, are there similar reg on the market that have the same design?
Bubbletrubble
Contributor
@Seraphimx: You make a good point. There are a number of regs on the market that look very similar (inside and out) to the Apeks design. I agree that, because of the limited reach of the HOG dealership network, it would make sense for a HOG reg owner to carry 1st and 2nd stage overhaul kits with him on a scuba vacation. Then, it might be possible to take advantage of a local reg tech's knowledge to help fix an issue with the reg. Based on what I've seen on disassembly/reassembly videos of HOG regs, they are strikingly similar to certain Apeks/Aqualung regs. Alternatively, the diver could just bring along another fully functioning reg setup as a backup. That's what I do when I go on vacation.
With regard to having an Apeks/Aqualung-trained reg tech do HOG reg servicing/repairs...
There may be issues with having such work done. First, the reg tech might refuse to do the repairs due to liability concerns. After all, he hasn't taken the official HOG reg training. Second, the reg tech won't have access to the proper reg torque specs and the "official" HOG reg tech servicing manual. That being said, in a pinch, if he's a reasonably competent reg tech, he should be able take the reg apart and put it back together again using Apeks/Aqualung torque specs. Is it safe to do that? I suppose that only someone who (1) understands the working tolerances of such specs and (2) is authorized to work on both Apeks/Aqualung and HOG regs could tell us.
At present the HOG reg manufacturer (cerich) seems open to the idea of hosting a freely downloadable PDF file of the official HOG reg tech servicing manual on the HOG website. This is a departure from the situation in recent years, when only those who paid for and took the reg servicing class were permitted to have a hardcopy of the manual (and were forbidden to share it with others). I use the words "seems open to the idea" because navigating to the appropriate page on the HOG manufacturer's website reveals a handful of broken links to the reg manuals and schematics. I recall the manufacturer mentioning that he pays some high school/college kid to do his website maintenance, so perhaps interested parties will have to wait until that kid has a break from school (e.g., summer vacation, Thanksgiving, winter holidays, spring break, etc.). Personally, I don't think that writing a few lines of HTML code and FTPing a couple of PDFs to a server are difficult tasks...but that's just me. (FWIW, I'm not a computer guy at all.) I realize that there are lots of people out there with varying levels of computer-savvy. Unfortunately, in this day and age, having broken links on a company website over a timeframe of weeks (or months?) can reflect poorly on the company's image.
IF you decide go with the scubamax check to make sure it cold water rated it was 48 degrees on monday in Monterey,If you decide to move can you get your regulator service? Also Jimmy getting up their in age he may decide to retire.
OP
ScubaERDoc
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NCadiver: Agreed. Getting Scubamax from Jimmy may have made me way too married to his shop, and would have had a good cry when he finally retired and I could not get the regs serviced anymore. A better option would have been HOG as there are plenty of people around who can accept mail-in regs to service. I just wish there was a HOG dealer close to SF.
Ended up getting the Apeks XTX50 status/Egress for a decent price. I think I made the right choice. Though a full HOG set would have been about $100 cheaper, its nice to be able to have my Apeks serviced at down the street.
Ended up getting the Apeks XTX50 status/Egress for a decent price. I think I made the right choice. Though a full HOG set would have been about $100 cheaper, its nice to be able to have my Apeks serviced at down the street.
Seraphimx
Contributor
If you got such a deal it's better to get Apeks, Do you get the Free-parts-for-life?
I have a concern with private branded regulators made in China.
Who owns the engineering drawings and dimensional specifications used in the build?
Tooling wears out over time how does the USA distributor maintain quality controll?
Who owns the engineering drawings and dimensional specifications used in the build?
Tooling wears out over time how does the USA distributor maintain quality controll?
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