Tabata Regulators.

[SeaFlea]

Greetings All. I’m looking at some new regulators and I like the design of Tusa’s RS 681. Doing my normal discovery process I’m surprised at the lack of feedback on Tulsa’s regulators. Can anyone give me some feedback, positive or negative on Tabata’s regs?
Thank you. Good Dives. SeaFlea.

 

[tbone1004]

Scubapro certainly seems to like them as Tabata is the manufacturer for quite a few of their models....

They are not found in most dive shops which is probably why you haven't seen much about them directly and with the general orientation of this board they are not a brand that is really conducive to promotion.

In terms of quality they're every bit as good as anyone else out there, I can't comment on that particular model other than it is not a design that I would personally choose, but any regulator on the market now is going to be fine for the vast majority of divers. What about that design jumps out to you out of curiosity?

 

[SeaFlea]

Thank you Tbone for your reply. I like it because of it’s small, compact first stage. Travel and back of head friendly. Also I have been a fan of Tusa equipment for years. Looking at the current offerings in regulators today,,,, its not easy to decide. I’m diving ScubaPro, Atomic, and Mares currently. They all have plenty of choices to choose from. Thank you for your time, your feedback gives me a little more insight. Good Dives, SeaFlea.

 

[tbone1004]

Thank you Tbone for your reply. I like it because of it’s small, compact first stage. Travel and back of head friendly. Also I have been a fan of Tusa equipment for years. Looking at the current offerings in regulators today,,,, its not easy to decide. I’m diving ScubaPro, Atomic, and Mares currently. They all have plenty of choices to choose from. Thank you for your time, your feedback gives me a little more insight. Good Dives, SeaFlea.

most of the first stages without a turret are about that size, though for travel I would recommend a sealed diaphragm first stage to make cleanup a bit easier.

 

[axxel57]

Tabata Regs crossed years ago my way, when, for whatever reasons, one customer used the TR350/S30 Combo as fleet regulators and I had to service them.
I had no schematics or something else, but I was immediately impressed by the quality of their components. I don't know any other regs with a similar durable chrome coating as the ones from Tabata (TUSA).
The technical designs are interesting, the plastic used pretty strong and long living, but most parts are unique and not interchangeable with other brands or models (I think that's true at least for the Pre 2000 designs).
They had been very long living and on the test bench they always showed a good performance.
If I find Tabata Regs for cheap money in the bay, I still buy them, because I like to work on them.
I think Tabata Regs are quite underrated, they seem to have not a good promotion.
Maybe it's like with Sherwood, which is a huge company, and the Dive Equipment Department is just a very small part of it.
I didn't know that Tabata was producing for SP. I thought that Tabata and SP got their RS460-MK16 from the same Manufacturer in Taiwan.
Since the quality of the components of the RS460-MK16 1sts is at most industry standard, I doubt a bit that it was produced by the same manufacturer who produced the Pre 2000 Tabata designs, but maybe somebody here knows more.

 

[SeaFlea]

most of the first stages without a turret are about that size, though for travel I would recommend a sealed diaphragm first stage to make cleanup a bit easier.

Thanks Tbone, I'm learning a bit more about Tabata and will keep that in mind.

 

[SeaFlea]

Tabata Regs crossed years ago my way, when, for whatever reasons, one customer used the TR350/S30 Combo as fleet regulators and I had to service them.
I had no schematics or something else, but I was immediately impressed by the quality of their components. I don't know any other regs with a similar durable chrome coating as the ones from Tabata (TUSA).
The technical designs are interesting, the plastic used pretty strong and long living, but most parts are unique and not interchangeable with other brands or models (I think that's true at least for the Pre 2000 designs).
They had been very long living and on the test bench they always showed a good performance.
If I find Tabata Regs for cheap money in the bay, I still buy them, because I like to work on them.
I think Tabata Regs are quite underrated, they seem to have not a good promotion.
Maybe it's like with Sherwood, which is a huge company, and the Dive Equipment Department is just a very small part of it.
I didn't know that Tabata was producing for SP. I thought that Tabata and SP got their RS460-MK16 from the same Manufacturer in Taiwan.
Since the quality of the components of the RS460-MK16 1sts is at most industry standard, I doubt a bit that it was produced by the same manufacturer who produced the Pre 2000 Tabata designs, but maybe somebody here knows more.

Thank you Axxel. That is some good info. Thank you for your time. SeaFlea.

 

[SaltyWombat]

... though for travel I would recommend a sealed diaphragm first stage to make cleanup a bit easier.

Do you mean sealed regs are better because you should soak unsealed piston regs for a long time? Maybe sealed regs can just be given a quick rinse, as on a liveaboard?

 

[tbone1004]

Do you mean sealed regs are better because you should soak unsealed piston regs for a long time? Maybe sealed regs can just be given a quick rinse, as on a liveaboard?

correct, since no moving or captured parts are exposed the cleanup doesn't have to be nearly as diligent. It still should be, but if you are in a scenario where you can't soak and/or rinse while the gear is still wet it doesn't open you up to as many problems. It's one of those things where the only reason you would use an unsealed diaphragm is for cost savings, there is no practical benefit for them *with a couple exceptions of diving at extreme trimix depths where the over-compensating bit causes problems*