Info Technical Discussion | HOTDIVE Diving Equipment Development

[HotDive(Hide In Ocean)]

Hi everyone,

I’m Nick from HOTDIVE—yep, the team that specialises in stainless steel regulators! We’re divers ourselves, so we’ve gotten wet testing this gear more times than we can count . I wanted to share some of the stuff we’ve been working on and hear what you think.

Here’s a peek at what we have:

• BCDs: backmount, sidemount, and technical styles—we’re always tweaking buoyancy systems and materials to make them comfortable and reliable underwater.
• Regulators: stainless steel, smooth breathing, corrosion-resistant—no nasty surprises in saltwater.
• Tanks & high-pressure valves: industrial safety tested, so you can breathe easy.
• Other gear & accessories: inflator hoses, connectors, and service kits / spare parts for major brands.

Let’s chat:

• What matters most to you when picking a BCD or regulator?
• Any frustrations with gear you’ve used on the market?
• Curious about any products in particular? Ask away—I’ll answer your questions one by one.

If anyone’s interested, I can also share photos and testing comparisons of our BCDs and regulators.

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts and swap some dive stories!


– HOTDIVE

 

[chrisch]

My antivirus says fix your infected website. You might find that a more productive use of your time than this thread.

 

[HotDive(Hide In Ocean)]

My antivirus says fix your infected website. You might find that a more productive use of your time than this thread.

LOL, you read my mind! We're actually launching a fresh new site ; www.hotdivescuba.com. Come see what's up!

 

[elmo]

Like many here I probably have enough dive gear, but am also interested in what’s interesting and have a habit of acquiring more. My own interests and questions would be:
- service kits for my regulators are hard to come by for mere mortals outside Europe, can you help with kits for Scubapro (Mk17, Mk2, G260, G250, R195), Apeks (DS4), Hollis (I forget but it’s a rotating turret diaphragm similar to Apeks, and balanced and adjustable Hollis second stages bought new in 2013)
- hoses: only interested in rubber. As a new player how do we know yours are good quality
- why stainless steel? Ordinary brass first stages seem to last quite well. Are there other benefits?

 

[HotDive(Hide In Ocean)]

Like many here I probably have enough dive gear, but am also interested in what’s interesting and have a habit of acquiring more. My own interests and questions would be:
- service kits for my regulators are hard to come by for mere mortals outside Europe, can you help with kits for Scubapro (Mk17, Mk2, G260, G250, R195), Apeks (DS4), Hollis (I forget but it’s a rotating turret diaphragm similar to Apeks, and balanced adjustable second stages bought new in 2013)
- hoses: only interested in rubber. As a new player how do we know yours are good quality
- why stainless steel? Ordinary brass first stages seem to last quite well. Are there other benefits?

-Our service kits are compatible with all models of Apeks regulators (excluding the Apeks Flight). Currently, we do not offer service kits for Hollis regulators.
-Regarding your interest in rubber hoses, I believe evaluation should be based on their working pressure rating and manufacturing craftsmanship.
Our LP (Low Pressure) rubber hoses have a working pressure of 30 bar (430 psi) and a burst pressure of 120 bar (1700 psi). Every single LP hose we sell must pass a 50 bar pressure test before being dispatched to customers. Our HP (High Pressure) rubber hoses have a maximum working pressure of 345 bar (5000 psi) and a burst pressure of 1379 bar (20,000 psi). All HP hoses must pass a factory test exceeding 400 bar.
In terms of craftsmanship, the quality can be judged by the crimping technique. I have attached a photo for your reference.

 

[HotDive(Hide In Ocean)]

Like many here I probably have enough dive gear, but am also interested in what’s interesting and have a habit of acquiring more. My own interests and questions would be:
- service kits for my regulators are hard to come by for mere mortals outside Europe, can you help with kits for Scubapro (Mk17, Mk2, G260, G250, R195), Apeks (DS4), Hollis (I forget but it’s a rotating turret diaphragm similar to Apeks, and balanced adjustable second stages bought new in 2013)
- hoses: only interested in rubber. As a new player how do we know yours are good quality
- why stainless steel? Ordinary brass first stages seem to last quite well. Are there other benefits?

-Regarding the choice between stainless steel and brass materials, the main differences lie in hardness and corrosion resistance. This topic has been previously discussed in forums—you may search for the thread titled: *Scubagaskets getting into the Reg business*. Many users have already contributed to this discussion.

 

[elmo]

-Our service kits are compatible with all models of Apeks regulators (excluding the Apeks Flight). Currently, we do not offer service kits for Hollis regulators.
-Regarding your interest in rubber hoses, I believe evaluation should be based on their working pressure rating and manufacturing craftsmanship.
Our LP (Low Pressure) rubber hoses have a working pressure of 30 bar (430 psi) and a burst pressure of 120 bar (1700 psi). Every single LP hose we sell must pass a 50 bar pressure test before being dispatched to customers. Our HP (High Pressure) rubber hoses have a maximum working pressure of 345 bar (5000 psi) and a burst pressure of 1379 bar (20,000 psi). All HP hoses must pass a factory test exceeding 400 bar.
In terms of craftsmanship, the quality can be judged by the crimping technique. I have attached a photo for your reference.
View attachment 914837

Thanks for the responses, I don’t know you can demonstrate much more than that (short of showing a 20yo hose still going strong). On your website I couldn’t find rubber regulator or hp hoses. Is that just a new website teething issue? I see your rubber hoses on AliExpress.
I can’t really expect you to offer after-market service kits for all other brands… that might just be wishful thinking

 

[BoltSnap]

In terms of craftsmanship, the quality can be judged by the crimping technique. I have attached a photo for your reference.

I am not sure that I understand what you are saying, what makes the crimping technique good or bad, or superior? What does the photo in your post say?

 

[HotDive(Hide In Ocean)]

I am not sure that I understand what you are saying, what makes the crimping technique good or bad, or superior? What does the photo in your post say?

You can evaluate it based on the seal integrity, coverage area, and wrap tightness.

 

[Mobulai]

service kits for my regulators are hard to come by for mere mortals outside Europe, can you help with kits for Scubapro (Mk17, Mk2, G260, G250, R195),

Scubagaskets is probably your better bet on this specific topic
Big divergence from thread but here’s what I do (and recommend), even tho I’m in the EU and have easy access to OEM Service kits, I too have a big SP collection:
- get the orings you need in 50x packs from SG (I have a list that might help you); McMaster is a good (maybe even better price wise) alternative if you’re US based; maybe for Aussies it’s all the same once you factor the shipping
- I get OEM diaphragms from GiDive, along with HP seats (17s, 2s and 25s), LP seats (250, BA..); they only allow that through their EU shop — not sure which one you’ll have to deal with
If that alternative didn’t work SGs also have them but not OEM
- i was able to get a couple spare 2nd stage diaphragms from JonasDive; they used to list singular components but now they have a single item for SP parts, basically „send us PNs and we’ll send you a quote“ kinda shop item; they stock OEM parts as well
- for the r195 (or any R series), just buy a sheet of EDPM or FKM sheet (like 10x10cmx 1.6-2mm) and a leather punch (9/16“ I think) and you got 100+ seats; if you don’t flip them between services

I found this approach to be way less wasteful when all I need from a service kit is one oring out of 12 and a LP/HP seat (esp 2nd stage kits)
I basically have a 50-70x service consumables for the price of 10-20x service kits (I also have about 30 OEM Service kits stashed but I see them as a „bad“ initial investment — only the mk10 ones are worth it as I can’t find the conical HP seat anywhere 3rd party)
(Reach out if you want any further details)


Did you say you have a BA that you got new!? Pictures please

Edit: a few specific orings on some 1st stage models are impossible to source except with a custom run (or service kits) as they’re not std sizes; most famous out of these is the mk19 (and evo), I personally have a couple kits for mine — @rsingler was able to find a supplier for a custom run in the past and got a nice batch for some users as well
I’d most certainly be interested in getting my hand on a 10-30pack of these if it happens again and would love to chip on for it