The Mares & Dacor HUB

[Diver0001]

tarnis once bubbled...
Ok, this is somewhat of a different can of works then I've seen open Dive store down here in Florida is selling the Mares Century/Dacor hub for $500...seems like a darned good deal I think.

I have really no equipment just a mask, and fins and stuff. Is this something that'll get me by for the few dives a year I'll be doing with it(once a month or so in the spring/summer)... and if it does have the issues with everything leading into a single hose which I've read, is this something I can just buy for now and then buy some hoses and a new BC later to use the regulator with?

To tack on another question...they only had the Dacor with Viper regulators in my size, not the Mares branded ones. Dacor still worth buying, or are these just going to get phased out like the old regulator someone gave me and I can't use?

thanks,
Matt

The HUB's are bad news if you ask me. I would advise against buying one.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

SeaJay once bubbled...


<snip>

(with nobody being able to point out a single death that's occurred due to a HUB)

<snip>

They're not old enough yet. Once the hoses start to get old then we'll see lots of near misses.

R..

 

[Northeastwrecks]

Scubatooth once bubbled...



whats wrong with the reg?????? is it the lack of external adjustment ????? what ?????


this isnt a flame or troll just wanting to know why

They are not particularly easy to breathe.

I had a diver in one of those disasters panic in 60 fsw and start for the surface. He was conscious, but not responsive to commands (panicked and looking right through me). From the way he was breathing, I thought that he might have a probblem with his gas supply, so I donated my primary (ATX200) and ascended him. This was much more difficult because of the bastardized joystick that takes the place of a proper power inflator.

Once we were on the surface, I asked him what was wrong. He told me that his regulator wasn't delivering enough gas. He had around 1500 psi in an AL80 and the tank valve was on. I tried breathing the reg. It breathed harder on the surface than my regs do at depth.

I told him to have it serviced when he got home. Since that POS didn't come from my LDS, and we don't service or stock Dacor, he took it to where he bought it. After servicing, there was no difference. When asked, the owner and the reg tech both said that the reg was performing as expected.

He tried another shop that said the same thing.

 

[Scubatooth]

Diver0001 once bubbled...


They're not old enough yet. Once the hoses start to get old then we'll see lots of near misses.

R..

well if you have ever looked at a hub and the hoses in the back you see that the hoses minimum burst pressure is 14700 psi, and thiat is for both low and high pressure hoses

as for the regs they are standard viper americas or techs and the factor y settings are alittle hard breathers but if detuned a 1/8 turn they are fine (at least for me on my viper america and octo.

 

[agstreet]

Scubatooth once bubbled...



well if you have ever looked at a hub and the hoses in the back you see that the hoses minimum burst pressure is 14700 psi, and thiat is for both low and high pressure hoses

as for the regs they are standard viper americas or techs and the factor y settings are alittle hard breathers but if detuned a 1/8 turn they are fine (at least for me on my viper america and octo.

Well gosh, why didn't you just say so in the first place. Obviously any hose with that high of a burst pressure is just gonna last forever, isn't it? It must be really good stuff, because they used so much of it back there.

And who'd a thought that *de* tuning a reg would make it breathe easier. Boy, them Mares guys sure are clever, ain't they. Well, I guess that's why some people hang out here on ScubaBoard. They git advice they ain't gonna git no where else.

 

[Scubatooth]

i cant tell if you are being a wise one or not but no those hoses arent going to last forever , but the likelyhood of one of those failing is less, as for the regs the vipers were designed and first produced before the sale of dacor to htm sports in italy which also owns mares so i dont get why people say dacor was bought by mares because thats not the case, htm sports is the parent company of both.

 

[cyklon_300]

at DiveINN...get em while they're, uh, cheap...were Edsels ever on Clearance Sale?

http://www.scubastore.com/eng/liquidaciones_US$.asp

 

[Northeastwrecks]

Scubatooth once bubbled...
i cant tell if you are being a wise one or not but no those hoses arent going to last forever , but the likelyhood of one of those failing is less, as for the regs the vipers were designed and first produced before the sale of dacor to htm sports in italy which also owns mares so i dont get why people say dacor was bought by mares because thats not the case, htm sports is the parent company of both.

I could not care less who makes them or when they were designed. The fact remains that my OMS deco reg breathes easier than these things, and its not meant for use below 70 fsw. The best use I can think of for them would be to tape the purge down (assuming that they've got one) and put it in the bottom of a medium to large sized fish tank. Maybe the fish will get enough oxygen off of them.

I've said it before in other threads. I'll look a HUB the day after I hear about someone penetrating the Britannic on one. In the meantime, they are junk that is not even appropriate for pool diving.

BTW, I'm not sure that comparing the HUB to the Edsel is appropriate. I'd think that its more like a Corvair. Remember Unsafe At Any Speed? Change it to Unsafe At Any Depth and your there.

 

[jplacson]

I can understand experienced divers reluctance to recommend the HUB or any new piece of equipment... these aren't 'toys' ... these are LIFE-SUPPORT systems.

Whenever something new is introduced... it will ALWAYS be contradicted by the old and established... not just in diving... but even more so in diving... we need to be safe and sure that these things WILL work when we need them to! I don't give a rat's a$$ about warranty... what good is warranty if I'm dead?!?!?

It's like those warrantyies on parachutes .... full refund if fails to open!!! HAHAHAHAHA!

But staying on the topic... the HUB is actually a neat CONCEPT.. I've seen 'old-reliable' remote dumps get stuck and deflate continiously. My point is... there's nothing wrong with new ideas... just as long as they're tested over and over again and proven to be more reliable than the equipment it's trying to replace. If nothing new came along...we'd all be diving with a hose mounted on an air pump on the boat on the surface... and SCUBA wouldn't exist.

But understand that anything new will be met with a lot of resistance.

I personally like the concept of the Airtrim (I don't like the HUB design though) ... the inflate/deflate stress is controlled and components are subject to less stress than conventional valves since the diver only has to push 2 buttons... the degree that the valves are opened... and the force needed to operate them are all controlled.

In the event of the Airtrim failure... there is one traditional shoulder dump, and a normal inflator present.

***Note... I wouldn't buy a HUB system either... not because I feel it's unreliable, but simply cuz it hasn't been lab tested enough for wear & tear or for durability yet.

I personally wouldn't mind an Airtrim system as a primary BC control system... and a standard power inflator with integrated pull dump as a back-up system.

The HUB concept on the other hand is something I'm not to fond of since upgrading and servicing disables your entire rig.

The Airlock system is also pretty cool... although I don't think it is that big an improvement though... I would've rather seen a magnetically assisted tank restraining system... although a system like that probably wouldn't work on aluminum tanks and would probably &%$# up compass readings!!! hahahaha

Anyway... my point is... there's nothing really really really wrong with the HUB. It's something new. I'd probably get one if I had money to burn...just to test it out at depth as a secondary system (Literally bring down the HUB with a tank... with no one wearing it) ... and see if the 'death trap' rumors are valid! And just keep playing with the Airtrim system and see how durable it really is...but since I don't have money to burn...I wouldn't get it.

 

[cyklon_300]

the HUB system as being unsuitable due to the numerous design flaws it contains, NOT because we are reluctant to accept something new or innovative.

The HUB won't be accepted by knowledgeable divers regardless of how long it remains in the marketplace...