thoughts on Us Divers Conshelf 21

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Messages
3
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Location
San Luis Obipo
# of dives
0 - 24
i'm a newer diver and trying to put some gear together. i am going to look at a reg set up and its a us divers conshelf 21, i have read really good reveiws on here and other sites about these regs. these are older from the late 90's and have only been used a few times. i also talked to an old freind that is a dive master and she said us divers is the worst its the joke of the dive world. then she backed off a bit and said they might be ok if your just diving a few times a year. so what do you think i'll probably only dive up to 6 times a year in pretty cold water here on the central coast of california
 
Some people feel that a divemaster rating gives them the right to pontificate on all diving topics. Your divemaster friend clearly knows nothing about regulators. Only an idiot would call regulators by one of the oldest, largest and best known companies "a joke". The conshelf first stage has been in active use by many thousands of divers for more than 40 years. It's design culminated in the Aqualung Titan. It is highly unlikely that it would have survived that length of time if it were not a high quality and very reliable regulator.
 
My sons and I have several regulators from the Conshelf series and we love them. We have XIs, XIIs, a XIV, an SE and a 22. All are great regulators. They are tough, dependable workhorse regs that breathe very well and last a long, long time. They are easy to service and parts are readily available. Any Aqua Lung shop can service them. I service my Conshelfs myself.

If you are going to be diving cold water, you might want to look into having a cold water kit installed on the 21.
 
It'll be a decade older than the late 90's but still one of the best regs ever made.
......sometimes divemasters just can't help themselves, your one is spouting pure ignorance.
 
Good regulator, and time proven, but I would not recommend it for cold water. Ended up selling it because it would free flow in New England winter waters.
 
It'll be a decade older than the late 90's but still one of the best regs ever made.
......sometimes divemasters just can't help themselves, your one is spouting pure ignorance.

i see this a lot :(
 
Great regulators with no problem getting standard replacement part kits from Aqualung. Keep an eye out for stress cracks in the plastic models where the hose connection meets the housing- if its cracked, it is over as plastic housings are no longer available.. If you can find an all metal 2nd stage housing, youve got one indestructiable regulator.
 
Thanks for all the input guys, it's been truly helpful, these have been used around 15 times total the guy says. Should expect to have to do a full rebuild and what should I expect to pay for a full rebuild on first stage second stage and octopus? And what would you value the reg setup before and after, I'm going to look at these Saturday and the guy is letting me take them by the dive shop before I purchase them
 
Here's some negotiating power.
The Conshelf 21 is not late 90's it's late 80's. I prefer it to the slightly later Conshelf SE2 and SE3.
As Shcubasteve said check for cracks were the hose enters the 2nd stage, especially the yellow octo (not necessarily a deal breaker since they've probably been there for decades and probably take another decade or two to get worse).
A typical eBay price for a for a Conshelf with octo and gauges is about $120 to $150 inc. shipping.

Chances are when it's checked it will be working perfectly.
A full service should be about $100 including parts (excluding any hoses or mouthpieces that might need replacing).
 

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