Time for a re-think - any input

[elan]

No 10c is a cut of for warm water regs

In my experience the cut off for the cold regs is 2c. In between is a gray area where you have to look at particular reg.

If you are a DIY personI would suggest to go with an MK20/25 as the first stage and G250v or S600 for the second. For your consitions. The reason being that those regs are very well documented and the MK20/25 seat lasts for long time. You can replace the orings and they cost pennies. They also tolerate flood better. I you would not an to do caves I wouk support halocline's suggestion to get a 109 and upgrade it to balance adjustable or geta balanced adjustable. For under 100 you get a poorman's A700 which breathes as good.

Thanks elan

When I say cold, I mean above 4C but below 10C which I believe is the cutoff point for "cold" water when talking regs.

I think i'm leaning towards the XTX50 - DST/4 combo but wanted to make sure I hadn't "not thought" about anything. I've learnt the hard way for instance that maintenance is just as important as featureset - it only takes a couple of un-expected service kits to make the original savings on purchase null and void.

Cheers

 

[halocline]

Well, ScubaPro has made it very difficult to get parts kits unless you are a trained tech. I don't know about the other brands, but if you want to do self-service, that's not one I'd pick.

This is simply not true for the older regulators. Seats and rebuild kits for the MK2, 5, 10 and most of the barrel poppet 2nd stages are readily available at vintagedoublehose, through the trident catalog, and a very active re-sell business on ebay.

Scubapro might try to make it difficult, but in reality they have not been able to do so. There's a huge community of scubapro DIYers and they all find parts in various places.

 

[redacted]

Well, ScubaPro has made it very difficult to get parts kits unless you are a trained tech. I don't know about the other brands, but if you want to do self-service, that's not one I'd pick.

This is simply not true for the older regulators. Seats and rebuild kits for the MK2, 5, 10 and most of the barrel poppet 2nd stages are readily available at vintagedoublehose, through the trident catalog, and a very active re-sell business on ebay.

Scubapro might try to make it difficult, but in reality they have not been able to do so. There's a huge community of scubapro DIYers and they all find parts in various places.

A bigger rub is "trained tech" does not get you in the front door of the parts department either. I'd bet that Pete Wolfinger can't order parts from Scubapro. In the land of the free USA, you have to be an authorized dealer to order parts (note I did not say "trained tech"). Thankfully, there are back doors (EU dealers), side doors (ebay) and even a few holes in the basement as well as plenty of generic parts that will usually get the job done with many of their regulators. There really are only a few manufacturers who seem to be supporting direct sales to consumers and even that support can apparently be withdrawn at any time if they choose.

 

[Nemrod]

Well, ScubaPro has made it very difficult to get parts kits unless you are a trained tech. I don't know about the other brands, but if you want to do self-service, that's not one I'd pick.

That is just not really true, though, she has a point, you cannot buy them over the counter, but under the counter, no problem.

But, you know, the Conshelf uses parts that have been available for decades and likely will remain available for decades and as well because they are used in current production regulators, many items are stock sizes for many regulators, almost universal fit. That and the bullet proof design and solid materials of the Conshelf, clear winner.

N

 

[Griffo]

Thanks to everyone for their input, and for keeping the thread on topic

The modified metal Scubapro was something I hadn't considered, and the thought of a tough steel shell almost had me thinking of going that way. But I ended up going Apeks as

a) everyone i want to dive with currently has Apeks
b) the only two people i'd trust to help with with reg servicing are both Apeks divers
c) I've had some.. disagreements on pricing with the local SP importer
d) I found a steal on some Apeks regs

I ended up stumbling across a bargain and got 2x used DS4's, and a new DST/XTX50/XTX40 set (with 5th port) for about half of retail. Will keep an eye out for some more XTX50 second stages and either upgrade the xtx40 to a 50 or relegate it to some other purpose. It basically was the same price with or without it (shows how much margin the mfg's try to keep) so I took it to use for the time being.

---------- Post added April 9th, 2013 at 01:38 PM ----------

Well, according to your posting history it's either Scubapro, Aqualung or HOG. I'll go out on a limb and say Hog.

I know you say you don't want to go there... but what are we talking about here? 1st stage problems, 2nd stage problems? Did you have a tech "fix" something and make it worse? I understand you are in Australia which as I recall from Chris that there aren't any dealers over there.

Personally I look at Hogs as somewhat disposable due to their price point relative to the labor cost for service. It sucks if you have some bad luck but statistically speaking you should still come out ahead.

I don't want to go into the brand as it could be a combination of just getting a lemon, or a series of bad techs, or just bad luck. I've had just about every failure you can think of, have already replaced one 1st and one 2nd stage, but I can't blame the mfg for all of them - on pulling apart one 1st stage discovered that the last tech had put it back together wrong. But needless to say that that brand, in my location, simply was no longer an option for me to dive without having to accept continually abandoned dives.

 

[Sea Dancer]

As a dive center manager and technician I see divers with many brands of regs and service many regs for professional divers. In my opinion Apeks are the best all round brand. Excellent for all levels of diver, easy to maintain and parts are easily available. Avoid lesser known brands/models as getting parts can be a nightmare. It just took 7 months to get a spares kit for a Cressi reg and there is an 'official' dealer here in Dahab! Don't be swayed by salesmen, I see divers all the time with completely inappropriate gear that was sold to them by their local scuba shop. *note, we do not sell Apeks gear and this is purely my opinion.

http://www.seadancerdivecenter.com