Value of vintage ScubaPro and USD stuff

[Rich Keller]

Lead_carrier, According to the people at the Scubapro Museum web site they are still making parts. If that turns out not to be the case the only other thing I would suggest is buying the same item if you can find it cheap enough on Ebay or Craigs List and using it for parts. Most people do not have much interest in older equipment so you can sometimes find very good deals.

 

[Rich Keller]

PS: The Scubapro shop I use seems to be able to tell very quickly what newer parts fit the older regulators. It is my understanding that that Scubapro uses many of the same parts in newer regulators just giving them new part numbers to go with the newer model. There might be a conversion list that can give you the right information.

 

[Couv]

Gotta disagree with you Rich, most kits yes but not all parts. I called them a couple of months ago about replacing a piston, they gave me a couple of tips on things to try before declaring it dead since they don't have anymore pistons. Since I do work for a ScubaPro shop I just assume they were giving me the straight dope.

Brother Zung posted an excellent thread on how to resurface a discrepant piston edge.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/repairing-your-own-gear/330806-scubapro-piston-there-life-after-death.html

 

[herman]

I saw this and had the oppertunity to have a tech at a large repair facility check for me, the MK-5 piston is NO LONGER available. Take care of the old regs.

 

[redacted]

I saw this and had the oppertunity to have a tech at a large repair facility check for me, the MK-5 piston is NO LONGER available. Take care of the old regs.

Well, not new ones from Scubapro anyway. But there are some hidden in the bowels of older shops and lots of used ones inside older Mk5s and Mk7s. Light Yoke Mk7s and 2 LP port Mk5s can have a second life as organ donors.

 

[halocline]

It's really not hard to clean up the edge on older pistons. This gets rid of the creep, which is why 90% of them get replaced. A trained "tech" reading the manual is going to read that the cure for IP creep in a MK5/10 with a new seat is "replace the piston", then read in the SP literature that the part is no longer available, then tell the customer that the reg is dead. A DIYer with an adventurous spirit and a bit too much time on his hands would lap sand the piston edge then clean up the edge with micromesh wrapped around a round chopstick. It works great; in fact, it even sort of works on the creep-tastic MK20 brass tipped piston.

There are some parts that SP no longer has. Try finding a diaphragm for the pilot or air 1, for example. But, you'd be surprised what you can keep going, especially with the right friends!

Of course, this is exactly how vintage divers have flourished into an active community of restoration, so posting this on the vintage forum is a little redundant.

 

[DebbyDiver]

I'm real surprised at how this thread morphed from my selling some old stuff into a big ol' advice column.

To get back on track, I still have an old Scubapro STAB jacket, size small, and a pair of Rocket fins, size small. Anyone interested?

 

[redacted]

I'm real surprised at how this thread morphed from my selling some old stuff into a big ol' advice column.

To get back on track, I still have an old Scubapro STAB jacket, size small, and a pair of Rocket fins, size small. Anyone interested?

The STAB jacket might work well in a scuba themed Halloween display.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Well, if it isn't sold by the time I relocate, I'll just put it in the donations box.

 

[DaleC]

That's the way it works. I think you've been fortunate that someone hasn't called you on the fact that the only interest you have in the vintage forum is to use it to try to sell some borderline useless not really vintage gear. The real vintage enthusiasts are having a discussion.