Various questions, pre and post purchase

[qsnow]

First, thanks to all for this great resource/board. An amazing amount of knowledge and information. I also hope this is the best place for this thread...

The last 2 years on vacation I've taken the beg. scuba dives in Grand Caymens and Costa Rica. When I got back I quickly took the OW cert. I'm now in the process of getting equipment (I felt rental fees would add up really fast, and frankly the rental equipment sucked for my tastes)... I realize that I'm probably over buying equipment for the level of diver (noob) that I am, but I don't want to go back to the well again and since my life is in the equipment I want some higher rated stuff. With that said...

So far I've gotten the Zeagle Ranger LTD vest (2009 model) and the Oceanic Maxdepth SWIV gauge (was on clearance sale from LPro).

With the background done... Here's my questions

1. Regulator wise I think I've pretty much settled on the AquaLung Legend LX Supreme as it seems to have more features and will handle any dive. I do keep looking at the MK17/MK25 paired with the G250v, however. Any thoughts between these two? I keep hearing from the LDS that ScubaPro is the best out there, but I kind of get the feeling that's because they prefer selling it <shrug>. I don't like the feel of the S600 - the purge feel like it would break and just looks plain cheap to me.

2. For an Octo, I was looking at the Mares Proton Metal. Are their advantages / disadvantages to not using an octo by the same manufacturer as the Primary? My thought process on this was that if I was in some situation that would cause my primary to fail, I would expect that situation to cause an Octo from the same company to fail as well - Diversity... Is that bad reasoning? Should I stick with the Legend Octo if I go with the Legend Primary or is the Mares PM good/better... Other thoughts?

3. Thus far I have been ordering my stuff online via LPro or Scubatoys... I would really love to buy the reg/octo at my LDS, but I can't justify their prices. NOTHING short of MSRP and on the Legend thats a $225+ difference. So... Once I get everything in, are their non-obvious things I should be concerned about when hooking things up?

I'm assuming it's all pretty straight forwards. Gauge to HP port. Primary, OCTO, BC to LP Port, done.. ?? Does everything just get finger tightened? Need to lube ANY of the connections anywhere? What would I be missing (or if there is a guide somewhere that would be great).

4. If I buy the Reg and Octo at the same time from, say, LeisurePro.com - will they do the initial connections and any needed inspection?

Hope this wasn't too many questions for a single post... But in my brain they are all kind of tied together

 

[halocline]

Those are a lot of questions, and every one of them has been discussed many, many times, so use the search function and you'll get all sorts of additional info.

Any of those regs are far better than necessary for recreational diving, so I'm sure you would be happy with whatever you choose. A big consideration with a reg purchase is service, so you need to consider where you will get yours worked on. If you buy an Aqualung or SP reg from LP, you will not get the manufacturer's warranty including free parts, but IMO that's not anything to worry about. You just need to find someone who can and will work on the reg when it needs it. It's probably a little more convenient to have the same brand of octo for servicing. Again, it depends on who is doing the service.

Connections are finger tight plus a little bump with an appropriate wrench, just tight enough to make sure they won't come loose on their own. If you want you can use a tiny bit of O2-safe lube on the hose o-ring but it's not necessary.

One consideration might be to get a aqualung titan LX instead of the legend. It's PLENTY good enough, less expensive, and if you buy it at your LDS they'll service it. This is only good advice IF the service guy at your LDS is competent. I realize you may have no way of knowing this. Several years ago I was in the same sort of situation you're in, and now I service my own regs and buy only used regs, usually 20 years old+.

 

[Couv]

Hello Qsnow....Welcome to Scuba Board,

Here is my usual cut and paste advise for this question....do the right thing and skip to the bottom rather than suffer through it all.

Shortly, you will be swamped with advise about buying a regulator, mostly by people who own a brand and are very fond of it. One thing to keep in mind about regulators is that most are great at what they do. So how do you separate the wheat from the chaff? That won't be easy, but it will be fun and entertaining. Soon you will find out there are quite a few gurus on this board in each section. It's helpful to pick out a few of them and read lots of their post and you will be off to a very good start. In the regulator section I can highly recommend the post of (in no particular order) Awap, DA Aquamaster, Captain, Mattboy, Pescador775 and Luis H &#8230;there are lots of others but that will keep you busy for a while.

At any rate, you want a regulator brand that has a good track record for keeping parts available for each model. Of course unless you intend to DIY, you also want a regulator that can be serviced by your local dive shop and lots of locations in the world. The two best companies in both regards are Aqualung and Scubapro.

My recommendation for the average recreational diver, i.e. not freezing water, 150 feet or less, is a simple non balanced piston 1st stage such as the Scuba Pro MK 2 (or Aqualung Calypso, Mares R2, Sherwood Brut, Oceanic SP4 and a few others.) This simple design is usually inexpensive, nearly bullet proof, easy to get parts for and easy and inexpensive to service. It is also easy to DIY because it requires only a few o-rings and a seat. Yes, the unbalanced design will increase the breathing effort at low tank pressure, but I view this as a good thing especially for new or inexperienced divers. See this thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/87374-scuba-pro-r190-2.html
Additionally, if/when one wants to start more advanced diving where high concentrations of oxygen will be used this type regulator can be moved to that application.
For a second stage I like an adjustable and balanced unit. This provides the ability to have the regulator tuned to minimum inhalation resistance with the option of the diver increasing the resistance it if he/she finds the need to. Having said that, a straight forward classic downstream design with a simple to replace set of o-rings and button soft seat can be highly recommended as it is a tried and true design, parts are usually available and almost anyone can service them.

It is a good idea to have the same manufactures 1st and 2nd stage to make getting service less complicated.

For more demanding diving and high end/higher performance (higher price) regulators see the following link for DA's excellent advice.
<http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/181745-advice-regulators.html>

Now, if you have read through my entire boring post or have done the sensible thing and just skipped down to this part, the best advice would be to contact someone who rebuilds regulators like DA Aquamaster and see if he has a rebuilt ready to sell.

Good luck,
Couv

 

[sambolino44]

I agree with everything mattboy said.

I see your logic about the different manufacturers for the octo, but in the scenario you described there are a whole bunch of other factors that are going to make the difference. Things like the actual design of the reg; is it balanced, adjustable, etc? More important than that, as far as whether or not a reg will free-flow, is how is it set or adjusted. And probably the most important factor that would make a difference whether one or the other reg would free-flow would be how are they maintained; how long since the last overhaul, has it been soaked or rinsed in fresh water after every dive, and how much banging around and dragging in the sand has it endured since last rebuild. So, I wouldn't get a different brand of octo just because it's a different brand. But I may consider getting the Mares Proton Metal on it's own merits, because I understand it's a good regulator.

I'll be looking to upgrade my octo soon, and I've had my eye on the new Aqua Lung Glacia. Why do I want a cold-water reg when I never get colder than about 43 degrees F? No good reason, maybe it's because I learned to dive in Minnesnowta.

I was trying to explain to a buddy at work the other day, why I have dive gear that's several notches above what I really need. I only broke through when I pointed out that he drives a car with 250 horsepower. We don't have these things because we need them, we have them because we have Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

If you realize that you're going overboard just because you want to, go ahead and have fun. If you're trying to create some kind of rational justification, you probably ought to see about having your bu****it meter calibrated.

 

[qsnow]

Hm. The warranty is not something I knew about. Is that something specific with LP or will you nit get the parts warranty on any Internet order regardless??

As for buying more than I need, yeah I probably do need my head examined but that's kind of the way I am with purchases. I spend an insane amount of time looking for the best in a price range. I've read many posts here as well searching around.

 

[RonFrank]

There are not a lot of bad regs out there. I prefer Zeagle. I have a couple 50D ZX regs. One thing I like about Zeagle is that they are easy to work on, and the parts are readily available. They are also a bit less expensive than some regs out there.

Zeagle is a USA based company, and IMO that is reason alone to go with Zeagle. However I understand that people get things in their head, and go in that direction.

IMO warranties are basically worthless. Most regs on the market are well made, and are not going to break under warranty.

Service is another issue. One can spend $150 annually servicing a $250 reg. IMO that is foolish. I get my regs serviced based on use, not time.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Fortunately I can honestly say that most regs on the market will serve you well.

 

[halocline]

The problem with buying expensive gear as a new diver is that you usually don't know what will really work best for you without some dive experience. For example, I'm sure the ranger is a quality BC, but there are different types of BCs that dive very differently. For me the ranger would be not be good; I like a rigid backplate with minimal harness and as small a wing as I can use given the gear I'm using. I don't know what your gauge is, but I like a simple SPG on a 24" hose. I suspect yours is a 36" hose with a console of sorts. It'll work, but as you dive more you might find yourself, like most of us, switching gear configuration. No big deal, spending money is part of the hobby!

Anyhow, have fun reg shopping, it's one area where you'll almost certainly end up with something that works fine.

 

[qsnow]

Thanks for all the info. I just looked at aqualungs website and they are showing a new promotion of buying a LX reg you then get an October at 50% off and a free carrying bag. If that's actually valid by the local LDS then it seems like a he'll of a deal that I'll take