What regulator brands can I get my own parts for?

[Luis H]

I will have to agree with Halocline and awap.

If you decide to join the DIY group, you will have a much better support group with Scubapro and US Divers (vintage US Divers).

I bought two HOG second stages when they had the introductory price and they are OK (for a plastic second stage)… but, IMO, you would probably like a Scubapro 109 much better.

This concept of buying parts in a service kit is IMHO gimmick. Most of the time, when I go to my LDS (or any of the dive shops I do business with) I take a list of the parts I need… nothing more nothing less. I sometimes buy the manufacturers O-rings, but some O-rings I buy in bulk.

The whole concept of “free parts for life” is IMO total BS. A long time ago I learned that nothing in life is truly free. You pay for it one way or another. The “free parts for life” are very expensive parts. You pay for it with many unnecessary service/ labor charges. It totally defeats a basic engineering principle: “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The Conshelf is the same as a Royal Aqua Master and they are both supported at VDH and by the vintage community. A large portion of the vintage community is DIY.

I am comfortable servicing most every regulator I have seen, but I find the Conshelf first stage and the Scubapro Mk-5 to be some of the easiest (the Mk-5 may be the easiest if you don’t have some of the special tools).

For the second stage the Scubapro 109 is my favorite ( the US Divers metal is good, but it doesn’t perform as well, very good… not superb).

You also need to get yourself a Royal Aqua Master.

Getting parts for any of these regulators is not hard and you have a much higher chance of getting parts for a long time. Scubapro and US Divers have not change most of their designs for many years… decades (the design of the replacement parts).


I am not sure about this, but I have heard that the reason the car manufacturers (and most any manufacturer) sell parts to their customers is because it is illegal not to do so. I am not sure how can the dive industry get away with such practice. I would like to find more information on this issue.

 

[Jimmer]

You also need to get yourself a Royal Aqua Master.

One just popped up in the classifieds section.

 

[liuk3]

If anybody has or is a hookup for scubapro mk25/s600 parts kits, please shoot me a PM. Thanks.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm a DIY'er all the way. I make and service as much of my own stufff as I can, clean and VIP my own tanks (and O2 clean), service my own valves, make my own harnesses, make my own fin straps, plates, next it will be old school wetsuits with skin II Rubatex G231,
and service my own DA Aquamaster (easiest thing I've ever done) and tune it.

Single hose regs are the last frontier for me.
The MK5/109 is something I'm GOING to get into, you guys talked me into it.
I dove with Aquaregia a while back and he was using 109's, they are gorgeous!
If the SP stuff is as easy as you say to get parts then I'm just going to stick with them because they are good regs.

The Conshelf XI is on the back burner for now but I do want to get it going because it is the actual regulator that was used by a friend of mine named Gary Carmignani that helped Don Wobber to excavate and land the biggest jade boulder ever found under water right in Jade Cove on the Big Sur coast in California back in 1974.

The RAM is definitely on the wish list but I don't have any business spending that kind of money right now. It will happen in time though. For now I just use my DA to get my DH fix.
But then there's the problem of two DH regs not being enough.

I heard that if you know how many Double hoses you have, then you don't have enough.

 

[Luis H]

I have the impression that you are going to like the MK-5/ 109. There are a lot of good regulators in the market, but the Mk-5/ 109 (and the Conshelf) falls in a category of a true classic. The Mk-5/ 109 is to single hose regulators what a RAM is to double hose regulators (but the Mk-5 is a lot cheaper).

You should keep your newer regulators as back-up (because you won’t get much money selling them), but I think once you start using a classic regulator you won’t go back.

The performance of a 109 is as good (or better) as anything ever made.

To me the best single hose regulator that can be put together is a Scubapro 109 second stage with a Conshelf (or Aqua Lung Titan) first stage. The Titan is mechanically the same as a Conshelf, but it has better hose routing (but they are more expensive, so I saved our two Titans for my wife). Some Conshelf have better hose routing than others (the Conshelf 22 is about the best for hose routing). I actually only use single hose regulators for stage bottles, pony bottles, and back up, so hose routing is less of an issue.

The MK-5 piston is great for its simplicity, but it doesn’t do as well in cold water or contaminated water. I used to prefer piston first stages, but my preference now is the Conshelf (or Titan) first stage.

I also like the commonality of parts with the Conshelf, the Titan, the Royal Aqua Master, and the Phoenix Royal Aqua Master. I like to stock parts for all my regulators, and by using the RAM/ Conshelf as our (my wife and I) primary first stage mechanism it makes parts inventory easier.

The RAM are often expensive, but just keep your eyes open… they show up at reasonable prices. You should also look around locally for one. If you have a good relationship with your LDS they may direct some of this old gear your way (and they will sell you parts).

When I am saying parts are not hard to find, I don’t mean that they are in the open market, but there are so many dive shops that carry Scubapro and US Divers (Aqua Lung) that I haven’t found it difficult to find a reasonable dive shop that will sell me parts. There is one LDS that is an Aqua Lung dealer that will not sell me parts (for the liability BS)… I do minimal business with them.


In the DIY section you will find a very good group of the “usual suspects” (awap, halocline, couv, Herman, Zung, LeadTurn SD, just to name a few, there are more) who are very helpful with information on how to get parts, how to make parts, tools, etc. As an example, at this moment there is a list going on to have the swivel bolt on the Mk-5 reproduced on Stainless Steel.

 

[redacted]

One downside to the 109 is you will almost surely need to upgrade the poppet during the initial restoration. That mean you asve to find a Scubapro Duro Poppet. Once you crack that nut, it is clear sailing. You can maintain the Mk5/109 with generic seats, filters, and o-rings.

 

[Texfrazer]

Luis is, as always, a wealth of great info.

My only contrarian comment (and it's purely a preference thing) is that I think breathing off of a D-series SP reg is a little better than the 109 (as far as 2nd stages go). Maintenance is not nearly as easy, but you typically don't have to do as much maintenance.


Also, if you're really good, you can reuse the old poppet on the 109. You just have to make a very accurate cut through the center and then glue it back together with the freshly cut face as your new seat. It's really interesting how many of my old poppets have this done to them.

 

[redacted]

Luis is, as always, a wealth of great info.

My only contrarian comment (and it's purely a preference thing) is that I think breathing off of a D-series SP reg is a little better than the 109 (as far as 2nd stages go). Maintenance is not nearly as easy, but you typically don't have to do as much maintenance.


Also, if you're really good, you can reuse the old poppet on the 109. You just have to make a very accurate cut through the center and then glue it back together with the freshly cut face as your new seat. It's really interesting how many of my old poppets have this done to them.

Keep that up and your poppet will start to look like Joan Rivers.

The problem is that just is not a long term solution.

 

[mkgriesinger]

I have the impression that you are going to like the MK-5/ 109. There are a lot of good regulators in the market, but the Mk-5/ 109 (and the Conshelf) falls in a category of a true classic. The Mk-5/ 109 is to single hose regulators what a RAM is to double hose regulators (but the Mk-5 is a lot cheaper).

You should keep your newer regulators as back-up (because you won’t get much money selling them), but I think once you start using a classic regulator you won’t go back.

The performance of a 109 is as good (or better) as anything ever made.

To me the best single hose regulator that can be put together is a Scubapro 109 second stage with a Conshelf (or Aqua Lung Titan) first stage. The Titan is mechanically the same as a Conshelf, but it has better hose routing (but they are more expensive, so I saved our two Titans for my wife). Some Conshelf have better hose routing than others (the Conshelf 22 is about the best for hose routing). I actually only use single hose regulators for stage bottles, pony bottles, and back up, so hose routing is less of an issue.

The MK-5 piston is great for its simplicity, but it doesn’t do as well in cold water or contaminated water. I used to prefer piston first stages, but my preference now is the Conshelf (or Titan) first stage.

I also like the commonality of parts with the Conshelf, the Titan, the Royal Aqua Master, and the Phoenix Royal Aqua Master. I like to stock parts for all my regulators, and by using the RAM/ Conshelf as our (my wife and I) primary first stage mechanism it makes parts inventory easier.

The RAM are often expensive, but just keep your eyes open… they show up at reasonable prices. You should also look around locally for one. If you have a good relationship with your LDS they may direct some of this old gear your way (and they will sell you parts).

When I am saying parts are not hard to find, I don’t mean that they are in the open market, but there are so many dive shops that carry Scubapro and US Divers (Aqua Lung) that I haven’t found it difficult to find a reasonable dive shop that will sell me parts. There is one LDS that is an Aqua Lung dealer that will not sell me parts (for the liability BS)… I do minimal business with them.


In the DIY section you will find a very good group of the “usual suspects” (awap, halocline, couv, Herman, Zung, LeadTurn SD, just to name a few, there are more) who are very helpful with information on how to get parts, how to make parts, tools, etc. As an example, at this moment there is a list going on to have the swivel bolt on the Mk-5 reproduced on Stainless Steel.

Haha, i was going to suggest the conshelf xiv and R109 combo! I love my conshelf xiv first and second. However, it is nice to have the adjustable second stage. The conshelf XIV is bullte proof first stage. DA Aquamaster(the member) has said several times "The nice thing about Conshelf first and second stages is that they seem to just keep on going forever without an annual service. If I were going to be stuck on a deserted tropical island with superb diving, unlimited air and no reg repair parts, I'd want to have a Conshelf XIV." If you really want a fantastic setup get a XIV first and upgrade a R109 to R156.

 

[herman]

Got a guestion for all you 109 fans.
In your opinions (hummmm.... should I open such a big a can of worms ? ) is it worth upgrading the 109 with balanced (156?? ) internal parts or just leave it as the unbalanced version. Whatever first I use will likely be balanced so IP shift is not an issue. In other words, is the performance gain, if any, worth the added parts and complexity.