What regulator brands can I get my own parts for?

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm thinking about dumping all my Scubapro stuff and getting into another brand of regulator.
The problem I'm having with Scubapro is they require you to take in your regs once a year to get the free parts warranty. Well, I take care of my regs really well and was told by people in the know that having to take in your regs annually in silly.
It used to be that my LDS was pretty cool about me skipping a year and they would still cover the parts (they would get them for free and had tons of stock). Now I guess SP has really tightened their policy and wants to see verification from the dive shop for every rebuild kit they order. So this means no more sliding by for an extra year. On top of that SP parts have skyrocketed so a couple of kits and the service is going to put the cost for a rebuild up into the hundreds. I could probably buy a new economy reg for what it's going to cost me to get two SP regs rebuilt.

I'm thinking of dumping SP altogether and getting into something that I can get parts for and rebuild myself without having to go into the back alleys of the internet to get grey or black market parts. I want to be able to sit down and order kits from a dealer with a smile and a thank you.

What brands are there that will do this for me?
So far I know that Hog will but I don't know any others.

 

[redacted]

Until the industry norm in the USA changes (or our laws), I don't think you can bank on any of the manufacturers for future open availability of parts. There are a few brands that seem to have easy availability of service kits right now but there are also a few brands that had service kits sold by dealers in the past (including Scubapro from European source) which are no longer available today. And all of them seem to be pretty proud of their kits that contain a couple dollars production cost worth of parts.

If you are ready to DIY, you might as well stick with your scubapro regs as their history suggests the parts should be around for a good long time and there are enough cracks in their supply system that those parts can be found in a number of back alleys.

 

[Daveo957]

Are you going to get free part with any other brands? Most brands have som policy in place so in order to keep free parts for life. I have scubapro and only service them when I feel its needed, I just dont participate in the free parts for life. If you get another reg with no parts for life its just like having you scubapro and skipping servicing them every year. I dont know of any company that you can by kits from they are all pretty strict. You might end up spending more money in the end buying new regs.

NOLA DIVER

 

[Jim Lapenta]

HOG and Dive Rite for sure. Apollo has for now discontinued their regs but still sell parts and have the service manuals available on their site for all of their products. You can also get kits for Scubamax regs. I'm personally going all HOG/Edge as it comes time to replace or service mine. As soon as I cannot get kits or run out of the ones I have I'll do a full rebuild, sell it, and buy new.

 

[divad]

Zeagle. The kits are as inexpensive as the HOG ones.


From the same store:

Apeks First Stage Repair Kit $38.00 [HOG] D1 First Stage Service Kit $19.99

Apeks Second Stage Repair Kit $26.00 [HOG] D1 Second Stage Service Kit $12.99

 

[joystershell]

Dive Rite's service kits are readily available;

Regulator Service and Parts - Dive Gear Express

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Thank you so much guys.
I'm confident in my mechanical abilities to service my own stuff. I spent a large portion of my adult life in the auto collision industry doing the mechanical end of things, and I'm good at working on stuff and figuring things out. I see some of the people that pass as reg technicians and if they can do it, I can do it. It doesn't seem like brain surgery to me.

So, it looks like Hog and Diverite so far.
There's also Vintage Double Hose for all my DA Aquamaster needs which will sell me all the rebuild parts I need with a smile.
I also want to fire up my old mid 60's Conshelf all metal reg for beach dives. Any thoughts on getting parts for that?

Oh, and something else. I was in my LDS yesterday getting a fill and the employee showed me a new brand they have called Sub Aqua. He said it's a company out of Germany that Scubapro took over. Apparently this brand will be Scubapro's econo line. The reg he showed me is nothing more than a MK2 internally, all the same parts.

I wonder what would happen to the auto industry if say GM instated a policy that nobody could get parts to any of their vehicles unless you were an autorized dealer (no Kragens) and only the dealership was allowed to perform service and repairs. So in other words you couldn't buy a set of brake pads, an oil filter, a fan belt, a set of plugs, nothing. How long do you think they would last. Why do we put up with this in the scuba industry?

 

[Akimbo]

Are you going to get free part with any other brands? …

I am not sure free parts matter much, unless you change them for no good reason. O-rings are available from industrial suppliers and are so cheap that you might as well change them. Most of the other parts rarely need to be changed.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Cause they can and are, scuba industry is in charge and don't you for get that. scubapro is the pro of scuba so they set the rules you must follow, and there is only the companies that compete with them that will give in.

If you service your own breathing apparatus, your insurance company will pay your loved ones way more money, cause there is no company saying you bought it and it was in working order when you had it serviced.

In other words ZXY just dive your double hose and you wont die.



Happy Diving


(I really have no Idea why besides MONEY)


Happy Double hose Diving

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I am not sure free parts matter much, unless you change them for no good reason. O-rings are available from industrial suppliers and are so cheap that you might as well change them. Most of the other parts rarely need to be changed.

I can go down to my corner hardware store and get O-rings. They have tray after tray of every size and thickness available. I wonder though about rubber quality, compound differences and density. Are there special ones for use in regulators?
I don't run high mixtures of O2 I just use air so that's a non issue if some of you were thinking viton.