Mark Vlahos
Contributor
Spoon:
I was one of the people who sent Andy a PM.
I have a shop near me that sells Poseidon. Normal rates for regulator service is $25 per stage. If you purchased the regs from them then they cut the labor bill by 50%. For two first stages and two second stages the labor will cost $50 not $100. Poseidon does not offer the "free parts for life" service that many other manufacturers do offer. When I asked the shop what the parts bill should be on a "typical" tear down service, they indicated that $20 per stage would be about the cost for the parts that whould need replacing every time the reg is torn down. If any other parts need replacement the cost would be higher. Some educated guessing on my part places the parts cost for two first stages and two second stages at around $100 to $150 every other year. These costs are in addition to the labor costs. The shop did indicate that unless the Poseidons are showing signs of trouble a tear down would probably only be necessary every other year. If you add up the costs for service and place the parts at the $125 level then the maintenance costs are as follows.
Two first stages and two second stages (typical doubles rig)
Year 1 Labor only no tear down $50 First year parts FREE if needed
Year 2 Labor $50 Parts, probably at least $80 perhaps as high as $150, lets estimate $125
Total expected two year cycle $225 (as low as $180 to as high as $250)
A different shop near me sells the Aqualung line of regulators, this includes Apeks. This shop has an offer that if you purchase the regs from them the labor cost for service is $15 per stage. Aqualung does offer the "free parts for life" service so long as you are the original buyer and you get the regs serviced every year without skipping a year ever. If you miss one aniversary the parts will cost you from there on out. I think that parts that need replacing that are damaged due to abuse are not free, but for the purpose of this comparison I think it is reasonable to assume that only normal wear parts will need replacement at each service for at least the first several years. Lets examine the same two year costs.
Again, two first stages and two second stages (typical doubles rig)
Year 1 Labor $60 Parts FREE if needed
Year 2 Labor $60 Parts FREE if needed
Total expected two year cycle $120
The difference between the two totals is enough to get my attention. If you project these costs out 10 years the savings is significant. This makes the long term cost of ownership for an Aqualung, or Apeks regulator much lower than the Poseidon. This comparison does not even consider the initial purchase price of the regulator with the Poseidon Extreme coming in (at the shop mentioned above) at around $1500 for two sets including one long hose and one short hose. The shop that sells the Aqualung line has the Legend LX Supreme for around $1400 by the time you get hoses and DIN fittings, and they have the Apeks TX50 for around $1100, also with long and short hoses and a DIN fitting. Don't forget the prices above are for TWO first stages and TWO second stages with one 7 foot hose and one 22 inch hose.
None of this is cheap, but both Andy and I are looking for regulators that will perform well in caves. There are lots of brands out there that are worthy of consideration. The shop that sells Poseidon also sells Zeagle and they offer the same service labor cost deal, and the shop that sells Aqualung also sells Atomic, and their labor deal applies to Atomic regs as well.
There are lots of factors to consider. Initial price is certainly important, but labor will eat you alive if you keep the regs for several years. There are other shops in the area that offer better initial prices on these same regs but offer no savings on service. Buying regs on line is one way to keep the initial costs down, but it may cost more in the long run if you need to purchase parts for each service. I also would rather do business face to face on major equipment. The lower cost of service can be an important consideration. I have no problem paying a business for the things that are often considered intangible.
Mark Vlahos
but I am not sure how it would fare deep and in a cave.
