x650

[Piston]

Im not sure about a recall, but at my LDS there back-ordered like crazy. 15 are on order and there not due to arrive until late September. I think the demand is just so great for them that Scubapro can't fill all of the orders. O, by the way I know 7 people who have X650's and they love them. Not 1 problem yet.

 

[liberato]

I know 5 people (including myself) who have had recent failures. I don't personally know anyone for whom the X650 has not failed in the last 3 months, let's say, though I have heard second-hand that there are some local people who have not had a problem.

These anecdotes are not dated but current reports from real people. The fact that the failures are not 100% implies a batch problem I think. Nevertheless, this thread and the X650 recall thread reveal enough evidence of a way too high of a failure rate for the X650 especially since ScubaPro is quietly switching warranteed ones to S600s. My dealer will not sell the X650 model!

DA, I'll bet your X650 is on indefinite backorder. This has to do with the new diaphragm that is being designed I have heard. So, you will not be getting a current model (which is a good thing).

It kind of bugs me now that ScubaPro is not formally pulling dealer inventory back nor informing their authorized technicians of the scope or nature of the problem. I am not sure this needs to be a full fledged CPSC consumer recall (I don't think anyone is going to die from it) but this product should not be sold until the nature of the problem with ScubaPro's quality control is resolved.

 

[Jupiter]

I know 5 people (including myself) who have had recent failures. I don't personally know anyone for whom the X650 has not failed in the last 3 months, let's say, though I have heard second-hand that there are some local people who have not had a problem.

These anecdotes are not dated but current reports from real people. The fact that the failures are not 100% implies a batch problem I think. Nevertheless, this thread and the X650 recall thread reveal enough evidence of a way too high of a failure rate for the X650 especially since ScubaPro is quietly switching warranteed ones to S600s. My dealer will not sell the X650 model!

DA, I'll bet your X650 is on indefinite backorder. This has to do with the new diaphragm that is being designed I have heard. So, you will not be getting a current model (which is a good thing).

It kind of bugs me now that ScubaPro is not formally pulling dealer inventory back nor informing their authorized technicians of the scope or nature of the problem. I am not sure this needs to be a full fledged CPSC consumer recall (I don't think anyone is going to die from it) but this product should not be sold until the nature of the problem with ScubaPro's quality control is resolved.

I had posted that there was a recall. When i arrived at the lds where i bought the reg, another person told me that the original info i had on the phone was incorrect. Anyway, lost confidence in the reg, and was convinced to get a legend.
long story short, then next night in aow class, the instructor told me to get an apeks. so now i have an apex.
I trust that this will be a reliable reg from what i have heard.
These nj wreck divers, and cave divers at my shop are hard core and i am following their advice.
Hope this adds to the thread.

To be fair, the x650 on the first day, breathed like a charm.
Smoothe as silk. I am disappointed it didn't work out.
the apeks has a more mechanical feel, but i am told reliable as hell. at this point, reliable sounds great.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I had posted that there was a recall. When i arrived at the lds where i bought the reg, another person told me that the original info i had on the phone was incorrect. Anyway, lost confidence in the reg, and was convinced to get a legend.
long story short, then next night in aow class, the instructor told me to get an apeks. so now i have an apex.
I trust that this will be a reliable reg from what i have heard.
These nj wreck divers, and cave divers at my shop are hard core and i am following their advice.
Hope this adds to the thread.

To be fair, the x650 on the first day, breathed like a charm.
Smoothe as silk. I am disappointed it didn't work out.
the apeks has a more mechanical feel, but i am told reliable as hell. at this point, reliable sounds great.

I don't think that posting about a recall based on shaky information or another post of losing confidence in the X650 based on incorrect information, buying a ledgend, and then switching to an Apex because your AOW instructor said so adds a whole lot to the thread.

The whole thing probably falls firmly in the "you can't always believe everything you hear" category. Lots of divers have opinions and most are biased or predjudiced in some regard when it comes to equipment. The challenge in a thread like this is to separate the posts from people with actual knowledge or experience from those that just heard something from someone else.

Maybe we should review the facts so far. SP did have problems with the inital production batch of X650's due to a problem with the lever. The early lever design had a sharp edge that wore on a bushing with the result that cracking effort increased over a number of dives. The lever was redesigned and the reg was re-introduced and there has been no subsequent recall. Rumors of subsequent recalls are based on outdated references to the original problem.

People with early X650's all seem to have had similar experiences of increased cracking effort while divers with later X650's seem to regard them as exceptionally good breathing regulators.

The engineering on the X650 is impressive, particularly from a case design fault perspective which should make it a very easy breathing reg in nearly any position.

 

[Denmark]

I have just returned my X650 to my LDS, because of the exact same problem as people decribes in this thread.

I knew of the problem with the first released models before I brought mine, so I got my LDS to call SP before ordering the X650 to make sure I got one of the "new". But after about 10 dives the reg. started to give my problems.

I really liked the reg on the first dives, so I hope they will fix the problem and send me a new X650.

I´ll keep you posted about what they do.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

They do not seem to be back ordered much. I ordered mine 9-3-04 and SP indicates it has been shipped - so it should be here this week. A week or so longer than the normal orders but not bad.

Assuming I have it by this weekend, I should be able to get about 20 dives on it by mid to late October which is normally the end of the regular boat diving season around here.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

DA, I'll be intensely curious on your personal experiences with the X650. I recently acquired an "older" D400, had it worked over by a Scubapro dive shop I've had great experiences with, and took it diving for a Florida pre-Labor Day vacation. Unfortunately, Frances scrambled the boat operators (among other things - we wound up in Key West for most of the trip, unscathed thankfully), but the few dives I got in with this older model D400 reg made me really say WOW comparing it to my newer S600 that came with my MK25 first stage.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I was doing some air share drills with the wife this weekend and she had the same comment about the D400 on the end of my long hose. It looks like one of the "spare" D400's in the closet will be going on her first stage.

The older D400's with the metal orifice are in my opinion much easier to fine tune and tend to stay tuned much better than the later D400's with their "improved" plastic orifices. An older D400 is very, very hard to beat in terms of how they feel under water.

 

[Denmark]

Hi again

SP has returned my x650 today. This is what it said on the Repair note (If it makes any sence to you):
1. BALANCE CHAMBER, PKG
2. DIAPHRAGM ASSY, X650
3. POPPET ASSY, X650
4. LEVER, X650
5. DECAL ADJUST. KNOB

I guess it means that they have replaced a few parts and adjusted it.

I will be taking it diving tomorrow, to see how it works after the repair. I´ll get back to you to tell you how it worked.

-Karsten-

 

[tnt2020]

I just called my LDS where I had purchased my X650 last August (2003). I reminded him of my coments after I broke my 20th dive with the reg that it was much harder to crack all of a sudden this was while on a dive trip to cozumel, ended the week with 36 dives. I asked if there was a recall and after a no answer. I broght it in for service before my next trip (March 2004) to make sure it was safe and asked if he heard of the problem and told him of the thread on the scubaboard. He asked scubapro but no information was given to him other than they were on backorder. I found the cracking effort was the same as before the service no improvement. I just saw the thread was back causing todays call. Now they admit to some problem with no solution but will gladly give me a new 600 to replace my X650. I will be going to get my new unit today. So after 3 calls a new reg.

Tnt