Considering a used reg. Which should I *not* consider?

[herman]

Herman,
Ya gotta be a pretty inept tech to make a Conshelf breathe bad! There really isn't much to 'em. Simple, tough, reliable. As for the Aquarius, what parts? It only has one moving part and about all there is to replace are a few O-rings. I'm up to my eyeballs in Aquarius regs and every one of them is ready to dive. They make great backup regs to save a day's diving if your primary decides to pack it in. Their only shortcoming, as far as I can see, is the shortage of LP ports. Yeah, they're unbalanced piston regs but that doesn't bother me. They still breathe well and they are extremely dependable. Heck, you know all this, Herman. You have a few of them yourself.

I agree for DIYers like us, I was looking at it from the perspective of a "take it to the shop" diver.
Remember I make the parts for a lot of regs so "no parts" is not really a problem, just fire up the lathe.....and a friend of ours has me working on more.

 

[Kunundrum]

Subgear = Scubapro - lifetime waranty.

Bonaire/Cayman = MK17
Aruba = MK2

Not a bad choice for new gear, but no free parts for life, and the MK17 parts kit is pretty pricy, something to keep in mind.

 

[Paladin]

I agree for DIYers like us, I was looking at it from the perspective of a "take it to the shop" diver.
Remember I make the parts for a lot of regs so "no parts" is not really a problem, just fire up the lathe.....and a friend of ours has me working on more.

True. But the point I was trying to make is that if one is going to buy a used reg, the US Divers/Aqua-Lung Conshelf/Titan regs are a good choice. Easily serviced, parts availability is not a problem and the ruggedness, utter reliability and performance of the regs make them strong contenders. Of course, my opinion is a biased one based on decades of diving USD regulators without one, single failure underwater. In addition, should a "take it to the shop for service" diver decided to begin servicing his/her own regs, the Conshelf/Titan series are good ones to begin with as they are simple and straight forward in design and construction.

I remember a time when dive training actually included the maintenance and service of one's equipment. At least mine did. There weren't as many dive shops back then and none at all around here. I know, those days are long past but I still believe that a basic course in the care and feeding of regulators would be of benefit to divers.

What parts are you working on now? Anything I might be interested in?

And how did the debut of your new single stage DH regs go at Portage? I wish I could have been there. I wanted to try one.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

...The main point is, most any reg from the late 60 up to today will work nicely. The ones you will have problems with are those that you can not find parts for, mainly Dacor, a few very old USD regs (Aquaruis and the old design Calypsos) and a few other lesser known brands that have come and gone. Your biggest challange is finding a good reg tech. A poor tech can make the best reg perform poorly and a good one can make most any reg a pleasure to use.

Great post by Herman. I wanted to highlight the last part of his post, since it is worth repeating and remembering.

As far as used regs: If you are patient and "shop" carefully, you can get good savings and often buy the "high-end" model in a particular brand for less than you can buy a new "entry-level".

Any mid-level or higher reg from any major manufacturer will make you very happy, and will last your entire dive career if properly cared for. I agree that Dacor should probably be avoided due to difficulty finding parts.... strongly disagree regarding Mares, but that is just my opinion... I own and service 7 sets of Mares regs.... as far as design, many of the Mares regs can use the Conshelf & Titan HP poppet.... so.... the design and "innards" are pretty similar.... they are my "go to" regs that require the least servicing .... but parts availabilty will always be better with USD / Aqualung and Scubapro.

Have fun with whatever you choose!

 

[herman]

...................................What parts are you working on now? Anything I might be interested in?

Yea but I think I have to kill you after I tell you.

Great post by Herman. I wanted to highlight the last part of his post, since it is worth repeating and remembering.

As far as used regs: If you are patient and "shop" carefully, you can get good savings and often buy the "high-end" model in a particular brand for less than you can buy a new "entry-level".

Any mid-level or higher reg from any major manufacturer will make you very happy, and will last your entire dive career if properly cared for. I agree that Dacor should probably be avoided due to difficulty finding parts.... strongly disagree regarding Mares, but that is just my opinion... I own and service 7 sets of Mares regs.... as far as design, many of the Mares regs can use the Conshelf & Titan HP poppet.... so.... the design and "innards" are pretty similar.... they are my "go to" regs that require the least servicing .... but parts availabilty will always be better with USD / Aqualung and Scubapro.

Have fun with whatever you choose!

I agree with you on the Mares, they are very similar to USD/AL inside and solid regs. You really should get a AMF/Voit MR II second stage, really nice regs. They are becoming my favorite second stage. A little history, Voit who originally made the regs was/is a major rubber company and sporting goods manuf. USD needed rubber parts and Voit wanted to get into diving equipment so USD and Voit helped each other out, Voit made rubber parts for USD and USD helped Voit with eng and metal production. Mares later bought AMF/Voit so it's not coincidence that USD/AL regs are very similar to Mares regs

 

[USdiver1]

I agree with Herman, the AMF/Voit/Swimaster MR-12 II and the Mares MR-12 III are fantastic second stages. Both the original Voit/Swimaster MR-12 and Mares MR-12 first stages are also very good, but if you don't mind a mix and match, a USD Conshelf first stage combined with the MR-12 II or III second stage would be the best of the best.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The other one I would suggest you avoid would be Poseidon. Not that they're bad regs, they're great regs, it's just that you can't get parts for them and getting them serviced is difficult.
Dacor was already mentioned, they're long gone and were a middle of the road company.

Old Scubapro and any US divers stuff would be on top of my list of stuff to look for.

If you do decide you want to buy new consider Hog. They are an Apex knock off but are priced well, so far have a great rep, and you can ligitimately buy parts for them to do your own service if you decide to go the DIY direction.

 

[Pullmyfinger]

I agree on the Hog regs, they're a hard deal to pass up. I have Dive Rite regs (similar design).

I also have Poseidon Jetstreams and an Xstream. My wife has both of those and a couple of Cyclons for her deco tanks. We just send them every couple of years to Tim at Viking Diving in Pensacola, never any problems with parts availability.

I've heard that Scuba Toys will service them for the same price as every other brand out there. People have other reasons for not wanting to dive Poseidons, but these days service (or lack of it) should not be an issue.

Tech Diving Limited also services them.

ZKY, I've mentioned it here before and I'll say it again....................I love your avatar!
That plate is very cool.

-Mitch

 

[tadawson]

The other one I would suggest you avoid would be Poseidon. Not that they're bad regs, they're great regs, it's just that you can't get parts for them and getting them serviced is difficult.
Dacor was already mentioned, they're long gone and were a middle of the road company.

Old Scubapro and any US divers stuff would be on top of my list of stuff to look for.

If you do decide you want to buy new consider Hog. They are an Apex knock off but are priced well, so far have a great rep, and you can ligitimately buy parts for them to do your own service if you decide to go the DIY direction.

You're kidding right? Poseidon parts are about as hard to come by right now as aspirin . . . . Anything I have needed has been 3 days from Poseidon USA out of Houston, worst case . . . And I have honestly yet to find a shop in the Dallas area that I have dealt with that didn't work on them . . . and if all else fails, Scuba Toys sells and services Poseidon, and rebuilds cost the same flat rate as anything else . . .

I've been on Poseidons since 1979, and yet to have any service or parts issues . . .

- Tim

 

[hijax]

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