I think I'm about done with Scubapro Regs...Looking for Options

[redacted]

On the D400, removing the dive-predive switch and spring that it operates is not difficult, but you should take great care to observe the way that spring fits in, and be very patient trying to work the the square o-ring in place on the switch, then keep it in place while you screw the spring retainer in place.

Preformed o-rings are for wusses. Find a tech who used to do that service with a round o-ring.

 

[ams511]

He has a twenty year old regulator. He is having problems finding service and he does not want to do it himself for whatever reason. So, the solution is to recommend to him regulator brands that are barely a year old and which in another twenty years he will be back complaining that he cannot find service? Exactly how does this cure his problem. I doubt Hog or Edge will be around in another five, much less twenty or thirty years.

To the OP, you can cure your immediate need by purchasing a cheap, regulator, the likelihood of which you will not make twenty years out of it or learn to service your own gear and then it no longer really matter if you have a ScubaPro or a Aqua Lung or a Hog (or flavor of the month).

Go find a couple of nice B&C Conshelfs and be done with it. Easy to work on, easy to tune, easy to find parts for and bullet proof and dirt reliable and good performance as well. Twenty years is nothing to a Conshelf, they can go that long without even a single service or maybe, , once.

N

The OPs problem is that he has Scubapro's oddball regulators. Compared to a MK2, MK5, MK10, or MK20/25, the MK15 was only sold for a few years. As another poster pointed out, the D400 is no longer covered in the regulator repair course. Add to that the general lack of competence of Miami area dive shops and you have a recipe for trouble. If the OP had a Mk-10 with a G250, he probably would not have a service problem.

I have primarily Scubapro and a few Apeks. I have nothing HOG except a mask, so I am not a fan boy. However it does bother me when people with no experience with the brand put it down. How many years was Dacor in business before it went out of business? What about Voit? Apeks would have gone out-of-business if not purchased by Aqualung. So the number of years in business is not a guarantee that a manufacturer would be in business for the next 20 years. Sure HOG could go the way of Salvo, IDI, Prosub, etc. but they can also last like a Dive Rite or Zeagle.

My recommendation to the OP is if he does not want to repair it himself he should sell them before the next service and purchase something more conventional. If he doing just South Florida beach dives then a MK2/R295 will do just fine. As would an AL Calypso or even a Sherwood Magnum.

 

[Griffo]

So i've got a Mk15 / R190 / D400 reg set sitting in a bag. Unused for about 10-15 years but I was never able to track down parts for the D400 so never got around to servicing it. Maybe I should advertise in on fleabay then. Thought they were worthless.

 

[ams511]

There not worthless but they do not have as high of a resale value as some of Scubapro's other models. I have a D400 too that I don't really dive but probably should. I think it still works but I am not sure. Maybe we should hit up Nemrod for the parts.

 

[halocline]

Preformed o-rings are for wusses. Find a tech who used to do that service with a round o-ring.

I use the damn round o-rings, (I am cheap, after all) and when I was a kid I walked 5 miles in the snow to get them.

---------- Post added June 11th, 2013 at 06:36 AM ----------

Maybe we should hit up Nemrod for the parts.

I bought a bag of poppets for the D series (thanks to awap's eagle eye) and put together several rebuild kits for Bryan at VDH, so there's no need to bug Nemrod for his parts. The only thing I've ever replaced on one other than rebuild kits is the diaphragm/exhaust valve assembly, and I bet SP still has those for sale.

 

[chrpai]

I use the damn round o-rings, (I am cheap, after all) and when I was a kid I walked 5 miles in the snow to get them.

Snow, in Texas? Man, this global warming must be bad.

 

[Couv]

It was a long time ago; and he had to walk uphill both ways.
Ski Texas Texas Ski Areas - SkiTexas.com

 

[halocline]

It was a long time ago; and he had to walk uphill both ways.
Ski Texas Texas Ski Areas - SkiTexas.com

We didn't have to walk all the time, sometimes we could get a "Texas Sleigh Ride" on a wooly mastodon up to the summit.

 

[DCBC]

...But Scubapro warranty, service policy, and bad service on my beloved D400 is making me rethink the whole thing. Servicing my D400 has been very hit/miss. I have tried several LDS and if I'm lucky my D400 will work great. Tuning this regulator seems like it requires the skills of a formula 1 mechanic. Can't take it anymore and I don't like depending on the LDS technicians (and my life is depending on them).

I never liked ScubaPro. Apeks makes an excellent regulator (my preference), but Poseidon and Atomic are comparable deep diving regulators imo.

 

[cerich]

So, the solution is to recommend to him regulator brands that are barely a year old and which in another twenty years he will be back complaining that he cannot find service? Exactly how does this cure his problem. I doubt Hog or Edge will be around in another five, much less twenty or thirty years.

N

Well, I'll counter your lie, EDGE and HOG is in our 6th year and I plan to be here in another 5 and many more.

---------- Post added June 18th, 2013 at 06:46 PM ----------

So Carl, to be accurate, you and I have a difference of views on how the NSS-CDS should move into the future, which has NOTHING to do with HOG and suddenly you are taking the time to try and hurt my business. Classy move.

So people can read and judge for themselves what I am talking about..here are the links

Poll- Do you agree with the CDS getting out of the C- Card business?

More on the concept of leaving the agency days behind the CDS

Dive Rite has the best lifetime warranty in the business. I stay away from HOG, but your results might vary from mine.