Is Dacor dead?

[scubapro50]

Phil,

"vote of confidence": it's right there in the stock price.

Now, I know that the scuba side of HEAD is not where the real problem lies - I still play with the Prestige Classic 600. But be that as it may, Mares has fumbled the purchase of Dacor. Regardless of Dacor's financial status prior to Mares' purchase, Dacor still had a high level of corporate goodwill, and a brand loyalty with American divers and LDS's. Instead of seeing that as an asset, Mares simply thought that they were buying Dacor's distribution network with reps and LDS's, along with what ever patents that might be useful. So, replace Dacor with Mares. Sadly, at this moment, Dacor is nothing more than rebranded Mares equipment except for several legacy pieces.

What should Mares do with Dacor? Well, if HEAD wasn't run by boobs:

Use Dacor as the tech line in the same way that Aqua Lung does with Apeks, and soon, will Oceanic with its new Hollis line. Dacor has always had a good reputation with the "tech diver of the day" - the best alternative to US Divers and Scubapro throughout the years. Look at the Dacor Rig Pro BC, ahead of its time, now discontinued.

So, Phil, next time you are on a conference call with those boobs in Holland, Austria, and Italy, tell them that you have a great idea for the future of the Dacor brand... see what happens.

I like that idea .... Offer Dacor as a upgrade to Mares as the professional or "tech" brand of equipment. Print one catalogue with both brands like the Aqualung/Apex line.

 

[Cacia]

I bought a high end gas stove for my kitchen made by Dacor a couple years ago.
I think it is the same company...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Does it breathe easy? Can you get parts for it?

 

[james croft]

I have been seeing Dacor stoves on ebay. Is this the same company? Can I get a stove with a 7 foot hose? Can I use it with more than 40 % propane?

 

[scubapro50]

Could Dacor bring back their doublehose regulators as a "special limited edition" series? With upgrading both the materials and features it may prove to be a good seller. Keeping the vintage look of the R4 but redesign it using new materials and give it HP and LP ports that will let you run all our modern "goodies" while using higher pressure tanks (at least 3200 psi). You might want to combine it with a complete hardshell system (HUB) that resembles the US Divers units used on the UNDERSEA WORLD OF JACQUES COUSTEAU .

 

[Phil Mintz]

Anything is possible, I bring all valid suggestions up with our engineers.

Thanks

 

[scubapro50]

Anything is possible, I bring all valid suggestions up with our engineers.

Thanks

if you deceide to build such a system remember where you got the idea and send me a free one to try out ....... ok ?

 

[Phil Mintz]

You will get one free.

Thanks

 

[Garrobo]

I got the bug for diving when an inlaw of mine bit the dust and I ended up with some of his equipment. Included was a Dacor first and second stage with a Sherwood secondary regulator and several pairs of fins and a couple BC's. I contacted a local dive shop and asked if they could rebuild the regs. They said yes and did. Later on I found out the story of Dacor and Mares. The guy who did the rebuild said he liked the old metal regs better than the modern plastic stuff and that his outfit had some Dacor parts and that some of the other brands' parts would interchange with the Dacor. Not to worry as not many people were bringing in the old XL Pacers for rebuild and that the regs would probably outlast me anyway. Also there was an AMF Swimmaster in the lot. Same story except that it only needed cleaning. Lucky for me I guess. Don't ask the name of the shop. I don't want him to run out of parts right away.

 

[scubapro50]

I got the bug for diving when an inlaw of mine bit the dust and I ended up with some of his equipment. Included was a Dacor first and second stage with a Sherwood secondary regulator and several pairs of fins and a couple BC's. I contacted a local dive shop and asked if they could rebuild the regs. They said yes and did. Later on I found out the story of Dacor and Mares. The guy who did the rebuild said he liked the old metal regs better than the modern plastic stuff and that his outfit had some Dacor parts and that some of the other brands' parts would interchange with the Dacor. Not to worry as not many people were bringing in the old XL Pacers for rebuild and that the regs would probably outlast me anyway. Also there was an AMF Swimmaster in the lot. Same story except that it only needed cleaning. Lucky for me I guess. Don't ask the name of the shop. I don't want him to run out of parts right away.

I own several Voit/Swimaster regulators that are over 30 years old and they work great. The Dacor XL 2nd stages were well built and finding generic parts doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. Some of the models from the 80s like the Pacor 360 or 760 were so well built that with proper maintence they have lasted over 20 years without any major problems. The trouble is finding replacement metal parts for damaged or worn out 1st stages. Many shops don't won't to service these units because they can't get "yearly service kits" from the manfucturer. One enterprising "Ebayer" has started selling kits made up of "generic" parts to service some models. He has maybe $10 worth of parts in each bag and he charges $30 (plus $5 shipping) for the kit ...... not a bad profit for him .............