us divers regulators

[rescuediver009]

I dont want to piss you off or anything but a dive buddy of mine bought a aqua lung(US Divers) regulator and it almost cost him his life 2 times.. Freeflowed at about 90 feet in a quarry.. Then it froze shut as in not giving air at all on his 2nd dive with it.. I have heard bad things about the us divers regs so I avoid them like the plauge.. Thus the name USeless Diver..

Well then stupid him for not having it checked out and fully serviced before he used it. And if he did, then it is to be blamed on the tech. These are bullettproof regs and they cannot be beat. They are still being made today in the form of the Titan. I highly doubt that it would freeze shut, and if it did, then he should have been using and envormentally sealed reg for the conditions he was diving in. I agree with Rick that there would have been some kind of recall on it if this happended and would be interested in seeing it.
Furthermore, The conshelf and its versions have been in existance for a long *** time and I don't think that your buddy was the first one to take one to 90ft.

They are great regs. Bulletproof and so far ahead of their time that they are still in the running today.
Now that all that junk about the first stage has absolutely nothing to do with you anr your reg because you have a sherwood first stage, it is the next best old reg. It has the dry bleed as mentioned and the only problem that you may run into is an original piston in which the Hp seat cannot be replaced and thus the piston is replaced. Still only $30 CDN. good deal for $50

 

[scubapro50]

i have just purchased a used us divers conshelf 21..can anyone tell me how good they are i couldnt pass it up as i only paid 50 for it..it came with a sherwood first stage and a us divers pivot gauges as well with a compass and a sherwood octopus..any help would be apreciated..thanks in advance

maybe you should have asked these questions before making the purchase. The Conshelf series has been one of Aqualung best sellers. It may not be the most advance but it's a good "nuts and bolts" regulator. There has been problems with some models and they were recalled for upgrades to solve the trouble. The unit you purchase sounds like it was made from various parts of different rigs. That would have made me think before I purchased it. The good news is you can find parts and service for what you bought. The bad news is after you get it checked out by a repair tech you may find it would have been cheaper to purchase something else... good luck with it ..

 

[Creed]

These are bullettproof regs and they cannot be beat. They are still being made today in the form of the Titan.

Heck, if I'm not mistaken, they still make the XIV. At least, I have seen a lot of places selling them new.

 

[rescuediver009]

The bad news is after you get it checked out by a repair tech you may find it would have been cheaper to purchase something else... good luck with it ..

I wouldn't be intimidated. In a sherwood, outside of the piston assembly, there is not a heck of alot that can go wrong and cost you a bundle. There are very few parts here. I have had many people in a similar situation to your with a mixed reg come it and yeah it doesn't look to pretty or match but it works good. The USD LP seat alone will likely be close to the cost of parts for the Sherwood first and second stage. I don't know why most of the conversation revolves around the USD as it is only the octo. The primary assembly is a sherwood if I am not mistaken.
Yes they still do make the conshelf (http://www.aqualung.com/products/conshelf_xiv.html), how many they sell is another story.

 

[fmw625]

I dive with a Titan regulator and love it. Never free flowed, don't dive cold so I can't comment about freezing. It has always been easy to breathe.

 

[scubapro50]

OK ... lets all agree that he should take the regulator down to his LDS or service tech to be inspected. Buying used scuba equipment is like buying a used car ... you never know what you're getting until after you drive it around the block a couple of times. The 1st stage should be looked at to see how clean it is and if there is any worn or damage parts. The 2nd stages should also be inspected and adjusted. All this will probably cost between $40 and $60 plus parts depending on the shop. It's well worth it because you don't won't to be in a middle of a dive and find out about a problem the previous owner had.

 

[garyfotodiver]

I dive a Conshelf SE3. Never had a problem with it. Bought it in 1995, had it serviced for the first time in 2003. They can't be beat.

I also have an XIV that I bought on eBAY. Just got service kits for it and a service manual. My winter project is to clean and rebuild it. I'll try it out on my April 2005 dive trip.

 

[Creed]

I dive a Conshelf SE3. Never had a problem with it. Bought it in 1995, had it serviced for the first time in 2003. They can't be beat.

I also have an XIV that I bought on eBAY. Just got service kits for it and a service manual. My winter project is to clean and rebuild it. I'll try it out on my April 2005 dive trip.

So you were the one who outbid me!!

I am doing the same thing. The more I learn about the old Conshelfs, the more I like them.

 

[Aquadoc68]

Like I said they are standard issue for the Four sevices and the CG (Yes the Air Force has divers :11: .) On our dive team we used XIV because of the Brass housing on the 2nd stage. I guess I cheat cause I was sent or rather Bill Brumiller came to our camp and gave the USD maint. class. I was the maint. guy on our team. Then I moonlighted at the local Dive shop in Niceville FL. So I got experience in a lot of gear. The only ones I didn't like working on was Mares. I have dove my 21 for many years and only one time had a problem when my outlet disc tore and I was inhaling some H2o. bad on me. used my OctoSE to finish the dive and during my down time till the night dive took the 5 minutes to replace the outlet disc and was in buiness again.

 

[rescuediver009]

OK ... lets all agree that he should take the regulator down to his LDS or service tech to be inspected.

Agreed. A good shop that you are in good with will look at the thing for free and give you an estimate on what it needs.