I will stick with my local made Hog regs. Love em and I am kicking myself in the butt that I did not buy a whole other set when they had their black Friday sales. Dang $75 for reg, that is crazy...
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Benno, this is very simple. Germany has consumer protection laws that forbid companies like Aqualung from doing what they do in the US, which is not selling parts to anyone except authorized service technicians working for an authorized service center. If you are not one of those people, you are not allowed to purchase Apeks parts kits, same applies to Scubapro, Hollis, and most others. These rules are put in place to bring in more revenue to the dive shops, plain and simple. It's antiquated and idiotic, but it is what it is. I am an authorized Apeks service tech, but because I don't work for an authorized service center, I can't purchase parts. Same for a buddy of mine with Scubapro. There have been dive shops in Europe, Denmark I know of at least two that have had their Aqualung dealerships pulled when they got caught shipping parts kits to consumers in the US. So, no, mail doesn't work, at least in this country.
This is a very simple fact, and is the real reason that Apeks and Scubapro are not the primary regs you see in technical diving in this country anymore. When Dive Rite brought their regs out and sold parts to divers, then Hog jumped on board and now has a class that basically any diver can take.
ODS makes regulators for Dive Rite, Hollis, Hog, and many others. The machining specs are sometimes different, Dive Rite uses their own diaphragm material etc, but if you take out a set of calipers, most all of the o-rings are the same, and the HP seats are the same dimensions, so yes, in a pinch or if you so choose you can use other parts kits in them, this is applicable to Apeks as well where many of us used Dive Rite or Apeks parts kits in the early run of Hog regs when they had issues with the HP seat material. Same thing that happened when Apeks had HP seat issues years ago, many divers were using HP seats out of other regulators where the seats where the same dimensions. Is it recommended? Of course not, but your argument about Deep 6 or Hog or whoever else not being around as long as Apeks is irrelevant because you can make it work if you have to. Same way that guys are making parts for the vintage regulators that haven't been made for 50 years.
I understand you'd rather use the originals, but you can't buy them in the US, plain and simple. Apeks parts kits are also about the same price as Hogs right now, the Hogs might be another $5/stage right now, but it's still cheaper than paying for service, which you have to do with all Aqualung regulators in the US. Apeks DST/XTX50 is $595 plus $50 for the fifth port upgrade. Dive Rite XT is $440. I can buy a lot of damn parts kits for the $200 I just saved by not buying Apeks, and I can go to any Dive Rite dealer and walk out with the parts, can't do that with Apeks.
---------- Post added December 16th, 2015 at 04:07 PM ----------
not local made, made in Taiwan at ODS with most of the rest of the regs on the market, just sold out of Divers Supply. Deep 6 will be distributed from the Atlanta area as well
This is a very simple fact, and is the real reason that Apeks and Scubapro are not the primary regs you see in technical diving in this country anymore. When Dive Rite brought their regs out and sold parts to divers, then Hog jumped on board and now has a class that basically any diver can take.
ODS makes regulators for Dive Rite, Hollis, Hog, and many others. The machining specs are sometimes different, Dive Rite uses their own diaphragm material etc, but if you take out a set of calipers, most all of the o-rings are the same, and the HP seats are the same dimensions, so yes, in a pinch or if you so choose you can use other parts kits in them, this is applicable to Apeks as well where many of us used Dive Rite or Apeks parts kits in the early run of Hog regs when they had issues with the HP seat material. Same thing that happened when Apeks had HP seat issues years ago, many divers were using HP seats out of other regulators where the seats where the same dimensions. Is it recommended? Of course not, but your argument about Deep 6 or Hog or whoever else not being around as long as Apeks is irrelevant because you can make it work if you have to. Same way that guys are making parts for the vintage regulators that haven't been made for 50 years.
I understand you'd rather use the originals, but you can't buy them in the US, plain and simple. Apeks parts kits are also about the same price as Hogs right now, the Hogs might be another $5/stage right now, but it's still cheaper than paying for service, which you have to do with all Aqualung regulators in the US. Apeks DST/XTX50 is $595 plus $50 for the fifth port upgrade. Dive Rite XT is $440. I can buy a lot of damn parts kits for the $200 I just saved by not buying Apeks, and I can go to any Dive Rite dealer and walk out with the parts, can't do that with Apeks.
---------- Post added December 16th, 2015 at 04:07 PM ----------
not local made, made in Taiwan at ODS with most of the rest of the regs on the market, just sold out of Divers Supply. Deep 6 will be distributed from the Atlanta area as well
Lol, it's just not true. Seriously, who tells you this stuff? What is that law called? You really are being ridiculous right now. Just stop.
If an Aqualung dealer is not allowed to sell parts to the US that's because of company rules and has nothing to do with the law. Not in the US or in Europe.
@doby45
I don't know where HOG gets it's stuff made but it's probably not made in the US or Europe.
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you don't get it. What I'm saying is that in Germany, Aqualung is not allowed to make a rule saying that it can't sell parts to the customers. I don't have the specific law in front of me, but it is part of your consumer protection laws in that country. Otherwise, they wouldn't sell you parts there either.... Germany is the exception to the rule, no where else in the world can you buy Apeks parts kits. I believe Holland and Denmark have the same laws that forbid a company from refusing to sell parts to consumers. They don't have to sell directly, but they can't restrict a distributor from selling parts to the consumers. It is truly against the law for them to restrict it.
Classic Tbone
How long have you lived in Germany again? Whoever told you that story doesn't know what he's talking about.
Not all companies sell parts directly to the consumer, I told you that before.
No
No
How long have you lived in Germany again? Whoever told you that story doesn't know what he's talking about.
Not all companies sell parts directly to the consumer, I told you that before.
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i never said direct to consumer, don't twist words. I said they can't restrict access to parts, which is what they do in all of the other countries. If that law doesn't exist, explain to me why you live in one of the only countries in the world where you can freely buy Apeks parts kits? There has to be a reason you are the exception to the rule, tell me why? I'm very curious what you know the actual reason is that you can buy them in Germany, but not in England where the company was founded and the regulators are still made, or in the US where the parent company is based.
It's not true that you can only get parts in Germany. Here is a shop that's not in Germany Regulators - Service parts - Apeks service kit 1st stage - ScubaSupport.nl
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and I also extended that to Belgium and Denmark, earlier in this thread. I repeat, please enlighten me to what you believe the reason you can buy them there, but not anywhere else in the world, if it isn't the legislation, then what is it that would make Aqualung allow parts to be sold in those countries freely but heavily restricted everywhere else?
What does it matter? The point was that you claimed that you can't service Apeks reg yourself, which is not true and that Germany is the only country where you can get parts due to some law, which is also not true.
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and in this country you can't because you can't get parts, and the first post on the subject I said I believe Holland and Denmark have the same rules, but wasn't sure. I again, ask you for the reason that you can buy parts in Germany/Holland/Denmark, but nowhere else in the world? What other than the consumer protection legislation would compel Aqualung to allow the parts to be sold there but nowhere else? If it was in England, I could see it as history from when Apeks first started, but it's not. Same in America where the headquarters is, but it's not.
Your point about cost of parts kits is also wrong because by the time you factor in shipping from the EU, the parts kits are all about the same price, but even if they were still $10/stage cheaper, you have to buy 10 parts kits before you offset the purchase price of the regulator, which is 10-20 years of diving before you break even, not factoring in the hassle of importing parts, and putting the shops you are buying from at risk of having their dealer status pulled for breaking their distribution agreements.
Your point about cost of parts kits is also wrong because by the time you factor in shipping from the EU, the parts kits are all about the same price, but even if they were still $10/stage cheaper, you have to buy 10 parts kits before you offset the purchase price of the regulator, which is 10-20 years of diving before you break even, not factoring in the hassle of importing parts, and putting the shops you are buying from at risk of having their dealer status pulled for breaking their distribution agreements.
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