Recommendations for 2nd hand regulators

[BenjaminF]

I'm fairly new to diving, and I am interested in buying a set of second hand (student budget!) regulators which are a.) simple to self-service and b.) will last

What would be a recommendation, and why?

 

[Crowley]

For second hand budget regulators you can often find some good deals by buying ex-rental from a reputable dive centre. They will have been used and abused but they also should have been well maintained and regularly serviced. Something like the Scubapro Mk II first stage plus S600/R395 second stages are amongst the most popular recreational rental regs on the planet: inexpensive, basic, easy to service, pretty much bullet proof and if well maintained, will last forever.

I would advise caution if you intend to self service, especially if you are - as you say - fairly new to diving. Basic, no-frills regs are pretty easy to service, actually; you can usually find the service manuals on the internet somewhere, but I would certainly have a qualified technician train you on the process (a lot!) before you attempt it yourself. Bear in mind that you may need specialist tools to get inside the regulator in the first place, and you will need access to full tanks and relevant pressure gauges to adequately adjust the regulator to correct specifications. They are your life-support system after all, and if you get it wrong, the consequences could - in the worst case scenario - prove fatal. If you are at all in doubt, hand them over to qualified service personnel.

Hope that helps,

C.

 

[BenjaminF]

Looking over the forums here, many people seem to be buying the SP 109s. Is there a particular reason for this?

 

[elan]

You will not be saving money servicing one regulator as you need tools and training. So just look what you can get serviced in your area.

The regs are also not a life support system

 

[Fishpie]

For a cheap, reliable easy to service reg it would be difficult to beat a Conshelf or SEA.

 

[BenjaminF]

The idea is not to save money on the servicing, but rather to better understand how my equipment works

 

[Colliam7]

I'm fairly new to diving, and I am interested in buying a set of second hand (student budget!) regulators which are a.) simple to self-service and b.) will last What would be a recommendation, and why?

Benjamin, a very tough question to answer, because you have combined two aspects - a) used AND b) user serviceable - that are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but possibly a bit challenging. Several thoughts:

Most major brands of regulators will 'last', unless they are abused, and even then regulators are pretty durable. So, whether you get Zeagle, Aqualung, Apeks, Mares, Scubapro, HOG, Edge, Dive Rite (the list goes on, but hopefully you get the point), you shouldn't have a problem with a regulator not remaining functional for many years. In fact, the bigger danger to their longevity (aside from getting flooded with salt water, and being left to corrode between periods of service) is possibly being serviced by a unskilled techncian who scratches critical surfaces in the first stage, in the process of disassembly or reassembly.

Most regulators can be serviced by the user, once they have been trained. Servicing a standard diaphragm first and second stage is not rocket science. But, it does require at least a modicum of training (primarily, to make sure you disassemble and reassemble in the correct order, and replace the correct parts), AND a few tools (and having a service manual is nice). Plus, it requires that you have a minimum set of equipment to check pressures after you reassemble your regulator. If the regulators is dirty / corroded, having a hydrosonic cleaning bath is also nice. Beyond that it is straightforward. I service my own regs and I can do a Zeagle first stage and two second stages, complete with disassembly, hydrosonic cleaning, parts replacement, reassembly, and testing, in less than an hour.

Manufacturers are (understandably) not wild about the potential liability associated with having the average diver / owner service their own regulator. So, they don't go out of their way to make it easy to get parts kits. In fact, some manufacturers make it difficult to get parts kits if you are not a shop / authorized service facility. But, in this age of freedom of commerce, where you can probably buy the materials needed to assemble a nuclear weapon, buying parts kits for scuba regulators shouldn't be a big challenge.

Several brands (HOG, Edge) seem to have made the decision to make owner-servicing more do-able: check some other SB threads on this (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/edge-gear/292901-hog-regulator-service-kits.html). However, finding used HOG or Edge regulators is not as easy as finding used regulators in more well-established brands (Zeagle, Apeks, Aqualung), hence my initial comment. It is simply a matter of the number of units sold / in use over the years.

My suggestion would be to find a local shop, and talk to them about learning to service your own regs. In the US, certain manufacturers (Aqualung, Zeagle, etc) periodically do regulator service seminars at scuba-related meeting (e.g. DEMA). Zeagle does 1-2 service seminars at their FL headquarters each year. There are some commercial shops that offer regulator service technician training (Equipment Technician Training :: Virginia Scuba). I don't know the situation in Israel, or in Europe in general. But, I suspect there are similar opportunities for individuals to learn to sevice their own regulators. Again, it isn't technically that difficult. Frankly, a person of average dexterity and technical intuition could probably do it without training, although I wouldn't recommend it.

Looking over the forums here, many people seem to be buying the SP 109s. Is there a particular reason for this?

No.

 

[Fishpie]

The Scubapro's are a little more expensive and a not as easy to servive for the novice.
You may run into problems with the rubber parts for the 2nd's and 1st stages with too few ports and yokes that were not built for 3000psi.
......great regs but probably not the best choice for the first time DIYer.

 

[LowDrag]

I know HOG is offering classes but you have to meet a few requirements first. I think the big one is having at the minimum an Intro to Tech course of some kind behind you. There are some other requirements I believe but I can't recall at the moment what they are.

 

[BenjaminF]

Thank you to everybody for all the information