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Chris
Master Diver
Posts: 495
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:44 am
First Name: Chris
Location: Coos Bay Oregon
Contact: Website

The hot topic of collecting dust.

Tue Nov 13, 2018 4:01 am

I haven't been around a lot, but a frind and I have vissited dive shops in Oregon, Washington, Whyoming, Idaho, and recently Canada. Almost every shop has a double hose on "display" with the hoses rotting off the horns. "Insurance, liability, old junk, dangerous" are all responses I get when I ask why they dont fix it and let students try it in the pool. When I tell them there is a company making all new parts, and even a whole new regulator, they either act like no sound came from my mouth or just stare at me like the deer that took out my driver side fender. Its frusterating that these are the people that tell me my gear should be set up a certian way, that all repairs to my gear should be done by them, and I should first pay them to teach me about my gear.

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Vancetp
Master Diver
Posts: 401
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2016 7:26 pm
First Name: Phillip
Location: Belmont CA

Re: The hot topic of collecting dust.

Thu Nov 15, 2018 10:41 pm

S'truth. The current experts of repair and maintenance know nothing of the history and evolution of the diving regulator. They think the new regulators are a different and superior machine than the old ones. How little do they know! Not a lot has changed!

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ScubaLawyer
Master Diver
Posts: 1649
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:25 am
First Name: Mark
Location: Laguna Beach, CA

Re: The hot topic of collecting dust.

Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:29 am

Vancetp wrote:
Thu Nov 15, 2018 10:41 pm
S'truth. The current experts of repair and maintenance know nothing of the history and evolution of the diving regulator. They think the new regulators are a different and superior machine than the old ones. How little do they know! Not a lot has changed!
Case in point. Walking around the DEMA show in Vegas yesterday. Stopped in at a well known manufacturers booth to check out the new crop of regs and was immediately approached by this young gung ho guy wearing the company shirt. He starts telling me all about the new, improved, totally redesigned,  completely reengineered,  one-of-a-kind,  wholly unique, never thought of before, groundbreaking reg they now make.  The body had a few interesting angles to it. He showed me a cutaway. Same internals as a Titan. And the planet continues spinning.
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

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ColemanJ
Diver
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu May 11, 2017 12:15 pm
First Name: James
Location: Rougemont NC

Re: The hot topic of collecting dust.

Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:44 pm

Yep! You are so correct. Case in point most US Divers single hose regulators from early 70's until the 90's had interchangeable parts. I run a 1970's Calpso J 2nd stage front cover on a 1980's Conshelf XIV body. Most of the internals are identical except for few things. If you look at the parts breakdown diagrams most of the parts are the same, just look at the overhaul/rebuild kits that VDH sells. Sherwood regulators are the same way as well as most companies. Most of the regulators being made today are still using the same exact technology used with double hose regulators did in the 50's. Only two technologies exist today, diaphragm or piston with very few variations. Where they get you is the fancy plastic designs, graphics, and knobs. What they have done is by using all this plastic and fancy redesigns you have to use specialized tools to work on them only to keep from damaging them but the mechanics haven't changed.

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