What Scuba pro regulator to buy

I agree with Alex's comment above! Unless you treat your gear with the utmost respect you may want to go with a more robust reg'. However if you only make a few dive trips a year and get your reg's serviced annually by a good technician then it's no issue at all!

I've been suing Apeks now for quite a few years and have yet HAD to have it serviced due to any issues with breathing or anything. I simply get it serviced so it can be cleaned in the ultrasonic bath, and of course have a few essential parts and ‘o’ rings changed. I myself like to be cleaned fully from time to time as well - though I do it with a good Balinese body scrub massage - ooh la lah!

Graham,

I think it's all the more impressive that you're getting such good performance from your Apeks regulator and good service, since you keep suing them all the time. Think how great it would be if you stopped taking them to court! (I know that was a typo, couldn't resist.)

Years ago I took the Scubapro regulator technician and repair course when it was offered once in Hong Kong. I'm glad I did, though now I have no intention of ever servicing my regulators myself unless it were absolutely necessary. You really want someone doing this who has all the right tools AND who works on regulators every week, or even every day AND still treats every regulator he/she opens up as if conducting brain surgery of a family member.

One of the the instructors told me that, as an experiment, he had been diving with a Scubapro 1st stage (I think it might have been an Mk16 but I'm not sure) for 8 years, never serviced, and it was still going strong. He had, of course, replaced the valve seat in his second stage and adjusted it from time to time. With quality regs, nothing should ever go badly wrong. The cleaning, lubrication and replacement of o-rings and valve seats is just standard maintenance, not a repair.

Frogfish (Robert Delfs)

If you like Scubapro but want a reg that requires less servicing, get an Atomic. It is designd (by the ex-Scubapro designers) so that th valve seat is not in contact when it is not in use so there is no engraving. You pay for the quality of course!

Hello,

I use a 650 for 2 years. No problem.

You should consider that the 600 allows you to attach an optional device so the exaust bubbles came out to the sides (I don't know the english word for this acessorie). The 650 does not.