Cost of converting reg from a-clamp to DIN

Hi
Does anyone know the rough cost of getting a reg changed from a-clamp to
DIN? It'd be an Oceanic reg, can't find any prices for these sorts of
conversions anywhere - I assume it can be done, just wanted a vague price to
see if its going to be worth it or not.
Ta

David

"David Walker" <wbsdavenews@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bnkbem$lmo$1@wisteria.csv.warwick.ac.uk...
> Hi
> Does anyone know the rough cost of getting a reg changed from a-clamp to
> DIN? It'd be an Oceanic reg, can't find any prices for these sorts of
> conversions anywhere - I assume it can be done, just wanted a vague price
to
> see if its going to be worth it or not.

About 6 months ago I had two sets of Oceanic DX4s converted to DIN - as I
remember, it cost about £45 per first stage. Note that this can only be
carried out by an Oceanic service agent...

Just changed my two sets of Apeks regs from a clamp to din.
I was lucky enough to be on a boat out of Brighton and meet someone
who had two ne Apeks DINs for £5 each. Excellent value I thought!!

The job of converting them only took 5 minutes, at home.

So now I have nice DIN regs no more mucking about with tempermental o
rings.

> > Does anyone know the rough cost of getting a reg changed from a-clamp to
> > DIN? It'd be an Oceanic reg, can't find any prices for these sorts of
> > conversions anywhere - I assume it can be done, just wanted a vague
price
> to
> > see if its going to be worth it or not.
>
> About 6 months ago I had two sets of Oceanic DX4s converted to DIN - as I
> remember, it cost about £45 per first stage. Note that this can only be
> carried out by an Oceanic service agent...

Oh OK - thanks. I'll give up on that idea then! I was thinking of getting
a second hand new reg (the ebay type where they sell new stuff), but with
that cost to convert it I might as well get it from a shop.

David

Should have bought Apeks, as the conversion kit is about £30 retail and a
piece of pi*s to fit (needs one large ajustable spanner to remove A clamp
and a one metric allen key to fit DIN fitting).

Better still, only buy your regs with DIN as original fitting as most
manufactureres dont have a different price for A clamp or DIN.




"David Walker" <wbsdavenews@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bnkbem$lmo$1@wisteria.csv.warwick.ac.uk...
> Hi
> Does anyone know the rough cost of getting a reg changed from a-clamp to
> DIN? It'd be an Oceanic reg, can't find any prices for these sorts of
> conversions anywhere - I assume it can be done, just wanted a vague price
to
> see if its going to be worth it or not.
> Ta
>
> David
>
>

> Should have bought Apeks, as the conversion kit is about £30 retail and a
> piece of pi*s to fit (needs one large ajustable spanner to remove A clamp
> and a one metric allen key to fit DIN fitting).

They're all that easy to fit from what I can tell.
Apparently the kit for Oceanic is £51.50!

> Better still, only buy your regs with DIN as original fitting as most
> manufactureres dont have a different price for A clamp or DIN.

The only reason I was looking was because there was a reg on ebay,
apparently brand new, for around £100 when they should be around £220. I
asked the bloke a question though, and he didn't seem to know anything about
regs, he wouldn't say where they came from, and they had no warranty, so I
decided they most likely fell off the back of a lorry - by the time i'd
converted it to DIN and done a service i'd be no better off than buying new
anyway.

Now i'm going to get a new Oceanic CDX5 / GT for £179, already in DIN
format.

David

Can I manually change my Mares Abyss regulator from an A-clamp to a
DIN, or do I need to get ripped off by taking my regs to a dive shop
instead?

The Abyss is a really good reg, but bloody expensive to maintain. I
should have purchased an Apex instead!

TIA.
M.

> Can I manually change my Mares Abyss regulator from an A-clamp to a
> DIN, or do I need to get ripped off by taking my regs to a dive shop
> instead?

Not sure about Mares, but from what I understood with my Oceanic reg was I
took it in, and thay'd do it for me. As it happens the dive shop I went to
said he'd fit it for free, so that wasn't an issue, but the cost of the part
itself was the £51.50, which is just stupid money really. You can buy Apeks
DS4 first stages for less than £20 more!
If you could get the part, it would be easy to convert yourself, but whether
they are allowed to sell it to you i'm not sure - it may be like some (or
all?) reg service kits where only authorised repair people can buy it and
they aren't allowed to sell it on.

David

"David Walker" <wbsdavenews@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bo5du7$aig$1@wisteria.csv.warwick.ac.uk...
> > Can I manually change my Mares Abyss regulator from an A-clamp to a
> > DIN, or do I need to get ripped off by taking my regs to a dive shop
> > instead?
>
<snip>
> If you could get the part, it would be easy to convert yourself, but
whether
> they are allowed to sell it to you i'm not sure - it may be like some (or
> all?) reg service kits where only authorised repair people can buy it and
> they aren't allowed to sell it on.
>
> David
>
>

I know this has been done to death on the ranting about rip-off merchants
and the fact that the "rules" make no sense and have very little (if any)
legal standing, but...

....when I was looking for bits for a low pressure inflator I was asked on
numerous occasions (when trying to get just the parts) "Are you a service
technician?"

Now, I could happily have just said - "Well, yes! Of course I am" and hoped
they would send the bits or I could make myself a "service technician".

Does anyone know what courses this would involve?

Is it a case of each manufacturer has its own courses? This I seriously
doubt - can you imagine the cost for a LDS and all those courses!

Is something like TDI's "Service Technician" course good enough?

Just curious - I want to be able to service my own gear when it's due next
year...

CAS

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"David Walker" <wbsdavenews@hotmail.com> wrote...

in message news:bo5lqi$e5v$1@wisteria.csv.warwick.ac.uk...
> > ...They are cartel rules imposed by the importers/manufacturers
> > to protect their market and any shops breaking those rules see
> > their supplies of stock and parts cut off...

> I found the same when I bought my Vyper earlier in the
> year - every single shop sold it for £228, not a penny
> more, not a penny less! After talking to someone in one
> of the shops though, apparently that is the price they are
> told they had to sell it at by Suunto...

It's known a price fixing, also illegal.

> Thankfully, looking at prices recently it seems like the
> practice is reducing, with regs and torches i've been
> looking at with quite varied prices, and shops willing
> to make offers on them. Even Suunto seem to have
> relaxed their rules now, with much more variable
> pricing than before.

You may well be seeing "grey" goods as well, stuff imported directly from
Europe and beyond bypassing the cartel of the UK importers and distributers.
They don't like that either, "not guaranteed" is the normal cry but I
believe that is also illegal under EU rules as well!

Welcome to the dive industry. Don't blame your LDS either, it's not their
fault and they are ordinary people trying to make a living just like the
rest of us. They are caught up in this just as much as we are. There are
some enlightened ones around who will ignore these illegal "rules" for
divers that they know and they deserve all of the support and business that
it puts their way.

But if you find one =DON'T= post it publicly to this or any other group!
Tell your close and trusted friends by all means but the importers make life
difficult if they find out.

K