Considering selling my Kraken

[monterey1970]

I have a 2014 Kraken in excellent condition. I'm thinking of selling I'll probably be doing aquarium dives full-time from now on (the aquarium requires we use their in-house regulators, probably so as not to freak out the guests ).

I'm wondering what my options are for selling it. It has seen about twenty dives over the past eight years, and it has always been rinsed thoroughly at the end of each dive day. Normally I would send it in to get serviced before I sell it, but the VDH store appears to be closed for now. I could find a local SH service shop that is willing to look at it. Or I could sell it "as-is". Since I think it's in excellent condition (even the hoses appear to be in great condition), I'd rather have it serviced then sell it for more money.

Does anyone have insights they could share with me?

P.S. That yellow DH reg in my profile photo is not the one I'm thinking of selling. My Kraken has a black hose.

Thanks!

[simonbeans]

Advertise it here and on Scubaboard. You will have absolutely NO problem selling it. Don’t have it serviced. It will sell as is. The Kraken is now the Holy Grail.

[ScubaLawyer]

What are you asking for it? I would be interested. My email is in my bio.

[BigSwell]

Andy, I'd add that the reason the aquarium wants you using their regs/equipment is liability rather than visibility to the public (although there may also be some keyman contract they have with a specified dive manufacturer(s) in play as well requiring marketing of their gear by the divers). If you have an accident on your gear while on their property that opens a whole lotta problems. I've seen a few dive post mortums to know about this, I was also an SIO diver for many years and the gear we used was maintained onsite at the SIO Dive locker by a fulltime tech (scubapro stuff), including air fills.

[simonbeans]

I believe anther reason you are required to use the facilities’ gear is to help prevent “outside” contamination that might be on your gear that has been exposed to an environment other than the aquarium. I doubt if there is either an advertisement or liability issue.

[BigSwell]

That is an interesting point.

Most Aquariums that I know of located near saltwater pump their water in/out from the ocean; making "saltwater" is not only prohibitively expensive but very labor intensive to get the chemistry just right on that scale. Adding a trainload of Morton's Salt to water just won't do it... the aquarium in Salt Lake City is a bit different but that's a whole different banana...

The Birch Aquarium at Scripps has 3 main water systems and one of them is an ambient system which uses "raw water" which is pumped up from the end of the Scripps pier directly into the ambient system (kelp tank etc) without filtration. I won't go into the biological reasons for this but the microbiology raw water (un treated) has is necessary in some of the micro ecosystems in coldwater tanks (when a redtide hits offshore, it is also in the 70,000 gallon Kelp Tank at the Birch). So the idea that a piece of scuba equipment bringing in some microb or contamination (unless it's been in a wastewater system - which is highly unlikely) is moot. The closed systems most large aquariums have use ozone and other mechanical "scrubbing" mechanisms to remove unwanted bugs in their sensitive water systems. Diver liability is a huge issue for any university or large aquarium and the Birch Aquarium had at the time I was at Scripps, a contract with Scubapro (as does Scripps) for equipment donations etc so everyone had to use Scubapro gear, that's a fact. They also want consistency "ie a uniform (or as my wife calls it a "costume") for all employees and volunteers; having a mishmash of wetsuits and gear just doesn't fly with public image, just think if SeaWorld allowed their divers to wear whatever they want...

Just an FYI from someone who's been there, done that, and has a boatload of t-shirts to prove it. ;}

[EberWolf]

I'd have an interest in it as well. Please keep us posted when and where if you decide to sell.