Question about equipment maintenance and repair

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I just returned from a Scubapro service clinic. Proper B.C. maintenance was emphasized. It is very important that your B.C. is serviced!


Sounds like a sales pitch to me. Did they mention how important it is to pay your local ScubaPro dealer to do this service, and how this is a very profitable service for the shop?
 
Depending on place of residence the prices are going to vary. I am not sure how many dive shops are in San Antonio but here in Florida we have plenty of shops so naturally prices come down a little. Ballpark price range depending on brands would normally be $100-$130. For full gear servicing including parts and labor on full regulator and BCD. If you have hoses that are bad or non normal replacement parts you tab could run up. You might think you are getting a good deal by buying off craigslist or yard sales but you can usually find better gear at around the same prices new from you LDS. If you want to by used it might be best to by out of a LDS rental equipment.

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Sounds like a sales pitch to me. Did they mention how important it is to pay your local ScubaPro dealer to do this service, and how this is a very profitable service for the shop?

BCDs are neglected the most out of all the gear we see. But we do not charge anything to make sure a BCD is working properly when we service a customers gear and if an inflator needs to be rebuilt or a dump gasket/spring replaced usually only runs a customer and average of $10-$20
 
Sounds like a sales pitch to me. Did they mention how important it is to pay your local ScubaPro dealer to do this service, and how this is a very profitable service for the shop?
No, but they did mention the liability of not doing professional service.

As a fellow Tech diver, I'm sure you understand the importance of proper service.
 
I just returned from a Scubapro service clinic. Proper B.C. maintenance was emphasized. It is very important that your B.C. is serviced!

$200 is a fair amount of money for a complete system, but may be in the ball park.

The question is " Is it worth putting that money into used gear? ".

This post manages to both defend the practice of over-servicing based on some vague question of consequence for not doing so, AND the practice of discouraging someone from buying 'used gear' because it costs so much to service. So I guess what beaverdivers is saying is that if you had purchased new (i.e. more expensive and profitable to the shop) then of course it would worth servicing, in fact "VERY IMPORTANT". But, since it's 'used' gear (apparently it doesn't matter whether you're talking about a 1 yr old MK25/S600 or a 20 year old dacor, because the OP did not specify) it's worthless and you're better off doing guess what; BUYING NEW GEAR. :shakehead:

IOW, this post represents EXACTLY what is wrong with the current model and attitude of scuba gear sales, at least in some shops. Gear is sold in part based on its durability and reliability, and then the SAME gear, used, is often deemed dangerous and not worth fixing. Amazing how many people fall for this nonsense.

PNelson, why don't you post about your gear or as I said send me a PM and maybe I can advise you in a rational manner. $200 for a complete rebuild of 3 stages and a complete rebuild of the inflator and dump valves is high but not outrageous on the part of the dive shop, but that's partly because the cost of the rebuild kits for most regs IS outrageous, probably $80-100 in this case. For a few o-rings and seats! The issue is that you probably do not need everything rebuilt, just checked out.
 
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I just had service done on an Atomic 1st stage, an Atomic B2 2nd, a Seaquest XR 2nd, and a BCD service. Labor was $49.95 for the regulator set. Parts cost me $36. BCD service was $19.95. Total cost $108.77.
 
So the Scubapro Platinum Dealer was told by the Scubapro Service Clinic that BC service was very important and even the liability of not doing professional service was mentioned?! Too funny!! :balloons:
 
This post manages to both defend the practice of over-servicing based on some vague question of consequence for not doing so, AND the practice of discouraging someone from buying 'used gear' because it costs so much to service.
If you don't have your B.C. serviced, it may not hold air or may continue to inflate when you hit the inflate button. Also, if you have an integrated reg. it may not work properly.

Let's use a car as an example. If you don't follow the proper maintenance, your car will have a problem. Do you change the oil in your car or wait til it stops working?

If you are buying a used car, don't you look at the worn tires, rusty frame, dented hood, clanky engine and say is it worth putting " Good Money " into bring it back to life.

Or is the used car in good enough shape to bring it in working order, so it won't cost an arm & a leg.

As far as keeping new gear up todate, it is much less expensive especially if you have Free parts for Life.
 
But as we have seen the free parts for life policy is subject to being dumped at any time. Unless of course you buy all kinds of stuff you do not need. And let's just be really clear, parts are not free. When one can buy a reg for $250.00 that performs just as well with the same features as one costing $800.00 how is the free parts a bargain? Especially if to keep that "free parts" deal you need to pay labor every year. Miss it and you are SOL. While the other requires a rebuild every two years and with paying for parts is actually less per year when broken down.

And a BC service takes about 20 minutes. But if you get a BPW it can be done in less. However gear maintenance when taught as it was by my OW instructor (PADI) and practiced by the diver resulta in a BC that rarely, if ever, needs service. Rinse, drain, rinse, drain dry is what keeps a BC from needing serviced.

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Let's use a car as an example. If you don't follow the proper maintenance, your car will have a problem. Do you change the oil in your car or wait til it stops working?

If you are buying a used car, don't you look at the worn tires, rusty frame, dented hood, clanky engine and say is it worth putting " Good Money " into bring it back to life.

Or is the used car in good enough shape to bring it in working order, so it won't cost an arm & a leg.

As far as keeping new gear up todate, it is much less expensive especially if you have Free parts for Life.

You guys sure love the car analogy, too bad it's so full of B.S. Scuba gear simply does not wear in the same fashion that cars do and is MUCH less expensive to repair. Cars are in use on a daily basis and subject to FAR more wear and tear than scuba gear, and are complex machines with all sorts of expensive parts that require specialized tools and difficult labor to service. This is NOTHING like working on scuba gear. Regulators are designed to be completely rebuilt for a tiny fraction of the original cost of the regulator, and then function exactly as new. And, especially with regulators, performance and reliability have not really improved in a couple of decades, so a top-shelf regulator from the 1980s will perform just as well as a current reg. BTW, what exactly is a "clanky engine" and what possible relevance could it have to scuba gear? Sure sounds good, though, it makes the customer think of that old VW bug falling apart on the side of the road. You don't want that to happen underwater with your "life support"...:shakehead:

The 'free parts for life' scam is one of the bedrock sales gimmicks of the scuba gear industry, and still SP decided to abandon it. I really don't understand why, they were just giving away a few pennies worth of o-rings and seats, but able to claim that the value of their kits is upwards of $30 each. Of course the dealers will get the worst of it; they've lost one of the main selling points for paying full retail cost for a regulator AND coming into the shop every year, regardless of use. No wonder you're scrambling for any sort of sales pitch you can come up with.
 
Wow... when did "Free Enterprise" become a scam?

First, I think the car analogy is fine and it holds here. Some people want the FULL Cadillac treatment where everything is inspected and serviced by a professional. They may not be mechanically inclined so they rely on someone they trust to verify that all systems are go. What's more, they don't mind paying a fair wage to get this done and don't expect the technician to work for slave wages by candle light to keep things cheap. It's their right to ask for this service and no one is being ripped off or being over sold in the process.

Some people like the less than full Chevy treatment where the minimal amount is done and sometimes done on the fly. Often they wait until something breaks before they give it any attention. When that happens though it seems it's always someone else's fault.

Most of us are somewhere in between and a few of us have taken matters into our own hands. Personally, I have seen more than my share of failed inflators here in the Keys. What does that tell me? People are taking the Chevy approach with their BCs and only deal with them when they break. That's OK when they break on the boat as you're gearing up for a dive. You have a number of people who can evaluate it and repair it on the fly. I do remember the panicked look on one diver's face last year as his inflator button stuck, sending him to the surface like a Polaris missile. In a clearly futile effort he shook that hose like it was a snake on a plane, but to no avail. His BC was still farting when I joined him on the surface and unplugged his inflator hose. Fortunately for him, we were only at @ 20 ft.

FWIW, I was a mechanic in a former life and spent 30 years in the automotive field. I wasn't the cheapest guy in town but I was one of the most thorough. My best compliment was from a customer who had followed me from shop to shop, yes even to different cities, for me to work on his cars. He said that since I had started servicing his car, he had never, ever been stranded on the side of the road. The best repair, in my book, is the one you never had to make because someone with the gift of insight took care of it BEFORE it happened. No, not everyone wants the Cadillac treatment, I get that. But then there is no shame in offering it and asking for enough money to pay your technician fairly and to turn on the lights and AC in the shop. Don't blame him if you just want to be cheap. And please, don't blame him if/when your gear ever fails at an inopportune time at a favorite dive site because you neglected it.
 

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