Am I getting taken here?

[kidspot]

hmm - the parts for one of my second stages is $64 (wholesale) and the reg only cost $125... so I figure I'll skip service and replace it every 2 years I wonder if I'll die because I missed 1 year of servicing...

Tim

 

[MrConclusion]

Watch out KidSpot, most regulators will spontaneously combust 366 days after their last service.

You have figured out how and where the money is made on cheap regulators.

 

[diverrick]

Funny thing is that I am a Certified Aircraft Technician (A&P), Aircraft Inspector, And, currently am working as a Millwright, due to the airline industry being in the po po bin. If I can't repair my own regulator, I don't know who can! They are not rocket science after all.

I thought it was funny that the Dive op got so upset that I was working on my regs. I got the feeling that they might not let me dive with them after that repair, but they dropped the issue when all seemed to come out good. Maybe they were hoping I might rent a set from them instead? After all it was only sand in the primary seat FGS!! not that big of a deal in my mind, but that being said, we all know what my mind is like.

 

[dbg40]

The parts for my SP rigs are free, and the labor cost is $20 each 1st and 2nd stage.
Then when they get back, I take them apart and tune em like a race car because they won't do it. But my warranty is still firmly in place. Which probably makes them nuts being that my D300 is about 18 years old now. No new regs for me!

 

[MikeFerrara]

Rule #1 ... oops sorry that one is already taken.

Rule #2 nobody touches my gear.

The only exception to Rule #2 for me is the technician at the dive shop. I envy MikeF and others who are able to work on their own gear.

The nice thing about ScubaPro is that parts are free for life.

If you have found a good dive shop, then they do all their work on-site and nothing gets "sent out" except tank hydros.

$75 is typical for repair of a regulator. When you get the parts bill in addition, you may wish you had bought ScubaPro.

Zeagle also offers free parts to the original owner. The problem with these deals is they provide the parts to dealers only. That means that in order to get the free parts you have to take the reg to a dealer for service and you're usually required to do it on time or the deal is off. Buying the parts yourself and doing the work is cheaper although it's close with a few regs.

I don't know about scubapro but with Zeagle, the dealer actually has to buy the first sets of parts. After that when the reg is serviced the shop sends in the used parts and the documentation and Zeagle sends new parts. Just another one of those things where the shop needs to shell out the cash to get it started. The shop still ends up with a considerable investment in parts and no one to give a bill to. Essentially they end up buying a parts kit for every reg they sell (or maybe didn't sell). Take that out of an already limited profit and see what you get. The way service is run in the dive business isn't good for any one except the manufacturer if you ask me. I'd imagine other manufacturers that offer "free parts" do it in a similar way.

If you find a good shop you may or may not need to have things sent out. For instance, my shop was in an area where lots of people had aqualung regs. I couldn't get an aqualung dealership and I was never able to talk them into letting me service their regs. I used to have to send them out...that is when I had a place to send them. I never got a price break and wasn't ever able to even tack on a buck or two for handling so I did it free just to get those people into my shop. At that I kept losing my sources of aqualung service because those shops would rather have those people come into their shop. That's the purpose for all the service bs in the first place...to force divers to frequent shops that are dealers for brands they already own. IME, it limits a shops market more than it helps them. The manufacturer is the one who benefits from the policies. After all these years I still can't fathom why more shop owners don't see this and stick it to the manufacturers. They run around giving away classes in the hopes of selling a piece of gear or two and complaining that the online dealers are killing them. It's, how should we say it?...beyond the pale. LOL

 

[MikeFerrara]

Watch out KidSpot, most regulators will spontaneously combust 366 days after their last service.

You have figured out how and where the money is made on cheap regulators.

They won't do that but some have soft seats (especially in the second stage) that may very well start to leak before two years is up. They always wait till your trying to get in the water to start leaking and it'd be a shame to mess up a dive outing for lack of a $0.69 part.

Some even have a tendancy to take a bit of a set after a weeek or whatever leaving the shop to take the rap for ill-tuning the reg. Some might be helped by cycling the reg but I think time is the big thing (the pressure on the seat is there one way or the other). It's a lot easier to show people how an 8th of a turn with an allen wrench solves the problem in about 4 seconds...and if the accidentily turn it 1/4 rather than an 8th thy stand a very good chance of surviving it. LOL

Disclaimer: You will certainly die if you touch your life support equipment with a tool...and the tools are probably too expensive for you to want to own any how!

 

[scubapro50]

The parts for my SP rigs are free, and the labor cost is $20 each 1st and 2nd stage.
Then when they get back, I take them apart and tune em like a race car because they won't do it. But my warranty is still firmly in place. Which probably makes them nuts being that my D300 is about 18 years old now. No new regs for me!

Many of the older regulators were built better and will perform as well as the new models because they were't built with as many plastic parts. I will dive with my Scubapro MK10 as long as Scubapro can provide parts. Now many companies don't like that idea because they see a useful life of a product of about 10 years and then they want you to go out and buy a new one from them ..... why ..... This cause one company (Dacor) to get a lot of bad press for not standing behind their "lifetime" warranty to provide service and parts for their products.

 

[Pez de Diablo]

Disclaimer: You will certainly die if you touch your life support equipment with a tool...and the tools are probably too expensive for you to want to own any how!

Mike,

Glad to see you have your sense of humor back and that the memories of dive shop ownership are starting to fade!