Anual Reg Servicing

[CuriousMe]

Ok, so my reg (Apeks ATX 50 and TX20) is coming on a year old now....so I wanted to get it serviced and didn't feel adventuous enough to do it myself.

I couldn't find a shop on Catalina that serviced Apeks so, I checked out Sea-Quest's site and found a dealer in Long Beach (where my home port currently is). I called the shop and the assured me that yes they service Apeks regs, no problem at all.

So this morning I head on down to them. When I walk and speak to the older gentleman working there (I got the impression he was the shop owner), he says that he doesn't servie Apeks, he's never heard of them and they must be one of those internet brands? I mention to him that Apeks is owned by Seaquest and then he says oh, then yes we can service them. I showed him the reg and he said, oh yes we can service those.

I should have turned around and said thank you anyway and walked out...but stupidly didn't. I figured that the guy on the phone recognized the Apeks name and he said he was one of the techs.

But now I'm suspicious....so, I'm chatting with him about what will be done and he mentions that they will only be changing some of the o-rings...is that standard for an anual reg servicing? When I asked why all the o-rings wouldn't be changed, he said that would be a complete over haul and would be nearly $200?

Is this the standard practice or am I being taken?

Peace,
Cathie

 

[wreckchick]

I can only speak from my experience which was not with an Apeks reg, nor am I any kind of tech, but when I took mine in for it's annual, I got back a baggie of parts that included more than a few o-rings and the service was free because I bought the reg from the place that serviced it.

I would go get the reg back before they take it apart and find someone who has heard of Apeks, they aren't that uncommon.

Rachel

 

[Diversauras]

I have a Posidon now so really can't talk to Apex, but I abuse my gear and recently had the first and both second stages and the SPG overhauled, and the total was only $150, and that was labor, parts and overnight shipping back to me, so IMHO $200 seems steep.

 

[drbill]

Must admit that since I have several regs and dive with redundant regs plus octopus most of the time, I don't get them serviced annually. I do service them once every two years though and the cost for first and second stages plus octopus has been about $130 (locally, no shopping).

Of course these are Scubapro Mk10/G250's so they are pretty reliable even given the number of dives I do each year.

A dive buddy hadn't had Scubapro reg serviced in 10 years. I finally talked her into taking it in this winter.

Dr. Bill

 

[redacted]

In general, I think you will find mfgrs recommend replacement of all dynamic (moving) o-rings annually, but only call for the inspection of most static (no movement) o-rings. So the o-rings on hoses, the yoke nut, and a couple stationary sealing o-rings in the second stage may last 5 years or more. So the idea that all o-rings are not renewed should not be alarming.

But the suggestion that it would cost $200.00 to have that done would sound my alarm. Even with the 1st and 2 seconds, you should only be talking less than 20 o-rings, including all hoses and port plugs. O-ring cost should be on the order of 25 to 50 cents each so give him $1.00 per including labor. Even that is high since they should all be cleaned and inspected anyway as part of the annual. So maybe they are planning on charging you around $180.00 just for the required service and the extra $20.00 is reasonable. That's too much for the basic service. Or they were going to charge you a more reasonable fee for the basic service (like maybe $100.00) and then stick it to you for the extra o-rings. That doesn't make much sense at all. Or they were going to do a half- a$$ed basic service, that is just stick in an annual kit (if that) without complete dissassembly, cleaning and inspection. Still probably charging you that same $100.00. But now the extra work to disassemble enough to change the static o-rings may justify the extra $100.00.

I'd probably be looking for another shop. But I'd probably be interested in getting an itemized estimate and explaination before I left LMAO.

And I believe drbill is right. With good care, two years or more between overhaul is reasonable. I finally sacrificed annual kits to my Mk20/G500 after a littl over 4 years. And I suspect it would have gone another year but the G500 needed an upgrade anyway.

 

[neil]

If you have an Apeks reg with a warranty, and you want to keep it current, annual rebuild or inspection is required. I think they are saying now that a rebuild every other year is okay, but you still need the annual inspection to be notated on your warranty card. WITH the warranty, the parts are free. Without, parts should be about 40-50 bucks retail. The parts kits are specific to the Apeks regs, and ALL o-rings and seats are replaced, along with first stage diaphragms and filter. Anything else is half-a$$ work and you should run away fast. When all else fails, you can always send the reg to SeaQuest for service.
Neil

 

[PhotoTJ]

...Sport Chalet in California, a full overhaul is $60, plus parts on any reg they service, and I happen to know they service Apeks.

 

[CuriousMe]

neil once bubbled...
If you have an Apeks reg with a warranty, and you want to keep it current, annual rebuild or inspection is required. I think they are saying now that a rebuild every other year is okay, but you still need the annual inspection to be notated on your warranty card. WITH the warranty, the parts are free. Without, parts should be about 40-50 bucks retail. The parts kits are specific to the Apeks regs, and ALL o-rings and seats are replaced, along with first stage diaphragms and filter. Anything else is half-a$$ work and you should run away fast. When all else fails, you can always send the reg to SeaQuest for service.
Neil

So, is this warranty card kept by Apeks? All my warranty stuff was sent in by my dive shop at home when I bought the equipment....but I don't think I received anything....I thought they could tell by the serial number or something?

The other thing he told me was that only the metal parts that might be changed are covered under the warranty...everything else I pay for. He made a distinction between an annual service and a complete overhaul.

Wish I could get it back from them....but I'm not in home port again till Monday.

Thanks for the tip PhotoTJ...I think I saw them listed, but they were pretty far away from the Pier.....I'll have to bite the bullet and get over there.

Peace,
Cathie

 

[Juls64]

I know on my ScubaPro Reg and on my daughter's Mares, the LDS registered them for us, but each of ours had a card with the serial #, model, etc that we keep and I'm guessing that is what we use when service time rolls around. They are nice little laminated cards. Did you get anything like that?

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

CuriousMe once bubbled...
So this morning I head on down to them. When I walk and speak to the older gentleman working there (I got the impression he was the shop owner), he says that he doesn't servie Apeks, he's never heard of them and they must be one of those internet brands? I mention to him that Apeks is owned by Seaquest and then he says oh, then yes we can service them. I showed him the reg and he said, oh yes we can service those. ...

But now I'm suspicious....so, I'm chatting with him about what will be done and he mentions that they will only be changing some of the o-rings...is that standard for an anual reg servicing? When I asked why all the o-rings wouldn't be changed, he said that would be a complete over haul and would be nearly $200?

Grab your reg and run. The first alarm would have been his reaction to the brand name. The second should have been the price of service that depending on what model you have is 50-100% of the original purchase price.

As a price point comparison, I just two full Mares reg/octos in for annual service , and an Auqa Lung Legend that I purchased used serviced. The Mares sets were $58 each which included all parts and hose and SPG checkups and cleaning. The Legend had all internal replaceable parts replaced including the diaphram for $56.

Find another store.

Marc