Aqualung Legend LX First Stage Failure at depth

[databob]

From Aquaung site FAQ SERVICE AND REPAIR (GENERAL)

Q: Where can I get my Aqua Lung, SeaQuest, Apeks or U.S. Divers product serviced?

We have many Authorized Aqua Lung Dealers around the country that can service your equipment. You can use the Dealer Locator function in the left side navigation of this website to find the dealer nearest you.

Q: How do I sign up for an Aqua Lung Repair course?

Only authorized Aqua Lung Dealers and some Military dive lockers are allowed to take authorized repair courses.

Q: How do I buy repair parts for my Aqua Lung product?

It is our policy only to sell repair parts to authorized Aqua Lung Dealers. There are no exceptions to this policy.

 

[halocline]

I could go on a long rant about this, but I'll try to discipline myself. Imagine an auto company trying the same thing with parts restrictions. How long would that last?

Scuba companies can get away with this crap because there are relatively few scuba divers, and as a result, we don't have enough clout to make the companies change these incredibly stupid policies.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I could go on a long rant about this, but I'll try to discipline myself. Imagine an auto company trying the same thing with parts restrictions. How long would that last?

Scuba companies can get away with this crap because there are relatively few scuba divers, and as a result, we don't have enough clout to make the companies change these incredibly stupid policies.

I found there is kind of a push pull dynamic with all of this. I can buy Aqualung parts from several places online. Whether these are "official" parts or not, I don't know. But the fact remains, finding and obtaining ligit AL parts I find easier than finding SP parts for instance.
I'm sure AL is aware of these places selling parts to the public via the internet, but it hasen't seemed to be enough cause for AL to cut off these dealers. I think moving sales through is more important than trying to close up parts leaks. And I'm sure there is a bluff component to all this. AL might tell a dealer to stop sales of parts to the public or no more goods, and the dealer will tell them to get their crap out of their shop. This is the push pull part. It ends in a stalemate and life goes on.

BTW, I to think the whole ACD concept definitely qualifies as a "contraption".
Another moving part, two orings, and another spring, all so some person who doesn't know how to properly clean a reg can have the "convenience" of being lazy. Another salt and grit trap, and a scary failure point which has been determined, and then some say that's impossible which automatically calls the OP a liar.
I believe it.
I'm in the camp of believing that anything in the way of the path of gas flow is a horrifically bad idea.
This whole incident could have ended a lot worse.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Eric

I'll strongly disagree on both your last two points.

First, no one is calling the OP a liar, we are saying that the diagnosis they've received from the LDS is plain wrong. The ACD is designed to fail safe if the ACD fails you get a huge leak like an O ring failure.

Yes the ACD is a convenience, I didn't purchase my first AL reg set because of it, but it was a feature that was a deciding factor in my other 3 sets. I clean both my regs and my wife's (who has Scuba pro and Apex for reasons of avialibility at the time of purchase). Dust caps on Din don't seal as well as yoke, so she has screw on metal caps to prevent the risk of water ingress during cleaning and soaking post dive (every week in salt water). Accusing people who buy the AL ACD as lazy is disingenuous.

Whether a piece of equipment is simple or complex, it still falls back on the quality of maintenancethat equipment receives. In this case, I believe the failure isn't from the equipment design, but from shoddy service and maintenance.

 

[halocline]

It's possible that most yoke dust caps don't "seal as well" as screw-on DIN caps, but they do the job. If they are installed correctly they will keep water out, so really they end working just as well as the DIN caps. We're not talking about high pressure, it's just a couple of feet of water at most. My yoke regs are all at least 20 years old (most much older) and the caps still work fine.

The only 1st stage I've ever had with a dust cap I would not trust is a DIN MK10 that came with basically a soft rubber sleeve that slipped on. I bought a Delrin cap.

As far as what happened with the OP's reg in this thread, it sure does appear that the ACD was not the reason (or at least sole reason) that the reg stopped delivering air. I still think it's a very bad idea to deliberately place anything that could be an obstruction in the air path. For no other reason, that spot is the bottleneck for flow. High performing 1st stages have much higher flow rates than do tank valves. Another reason is that it's impossible to inspect the filter without removing it. Anyone that uses a rental tank on vacation is wise to take a peek at the filter between dives to make sure there's no crap in the tank fouling your regulator. The ACD prevents doing that.

 

[Freewillow]

Talked yesterday to my servide guy. The ACD, present on any Aqualung with a Din system simply cannot fail the way indicated by the OP. As Diving Dubai has mentionned, if something is not screwed correctly, there will be a pretty HUGE leak. Not the other way around.

 

[databob]

Well - here is the response from Aqualung - the company, not my dive shop. I sent a description of the incident via certified letter and this is the response:

"It is possible for any regulator retaining nut to come loose if it is not torqued correctly, especially if the yoke screw is over-tightened and the regulator is rotated while on the cylinder valve. This could eventually cause what you experienced." They also indicated there were no inherent problems with the ACD.

I have spent a lot of time searching for other instances of this type of failure. It is extremely rare to find a case of a first stage failure at all, and I can certainly not find a single instance of an ACD issue. Guess I was just lucky. I don't know what to tell you. I'd love if I knew it was me - I can fix me. I looked at the filters from my service - clean and they look new. All O-rings look new. Dive shop says failed regulator parts were loose, could cause issue. Manufacturer confirms. Who am I to argue.

My solution - new ScubaPro regulator, no ACD, new manufacturer which buys me a new dive shop to service my gear. I don't want to dive waiting for this reg to not provide air. The peace of mind is worth the money. If you see a subsequent post that a ScubaPro first stage failed then we know it was me after all!!

BTW - Got a fully rebuilt Aqualung Legend LX for sale if you are interested - super cheap!!

This is my final update on this. Best wishes and happy diving.

 

[redacted]

Well - here is the response from Aqualung - the company, not my dive shop. I sent a description of the incident via certified letter and this is the response:

"It is possible for any regulator retaining nut to come loose if it is not torqued correctly, especially if the yoke screw is over-tightened and the regulator is rotated while on the cylinder valve. This could eventually cause what you experienced." They also indicated there were no inherent problems with the ACD.

I have spent a lot of time searching for other instances of this type of failure. It is extremely rare to find a case of a first stage failure at all, and I can certainly not find a single instance of an ACD issue. Guess I was just lucky. I don't know what to tell you. I'd love if I knew it was me - I can fix me. I looked at the filters from my service - clean and they look new. All O-rings look new. Dive shop says failed regulator parts were loose, could cause issue. Manufacturer confirms. Who am I to argue.

My solution - new ScubaPro regulator, no ACD, new manufacturer which buys me a new dive shop to service my gear. I don't want to dive waiting for this reg to not provide air. The peace of mind is worth the money. If you see a subsequent post that a ScubaPro first stage failed then we know it was me after all!!

BTW - Got a fully rebuilt Aqualung Legend LX for sale if you are interested - super cheap!!

This is my final update on this. Best wishes and happy diving.

One peace of mind you can enjoy is that you have ended your relationship with an incompetent LDS and a deceptive manufacturer. A loose yoke nut retainer will produce a leak but will continue providing the diver gas until the tank is empty.

The most likely cause of your OOA experience is the dive op that provided the tank.

 

[Diving Dubai]

@databob

I would rest assured that you are not at fault in this incident - perhaps you may have caused the yoke nut to loosen but that didn't cause the failure.

One cannot fault you in loosing faith in this reg. I too once hada reg fail, it caused a wet breathe. Despite it being examined with forensic detail in my presence and rebuilt by someone I trust implicitly, I never really trusted that reg. It's been used since, on a pony where its failure would only cause an inconvenience, but my faith and trust in it had been lost, so effectively it's been retired and replaced with a new unit. As an engineer I find my "fear" irrational.

Having trust and piece of mind with your equipment is of paramount importance. So good luck with you new purchase and with it, many safe and enjoyable dives to come

 

[Ongrade]

PM me your price please