Broken Power Inflator...Advice?

[MetalHealth]

I've had my Zeagle for about 8 years but haven't been diving in 5. It's seen about 120 dives in it's three active years and always been well maintained and properly stored. During that time, I've gone through four power inflators. The first failed shortly after purchase and was replaced under warranty by a local dealer. The second was very kindly replaced by Zeagle when I sent my Ranger to them to repair some seams that were coming apart less than two years after purchase because they said it was not "their latest and greatest." When I discovered that one was broken about a two years ago, I bought a (supposedly) new one off ebay but didn't install it until last week. Today, I brought my Ranger over to the LDS (not a Zeagle dealer) and discovered that this one is broken too! My question is, would I be better off buying another one off the Internet or should I take it in to a local dealer to have it fixed? Oh yeah, and why do these break so often? Is that normal?

 

[DiveTub]

Ok so can you tell us what is breaking on them?

I have sold well over a couple of hundred Zeagle inflators and only ever had 2 back with issues. Both involved a crack running down the length of the the nipple thread. This was soon put down to the LDS's putting too much torque onto the the QD nipple when screwing them down during service and cracking the housing.

Cheers
Chris

 

[MetalHealth]

Chris,
It's hard to remember what the issue was on the first one but I seem to thinh it had something to do with an o-ring popping out after only 10 dives. This was a very old style inflator and looked completely different to the ones used today. The shop told me they were not meant to be serviced and replaced it under warranty but charged me $2.50 for shipping the old one back or something. The second one that broke was installed directly by Zeagle and eventually developed the split you mentioned in your post. The one that I just installed is not holding air at all and seems to be leaking from one of the grooves to the right of the inflate button and above the Zeagle name but I didn't get a chance to fully examine it and the shop (not being a Zeagle dealer) wasn't too interested. Since all the shops in Phoenix are closed on Sundays and Monday is a holiday, I'll have to wait until Tuesday to bring it in. As the original owner, would this still be covered under warranty or should I just buy a new one online and save myself the hassle?

 

[oly5050user]

Chris,
It's hard to remember what the issue was on the first one but I seem to thinh it had something to do with an o-ring popping out after only 10 dives. This was a very old style inflator and looked completely different to the ones used today. The shop told me they were not meant to be serviced and replaced it under warranty but charged me $2.50 for shipping the old one back or something. The second one that broke was installed directly by Zeagle and eventually developed the split you mentioned in your post. The one that I just installed is not holding air at all and seems to be leaking from one of the grooves to the right of the inflate button and above the Zeagle name but I didn't get a chance to fully examine it and the shop (not being a Zeagle dealer) wasn't too interested. Since all the shops in Phoenix are closed on Sundays and Monday is a holiday, I'll have to wait until Tuesday to bring it in. As the original owner, would this still be covered under warranty or should I just buy a new one online and save myself the hassle?

The bc is8 ys old..just replace the inflator with a new one...a standard one cost around $30.

 

[MetalHealth]

Well, I know what a new one costs. I bought the one that I just put on that appears new and is already broken. Unfortunatley, I bought it on Ebay quite a while ago and have no recourse to get it replaced. Can anyone pm me with a reputable shop with good prices and fast shipping? I'm heading out in a couple of weeks.

Thanks

 

[fisheater]

I'd replace it with the new BX Inflator, which attaches to the corrugated hose with an easy-to-install garden hose fitting.

The benefits are that (a) you can use a garden hose to clean out your BC bladder and (b) the inflator stays with your reg, cutting down on the physical abuse an autoinflator would otherwise endure.

 

[MetalHealth]

Ordered a new dump valve and BX inflator today! Can't wait.