Cost of Atomics Z2 regulator service?

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purbeast

Contributor
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Location
Rockville, MD
# of dives
25 - 49
I searched for this however I found a thread from 2013 so I thought it may be a bit dated and wanted to create a new one.

I have had my Z2s now for 2 years and wanted to get it serviced before I go on my next trip in a couple months. I have never had it serviced yet so this is my first time doing so.

I have 1 1st stage and 2 2nd stages.

I am just curious what kind of price I should expect to be quoted on this service.

I am going to check out my one local shop that is like 10 minutes away. They are ScubaPro shop but she told me they will take any brand and it just won't be done in house.

Then there is another shop about 30-40 minutes away that does in house service.

So I'm just curious what I should be expecting to pay to have these 3 regulators serviced.

Thanks.
 
$30 per stage labor plus parts.
Thus, $90 labor plus $25-35 per kit (first stage more expensive).
$175
HP spool service for your SPG extra.
Computer battery change extra.

The labor charge is a steal for good service.
The parts cost? Not so much.
 
If you don’t have it done locally, you don’t know who’s doing it or how well. You can ask the local service technician for his current manufacturers training certification documentation. If they are factory certified, there is legal coverage by the manufacturer for the service.
 
Your local shop is going to send them to another shop and then most likely add on a fee for their efforts. Rightfully so but I would suggest you drive the 30-40 minutes to the shop that does the service in-house. So you know who is doing the work directly.

As you have trip coming up, when you pick them up bring along a suit and your bcd and jump into their pool to make sure they are working as you expect. Nothing worse than finding out your newly service regs are not working right on the first day of a dive trip.

That said, other than the mfg recommendation, which is reasonable if you are diving a lot what makes you think the regs need serviced?? There is this link: Regulator Inspection and Checklist (Rev-8) which I would suggest you read through. After some basic checks the regs might not need service. My Atomic regs go 4-5 years before I rebuild them.

More over a question to ask the shops do they do an inspection to determine if the reg needs rebuilt?? One of my shops the tech does what is in the link and a bit more. If it passes the inspection he charges $25. Otherwise he does a rebuilt.
 
I have issues with a dive shop taking in equipment for service and then they turn around and send it to somebody else to actually do the service. I have done it when I owned my dive shop in NY and regretted doing it after I received the regulators from the dive shop who did the actual service and stopped doing it immediately. They didn't bother to clean the second stage parts and it was breathing like shite. I also had issues as a customer when I took my regulators for service at a dive shop that turned out they weren't the ones that did the service. My regulator came back with IP creep and when I talked to the dive shop they couldn't handle it quickly and had to send it back to the place that did the actual service. Lesson learned, send it to the service center that is actually trained and authorized by the equipment mfg. and who is doing the work not sending it to another shop. I also would never take in equipment that I can't service myself. I don't want to be responsible for somebody else's mistakes and lack of attention to details.

Other lesson learned, it is always much better to buy first and second stages (including octo.) of the same brand to avoid issues when one service center can handle one brand and not the other and I have to send the other part to another service center. Too much headache and too much management of who is doing what and who is at fault when things don't work as they should.

Other lesson, never never never use a dive center who isn't an authorized and factory trained by the mfg to service a brand of equipment and is able to source the parts directly from the mfg. of the equipment.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I contacted Atomic and unfortunately the turnaround time is too long. They said it's at least 8 weeks from the time they receive them.

As for the close local shop, I really like supporting it because of how helpful and honest they were with me when I was buying all my gear. I wad no intention in getting a BP/W until they let me try out their ScubaPro setup. Then I was immediately sold. However I opted NOT buy ScubaPro because it was like $1k more for a full SP setup rather than what I ended up going with. And I even told the lady that owns the shop about this and she was super cool with it and just happy that I got what I wanted rather than just going for a sale. And she didn't even charge me for the pool time trying out the BP/W setup she has for sale. I tried to give her some money even if just for the pool time alone but she wouldn't take it. And I went to a little Xmas party she had in her shop pre-covid and she's just super friendly and everyone who showed up kept talking about how great the shop is.

So I don't mind supporting them at all and would like to help her out actually if I could because I'm sure it's tough times now. The shop is open way less hours right now. However if she just sends it out to Atomic, then it's going to take too long.

I contacted the other shop that is 30-40 minutes away and they told me the turn around time is 3-4 weeks and they do it in house. They said it would be approximately $125 for labor plus ~$85 in parts, so around $210.

So I plan on at least going to my one local shop and seeing what she says. And then depending on that, I will either go with her or the one that is a bit further away. I did also find another one that is like 25 minutes away that was listed on Atomic's website as a retailer, so I may call them as well.

Is there anyway to easily see if a shop is a "certified" service center for specific brands? I couldn't find out easily other than searching on the atomic website but that is just retailers.

@Scared Silly I have taken my regulators on probably like 12-14 dives total. I could find out if I grab my log book. However I purchased it in like July of 2019 so I know they said to get it serviced every 2-3 years. So that is why I was looking at it now.
 
I have taken my regulators on probably like 12-14 dives total. I could find out if I grab my log book. However I purchased it in like July of 2019 so I know they said to get it serviced every 2-3 years. So that is why I was looking at it now.

I have serviced my Atomic, sealed first stages, 5 - 8 years after purchase without any issues at all. As long as there is no IP creep and no other issues detected, you can go much longer between servicing. 2 or 3 years for a sealed Atomic is nothing and no need to worry about it.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I contacted Atomic and unfortunately the turnaround time is too long. They said it's at least 8 weeks from the time they receive them.

I contacted the other shop that is 30-40 minutes away and they told me the turn around time is 3-4 weeks and they do it in house. They said it would be approximately $125 for labor plus ~$85 in parts, so around $210.

Unless a shop has to order odd specialty parts from overseas, I just don’t get that three to four week turnaround; and certainly not that eight weeks from the manufacturers themselves.

We were accustomed to providing a seven to ten day turnaround, unless it was over the holidays, when only a skeleton crew was working; or, it was due to some unusual parts issue . . .
 
Unless a shop has to order odd specialty parts from overseas, I just don’t get that three to four week turnaround; and certainly not that eight weeks from the manufacturers themselves.

We were accustomed to providing a seven to ten day turnaround, unless it was over the holidays, when only a skeleton crew was working; or, it was due to some unusual parts issue . . .
Well the shop is closed 3 out of the 7 days of the week. Again I'm guessing it's because of covid and assuming prior to that they were open at leas 6 days a week. And the hours look to be shorter too. I'm sure they are hurting more now since I don't really live in a spot for diving and people haven't been traveling much the past 2 years. I'm strictly a vacation diver myself.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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