Deep Six Service Kits & Parts?

[madamimadam]

Can anyone suggest a source for service kits and parts (diaphragms), for Deep Six regulators?

While participating in a general/not brand-specific regulator technician (service and repair) course, I used the kits that had been shipped with my Scribble/Excursion First Stage and Signature Second Stage. I've since inquired with Deep Six about purchasing extra kits, and was told they will not sell them unless I take their course.

Living outside the States, it is impractical to travel to GA or FL to take their course at this time (although I am planning a trip to Atlanta for some other technical training, and would like to complete the Deep Six course at the same time). Shipping my regs to and from the States would be ridiculously expensive, would leave me dry far too long, and is a sorry expenditure of carbon to do something I have the training, tools, and experience to do myself.

It looks as though parts in the DGX Gears D6 First Stage and DGX Gears XTRA Second Stage kits are not a match for the similar Deep Six regulators.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I should chime-in here and make the following points:

• Landon did DM me yesterday afternoon, shortly after I posted this question, and offered to help address or resolve the issue. I didn't see his message or this thread until this morning. I appreciate and respect Landon's direct contact, although it wasn't my intention when posting to seek a direct response from the company. In my experience, it is difficult to reach the right person within an organization even when working through the typical proper channels. To have the president of the company reply to a post made in an online forum speaks volumes of the company. I agree with the point made repeatedly in the thread that such a thing rarely, if ever, happens with larger, less agile companies.

• I absolutely did not intend to, nor even consider my question could, inflame such debate. I regret that the thread got out-of-hand, and offer my apologies to all who were injured here. My intention when posting the question was merely to seek a source for parts after I'd failed to obtain them from the company. Somewhat new to ScubaBoard, I consider it a great resource and have learned a lot here. I like that most of the debate, even the heated debate I've read has been dive-related, not negative political, cultural, or personal attacks. I hope it stays that way.

To answer some questions and reply to some points in the thread:

• Yes, the general regulator service and repair class I took was virtual. While in-person training is preferable for many, myself included in most cases, a good virtual course can be just as educational. I was surprised by how much I learned during my multiple-day course, and I gained the confidence to work on my own equipment.
• I was not aware of a virtual offering for the Deep Six course. I had recently searched for courses in my region and found none.
• No, a virtual course option was not suggested to me when I inquired about kits, but that was early this year, and a virtual option may not have been available at that time.
• Yes, larger regulator manufacturers make it difficult- to impossible- to obtain parts. Some require participation in a course (which is fair), while others require the individual be affiliated with a shop to even enroll in the course. Still others require the shop to be an authorized dealer for the brand. This is frustrating for anyone who wishes to service his/her own equipment. Yes, parts and kits can be sold to individuals in Europe, but some vendors prohibit shipping of their parts and kits outside of Europe. And yes, this is partly due to how stupidly litigious Americans are.

I, like many others in the community, want to service my own equipment so that I know it is done properly, and so that I can dive without the slightest concern that a corner was cut or something was forgotten. If something goes wrong, I have only myself to blame, and know where and how to improve. Speak with any shop technician, or watch a few youtube service videos and you may notice steel picks used where brass picks are recommended, silicone grease applied where it shouldn't be or where another lubricant is called-for, cheaper lower-quality parts replace manufacturer's parts, torque specifications are ignored, et cetera. When I'm underwater I don't want to have to think about these things.

Some of us corralling around Deep 6 are doing so not because of you, but because some take the opportunity to take shots at hoping to hurt their business for whatever petty reason. I, for one, am absolutely sick of it.

The fact that the founders of Deep 6 are so accessible is wonderful. When I had ScubaPro regs that were consistently being improperly serviced by different LDSs, an email to their customer service resulted in a response of a list of local dealers. Okay, that didn't help as it two of those dealers in the list screwed up my regs. So, I sold almost all of my ScubaPro regs and switched to Deep 6, so if anyone screwed them up, it would be me and I can get direct support from Deep 6.

Chris and Landon are both smart guys, and with their dedication to customer service and a quality product, I do believe that as Deep 6 grows, they will figure out how to scale their excellent support so that their customers get their Shearwater-like customer service.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Say, where could one supposedly find a picture of this Deep six model

The pics are on their thermals->accessories page. Accessories - Thermal. Not anything more risque that most scuba advertising using models.

Let's look at the flip side. Does anyone, and I mean anyone, want to see @LandonL or @cerich modeling the rashguards in a speedo? That would fall under the category of things you cannot unsee.