Dive Xtras Blacktip Tech Safety Notice

[Boarderguy]

I just got dumber reading this.
You've never been on a wall which goes below your MOD eh?

We're talking about a max depth for the scooter, not the max depth for your gas. Wtf are you smoking? How many people are diving a mod that barely gets them to the top of the site and not the entirety of it? Really? There will be bottom for poetically 99% of people taking these to 90m+. You and I live in an area that opens up the possibility for the other 1% without much effort.

How many walls in the sound that get dove with any regularity go past 100m? I can only think of a few and all of them are well outside of my experience level. How many dives are being done here where you sit in open water at 100m with another 50m below you? That's freaking stupid. The only point to going that deep is to see a feature, not open water.

 

[rjack321]

We're talking about a max depth for the scooter, not the max depth for your gas. Wtf are you smoking? How many people are diving a mod that barely gets them to the top of the site and not the entirety of it? Really? There will be bottom for poetically 99% of people taking these to 90m+. You and I live in an area that opens up the possibility for the other 1% without much effort.

How many walls in the sound that get dove with any regularity go past 100m? I can only think of a few and all of them are well outside of my experience level. How many dives are being done here where you sit in open water at 100m with another 50m below you? That's freaking stupid. The only point to going that deep is to see a feature, not open water.

All the time dude, all the time. The wall at Whytecliff hits nearly 100m and plenty of other Howe Sound walls are similarly bottomless. People dive those on both OC gasses and CCR diluents which are unbreathable even 1/2 way down nevermind at the bottom.
The Blacktips are imploding (at least some of them) at 60m so its totally plausible for someone to be on a normoxic 60m mix, an imploding scooter, and get dragged below their MOD by loss of buoyancy.

Scooter implosions are a really big deal.

 

[Boarderguy]

All the time dude, all the time. The wall at Whytecliff hits nearly 100m and plenty of other Howe Sound walls are similarly bottomless. People dive those on both OC gasses and CCR diluents which are unbreathable even 1/2 way down nevermind at the bottom.
The Blacktips are imploding (at least some of them) at 60m so its totally plausible for someone to be on a normoxic 60m mix, an imploding scooter, and get dragged below their MOD by loss of buoyancy.

Scooter implosions are a really big deal.

Thanks, didn't know about that one nor was I thinking about Canada. I agree that they are a big deal and should be taken into account especially when using one. Gotta think that most folks diving them are dry and at least a bit more experienced than some random vacation diver though. Maybe it's just my USMC training, but I go over contingencies before every dive. Free flows, stuck inflators, stuck triggers, loss of main back gas, entanglements, etc are all thought through as I kit up so when it occurs it's recently fresh in my mind. 15-20lbs (imagine the batteries and accessories would be blown away) negative instantly and I'd be jamming my inflators and cutting loose if it wasn't hurt. Most of my dives have a hard bottom within my mod because I dive air for simplicity sake and I'm nowhere near ready to get into the boat that is CC.

 

[runsongas]

any update on if this is isolated to the tech model or if we just don't have enough info to determine with the travel yet?

 

[Tim1966]

From my personal experience with blacktip their QCs is kind of PITA, have 4 units in total

1st unit couldn't even fit batteries in - replaced at dealer on the spot at pickup
2nd unit broken arm after first dive - replaced by dealer
3rd unit unbox - the handle strap is not included although qc sticker on the box said it's been checked and there

Not to mention the blue color plug, and screen seal fail and cause flooding

 

[SteveBurke]

Has anyone affected by this actually contacted DiveX for support?

Did they offer an exchange or at least an inspection? If so did they pay for shipping?

I feel like I know the answer to the above but would really like to be wrong.

If I designed something as safety sensitive as this and units started failing at 57% of their RATED depth , I think I’d do a little more for my customers than an email and a social media post.

57% ….thats WAY beyond bad engineering or QC when lives are literally at risk.

Shame on you DiveX, SMDH.

 

[SteveBurke]

From my personal experience with blacktip their QCs is kind of PITA, have 4 units in total

1st unit couldn't even fit batteries in - replaced at dealer on the spot at pickup
2nd unit broken arm after first dive - replaced by dealer
3rd unit unbox - the handle strap is not included although qc sticker on the box said it's been checked and there

Not to mention the blue color plug, and screen seal fail and cause flooding

My Screen has just leaked and they blamed me.

 

[SteveBurke]

My Blacktip tech leaked last year when probably less than a dozen dives in. I suspect I'd been getting water in from the beginning. Has anyone had any success with their customer support/warranty? I'm in the UK and was essentially told there was no warranty at all against leaks and that they are 100% certain it was leak free when I purchased it so ergo I've done something to cause the leak. However, when I stripped it, I found a hair across the mechanical seal's sealing face (different colour to mine) and way too much grease, including over the sealing face - which should run in the medium it is immersed in. When I sent them the pictures they essentially told me that because I'd stripped it (conscious that all that had been offered before was that I pay shipping from the UK and back PLUS the repair cost) I again had no warranty and I shouldn't have stripped it, suggesting my actions were the same as taking a new car back to the store in bits...but what other option did I have?

On rebuilding and vac testing I also found the screen to be loose which they claimed was because I'd had water inside (I'm talking about 1/4 cup full not a complete flood, and a leak detector I'd installed meant I was able to bail and get it shallow nose down, so water would not have been running across the screen). If such a small amount of water will cause the screen to delaminate will it not delaminate over time anyway?

They have provided some customer support in as much as they have sold me the spares I need to rebuild it my self, but I have to say I'm very disappointed. I also very much suspect selling an underwater vehicle with no warranty at all against flooding is not legal here. I ran a Sierra for a decade and managed not to flood it.

I really like their product but fear I will be looking elsewhere for my next DPV.

 

[lostsheep]

My Blacktip tech leaked last year when probably less than a dozen dives in. I suspect I'd been getting water in from the beginning. Has anyone had any success with their customer support/warranty? I'm in the UK and was essentially told there was no warranty at all against leaks and that they are 100% certain it was leak free when I purchased it so ergo I've done something to cause the leak. However, when I stripped it, I found a hair across the mechanical seal's sealing face (different colour to mine) and way too much grease, including over the sealing face - which should run in the medium it is immersed in. When I sent them the pictures they essentially told me that because I'd stripped it (conscious that all that had been offered before was that I pay shipping from the UK and back PLUS the repair cost) I again had no warranty and I shouldn't have stripped it, suggesting my actions were the same as taking a new car back to the store in bits...but what other option did I have?

On rebuilding and vac testing I also found the screen to be loose which they claimed was because I'd had water inside (I'm talking about 1/4 cup full not a complete flood, and a leak detector I'd installed meant I was able to bail and get it shallow nose down, so water would not have been running across the screen). If such a small amount of water will cause the screen to delaminate will it not delaminate over time anyway?

They have provided some customer support in as much as they have sold me the spares I need to rebuild it my self, but I have to say I'm very disappointed. I also very much suspect selling an underwater vehicle with no warranty at all against flooding is not legal here. I ran a Sierra for a decade and managed not to flood it.

I really like their product but fear I will be looking elsewhere for my next DPV.

I’m shocked, shocked I tell you

 

[SteveBurke]

All the time dude, all the time. The wall at Whytecliff hits nearly 100m and plenty of other Howe Sound walls are similarly bottomless. People dive those on both OC gasses and CCR diluents which are unbreathable even 1/2 way down nevermind at the bottom.
The Blacktips are imploding (at least some of them) at 60m so its totally plausible for someone to be on a normoxic 60m mix, an imploding scooter, and get dragged below their MOD by loss of buoyancy.

Scooter implosions are a really big deal.

My mate's EPERB case imploded a few years back and he nearly shat his pants. I can't imagine what would happen if a fecking scooter imploded!