Does SSI take gear inspections a little far?

[james croft]

I will dive with whatever gear that I see fit. I am a certified diver and am free to make my own choices. If I choose to use an old double hose regulator attached to a converted fire extinguisher and use a bleach bottle as my buoyancy compensator device... I will look like an idiot.... BUT I might be diving in a safer manor than someone who has everything brand new from your SSI shop. I would immediately see this as a cash grab and find a new shop.

You just described me and my gear...

 

[japan-diver]

To take the shops side- if you are taking a class you are essentially on the shops insurance for those dives so they want to make sure the gear you are diving for the class is safe. We check our students gear for them free of charge before they do class dives - but if you want to dive your bleach bottle bc for fun diving it is totally your business. The few times we have found problems with students personally owned gear we have offered rentals free of charge for the class dives.

A quick IP check and function test of reg should cost nothing, does the BC hold air, dump valves work, inflator doesn't stick, check mask/fins for fit and wear on straps - total check should not take more than 5 minutes. Every instructor should be doing this for his/her students at the start of class. If the dives will not be near the shop we have the students bring the gear in during class one night to check over it - in case there are any problems we can solve them before getting to the dive site. Many times a reg has had to have a small adjustment or has a hole in the mouthpiece that was not noticed. Fins/mask straps due for a change as customers have not checked their gear in awhile- lots of BC inflators needing a bit of lube or a cleaning. Almost anything short of a major overhaul or replacement parts are done free of charge- I want your class dives to go well not be cut short due to an equipment problem.

 

[vladimir]

To take the shops side- if you are taking a class you are essentially on the shops insurance for those dives so they want to make sure the gear you are diving for the class is safe. We check our students gear for them free of charge before they do class dives - but if you want to dive your bleach bottle bc for fun diving it is totally your business. The few times we have found problems with students personally owned gear we have offered rentals free of charge for the class dives.

A quick IP check and function test of reg should cost nothing, does the BC hold air, dump valves work, inflator doesn't stick, check mask/fins for fit and wear on straps - total check should not take more than 5 minutes. Every instructor should be doing this for his/her students at the start of class. If the dives will not be near the shop we have the students bring the gear in during class one night to check over it - in case there are any problems we can solve them before getting to the dive site. Many times a reg has had to have a small adjustment or has a hole in the mouthpiece that was not noticed. Fins/mask straps due for a change as customers have not checked their gear in awhile- lots of BC inflators needing a bit of lube or a cleaning. Almost anything short of a major overhaul or replacement parts are done free of charge- I want your class dives to go well not be cut short due to an equipment problem.

I'll take the shop's side too, if they do these inspections at minimal or no cost, as you do. And if they don't use them as an excuse to try to sell gear to replace perfectly safe gear the diver already owns.

 

[spectrum]

I can understand a desire to understand what you have for gear to make sure it is adequate. For example, I have seen some divers with petty useless fins (pool toys) for example that have no place scuba diving in the ocean or any other potential current. In cases of gross mismatch of suitability or fit I can see them requiring something different for the class be it borrowed, bought or rented.

I can see them also wanting to eyeball your regulator set and BC for general condition and BC fit. After all they will be assuming some responsibility for your safety. Also the likelihood of a good outcome in some specialties is reduced with a poor fit. In some cases I can see them inquiring about the service history of the regulator set and here short of hijacking the thread I would hope for discretion.

There is a big difference between the freedom to choose gear (double hose regulator, split fins, inflator-octo) and using gear that is unfit for the diver in condition or size.

I am not an instructor nor affiliated with any agency. IMO this is just reasonable common sense based on my experience which has included diving with many divers with a wide range of dive/training experiences.

Unless there is green stuff growing all over the regulator Any course related gear inspection should be complimentary and any procurement of replacements done where and how the diver chooses.

Pete

 

[rstofer]

Ok, so you O2 clean my tanks, then fill them. I then go diving for the next two months and fill my tanks with regular air from my home compressor. I tend to be suicidal though so I use a gas compressor, with no venting and just use an old oily rag as my intake filter. Now I decide to bring my tanks back to you because I want some good ole O2. You cleaned them, but you have no idea what I put in them.

The sticker tells you when it was O2 cleaned and regardless of whether you put the sticker on it yesterday or another shop did 6 months ago, you still have no idea what has been put into once it leaves your sight.

This sounds like a perfect example of LDSs "give me money" line.

I agree that the whole Nitrox thing works on blind faith. The sticker is meaningless. Heck, I have the certifications from PSI to inspect and clean my own tanks and valves. I can 'self-certify'.

A viz around here costs $7. I don't know what an O2 clean costs but it isn't much. In fact, I won't even bother to inspect my own tanks because it is so cheap that it isn't worth the hassle of buying stickers.

I tend to treat my tanks with care and, so far, only the LDS has filled them. When we are diving at a location that requires local filling, I rent shop tanks and dive on air. But I don't contaminate my own.

When it comes time to have the tanks inspected again, I expect nothing less than perfect interiors. They were bought new, filled only at the LDS with either Nitrox or O2 clean air and there better not be any rust.

I would go with the flow in terms of tank inspection and cleaning. I would allow them to inspect my personal equipment but I would not expect anything to need service. Even though it is the student's equipment, the shop still has some liability if something goes wrong. The survivors' lawyers are bound to ask "Why didn't you check his equipment?".

If the inspection did uncover issues, I would simply say that I'll bring it back next time. I absolutely wouldn't have that shop do the work. Even if I had to drive 100 miles out of my way. So, get the first inspection early enough that there is time for a retest.

Richard

 

[Divenomad]

It's a shop thing. Couple years ago, customer in a shop i was working in wanted to use their own gear. We wanted to inspect it, he got huffy but brought it in. Total trash. thirty year old reg, green with corrosion,non functional gauges horsecollar BC, dry rotted, dry rotted rubber skirt mask, he bought it on Ebay for $800.00. Total rip off. All of it failed testing, and no, we did not charge him for the inspections

Then he got angry at us.

In your position, i would bring the gear to another shop, have it serviced, and bring proof of service (receipts) in to prove the readiness of your gear. If they have a problem with this, find another shop, and politely explain why.

Shops have a right to protect themselves from liability.

You have an absolute right to not be strongarmed or extorted.

Nomad

 

[deco_martini]

I use this same shop for regulator service. I always check my reg in their 15 foot indoor pool after service. I have never had my gear inspected to be able to use their pool. I was there 3 weeks ago in fact with my new Zeagle Tech Express that they have not inspected nor provided service for.

If you are taking a class however, they probably have requirements that there be proof your gear is inspected regularly. Those badges they put on your gear have the last inspection date on them.

 

[JPENDERGRAST]

To take the shops side- if you are taking a class you are essentially on the shops insurance for those dives so they want to make sure the gear you are diving for the class is safe. We check our students gear for them free of charge before they do class dives - but if you want to dive your bleach bottle bc for fun diving it is totally your business. The few times we have found problems with students personally owned gear we have offered rentals free of charge for the class dives.

A quick IP check and function test of reg should cost nothing, does the BC hold air, dump valves work, inflator doesn't stick, check mask/fins for fit and wear on straps - total check should not take more than 5 minutes. Every instructor should be doing this for his/her students at the start of class. If the dives will not be near the shop we have the students bring the gear in during class one night to check over it - in case there are any problems we can solve them before getting to the dive site. Many times a reg has had to have a small adjustment or has a hole in the mouthpiece that was not noticed. Fins/mask straps due for a change as customers have not checked their gear in awhile- lots of BC inflators needing a bit of lube or a cleaning. Almost anything short of a major overhaul or replacement parts are done free of charge- I want your class dives to go well not be cut short due to an equipment problem.

I'll take the shop's side too, if they do these inspections at minimal or no cost, as you do. And if they don't use them as an excuse to try to sell gear to replace perfectly safe gear the diver already owns.

I agree with these comments / explanations, and I think every shop is entitled to seeing that the appropriate measures are taken to ensure that a diver (especially inexperienced) will be entering their facility or pool with gear which is safe to use. I personally don't even mind being charged a $20 fee to have it inspected. That being said, I DO have a problem with being told I have to pay money for them to "fix" something that isn't broken.

I may have jumped the gun a little with this post, and will find out tomorrow as to whether or not I will have gotten worked up over nothing, but I know this shop and the other shop in the area have charged people service charges in the past for gear which didn't require servicing. I just wanted to see if it was an agency-wide issue, or iif it was shop specific. Thanks to all for the responses, and I will update once I get word back from the LDS.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

I have heard that the local SSI shop will not let you use their pool unless they put their SSI inspection thing on it. Regardless of when the gear was serviced by someone else.

I think it is too far, but it IS their pool....

This is the shop, not SSI. While SSI does have an assortment of stickers and tags for inspection of all sorts of gear, there is no mandatory inspection policy. This is something this specfic shop is doing.

 

[rockjock3]

I agree that the whole Nitrox thing works on blind faith. The sticker is meaningless. Heck, I have the certifications from PSI to inspect and clean my own tanks and valves. I can 'self-certify'.

A viz around here costs $7. I don't know what an O2 clean costs but it isn't much. In fact, I won't even bother to inspect my own tanks because it is so cheap that it isn't worth the hassle of buying stickers.

I tend to treat my tanks with care and, so far, only the LDS has filled them. When we are diving at a location that requires local filling, I rent shop tanks and dive on air. But I don't contaminate my own.

When it comes time to have the tanks inspected again, I expect nothing less than perfect interiors. They were bought new, filled only at the LDS with either Nitrox or O2 clean air and there better not be any rust.

I would go with the flow in terms of tank inspection and cleaning. I would allow them to inspect my personal equipment but I would not expect anything to need service. Even though it is the student's equipment, the shop still has some liability if something goes wrong. The survivors' lawyers are bound to ask "Why didn't you check his equipment?".

If the inspection did uncover issues, I would simply say that I'll bring it back next time. I absolutely wouldn't have that shop do the work. Even if I had to drive 100 miles out of my way. So, get the first inspection early enough that there is time for a retest.

Richard

I agree with not getting the work done at the LDS if they find problems. I would also say that if they insist on the inspection it be a no cost inspection since it is required.

As for the tanks. You have better prices than here. It costs about $20 for a vip and $40-60 for O2 cleaning a tank. Since there is no industry standard for VIPs and it is an industry imposed check (not DOT, but that is another thread all together). I buy stickers and do my own versus throwing $120-160 at a dive shop just for my one set of doubles (not counting the 2 other sets and 7 additonal deco bottles and single al80s). Especially when there is no requirement for dive shop techs to be certified by any agency to do Viz or O2 cleaning and VERY few techs have any kind of cert. They simply do it like the guy before them showed them how to. I am gas blender certifed and know as much about checking the inside/outside of my tank, tumbling and O2 cleaning as the very few people that know here that are actually certified by some agency to do just that. Now, I am just talking about my area, I can't speak for other areas.