Equipment Servicing

[gsk3]

As noted Atomic is two years as are Edge and HOG regs. I think but am not sure if Dive Rite is a two year or not.

Dive Rite reg warranty is service every 2 years for life.

 

[Shasta_man]

Just so you keep this in perspective, a common joke about your gear for your trip is "the worst thing you can do for your reg before the big trip is get it serviced." As in, it was actually working fine until you got it serviced and in servicing it, they made a small mistake causing some problem you didn't originally have.

The summary of my message is that serviced does not automatically mean it's perfect now. You must always test your reg after servicing before relying on it in the field. Test, as in dive it in a safe shallow manner at least to check it. Breathing on land is not going to test it. By testing it, you have the time to take it back and get it corrected.

 

[cwhite6]

I use the Sherwood Magnum and love it. It breathes real well but not as well as adjustable regs such as the 109 from SP. It's not a disadvantage at all though, you get all the air you need even under stress. It just takes a little more effort unlike some adjustable regs which takes almost no effort at all. But without any comparison you don't feel like you have to try and breath, it's still effortless if that makes any sense.
The first stage is also a closed piston design. It has an equalization port which will leak air during and after your dive. The hissing noise can be kind of annoying if your trying to hear for a leak on your tank, and your buddies or boat crew may get a little pestery if you don't forewarn them, but it's a good system IMO.

My tech says it's a very easy system to service and Sherwood makes a very simple 1 box parts kit.

You only get a 2 year free parts warranty on it though. After which parts will come from your own pocket.
How the 2 year warranty works is the regulator has 2 small flexible plastic rings on the hose protector. After each annual service the tech will take one plastic ring and exchange that with Sherwood for free parts. You may see where I'm going with this: lose the rings, you lose your free parts. Here's where the LDS relationship thing goes. My LDS tech misplaced my ring and charged me for parts.
He wasn't there the day I picked my regs up so I talked to the store clerk. Walked out of the store, reg in hand, not paying for the reg at all. 3 days later the tech calls me and I explain the situation. I walk back into the store and ended up just paying for the service, I don't think they ever found my ring.

Not saying you should buy the regs from your LDS but I am saying don't forget about them. If you're buying small things such as clips, masks, slates, or grease, you may just come out dead even between online and LDS.
Buying Online might not get you the latest model, so you may want to ask which model it is and check any recall notices from the website.

Thanks for the info. I have already bought my mask, fins and snorkel from my local LDS. They have other stuff I will buy from them like holders, clips, etc. I will also tell them how much I am going to pay for a piece of equipment they sell and if they get close, I will buy it from them. They will also be doing the service work for me. I like them, but I am not willing to pay 50 - 100% more for something because I like them.

 

[cwhite6]

As noted Atomic is two years as are Edge and HOG regs. I think but am not sure if Dive Rite is a two year or not.

The Edge ones look cool on your site. I also like how I could service it myself. I am an Engineer and former mechanic, so I love tinkering with stuff. Is Edge the manufacturer? Do any compare breath ability compare to the SP A600? I ask because in my limited experience, it breathes the best of the few I have tried. Thanks!

 

[ReefHound]

If you don't have a local LDS who's authorized to service your gear, you may begin to pay big bucks just to transport or ship your gear to an LDS that does. Then you're paying fuel on top of parts and service charges.

I don't necessarily disagree with anything you've said but I think you've been giving only one side of the story. I get my regs serviced at Scubatoys for $50 and have them back in a week, where it would be $90 at the local shop and they want a rush fee for under 2 weeks. It costs me about $10 to ship Priority and the mailman picks them up at my door and drops them back at my door a week later. With gas at almost $4/gal it costs me that to drive to my shop once, much less twice.

Your life depends on the brakes in your car too (perhaps more so) but most don't get their brakes overhauled until they begin to squeak or grind. Like brakes, scuba gear doesn't tend to fail catastrophically without warning. The first symptom for regs needing service is usually minor free flow issues. And I sorta take issue with the "your life depends on it" statement in that gear failure should be something that a diver is trained and prepared to handle. It's eventually going to happen, annual service or not, if you dive enough.

As I stated, the approach of servicing "as needed" is dependent on self inspections and proper care/handling. You can certainly mistreat your gear enough that annual inspections won't save it (or you).

As for not getting the latest model from online, that is also a risk buying local from a shop that may not turn over inventory in a year versus a high volume internet store that may turn over inventory in a month.

 

[WB2GLP]

I could service it myself. I am an Engineer and former mechanic, so I love tinkering with stuff. Is Edge the manufacturer?

Looks like you found your answer. Now knowing your background, I would go with a company that embraces the notion of self reliance. I understannd that Edge holds end user repair training classes. Can't say that for the others.

I should warn you that servicing your own equipment is viewed as voodoo, but you're probably cool with voodoo being from LA. LOL

 

[redacted]

The Edge ones look cool on your site. I also like how I could service it myself. I am an Engineer and former mechanic, so I love tinkering with stuff. Is Edge the manufacturer? Do any compare breath ability compare to the SP A600? I ask because in my limited experience, it breathes the best of the few I have tried. Thanks!

While you may be able to buy service kits from Edge/HOG, it is my understanding that you will probably not qualify for their classes and they will not provide any documentation support without the classes. Although Scubapro clearly opposes and DIY servicing, they are so large that service parts and documentation are readily available from a number of sources to those willing to make the effort to find it.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Dive Rite will sell service kits and you can download the service manual from their website.

I have always found the "free" parts for life from Scubapro to be a preposterous scam. Ask your dealer if you can have your free parts when you buy your regulator. You will find that your free parts will end up costing you $100+ in service a year in perpetuity which seems like a much better deal for Scubapro and the dive shop than for the consumer. You would be better off doing prudent checks of regulator performance as outlined in the sticky in the regulator form and selling your regulator after five years. Of course the shop will attempt to dissuade you from this course of action with scare tactics about your impending doom.

 

[ReefHound]

Not to mention it is the dealer's option to participate or not participate in the "free" parts program.

 

[cwhite6]

Thanks to all for the excellent advice! I did find out that LP will service any regulators bought from them for less than my LDS does. They will also make their own limited lifetime warranty in place of SP. I am having a hard time passing up a MK25/G250V for the price they are selling it for. If they will do the free parts and give me a warranty, I may buy it from them and just ship it to them to be serviced. My local LDS has at least a two week turnaround on service anyway.