Froze up

[Capt.Gene]

My point being that over and over and over again year after year I get boxes of regulators in parts sent to me from divers who didn't find servicing a regulator as intuative as you obviously do.
I didn't see anywhere in Guaged post any statement to the effect that the Dealer working on his gear was a Cressi authorized service center. Perhaps I missed something.
I'm not comparing a dentist with a service tech except that neither is likley to do a great job doing the others work.

 

[Capt.Gene]

I couldn't disagree more. I've done brake jobs since I was 12 years old and the faucet repair instruction are on the back of the box. That makes me neither a plumber or an auto mechantic.
I attend a seminar every year or so if I service the brand. And I learn something every time. Even after 30 years and maybe a hundread or so seminars.
Are you a trained service tech or are you a hobbiest speaking from personal experience working on your own gear?
Back yard brake jobs, home faucet repair and regulator hobbiests are parts changers. As are untrained guys working at repair benches in dive shops also.

 

[aquaregia]

I'm not comparing a dentist with a service tech except that neither is likley to do a great job doing the others work.

If my dentist can't service my reg, I don't want either of them in my mouth.

I agree that there's a difference between a hobbyist and someone who does it every day, but I think it's not as much with quality as it is with efficiency. I had a mechanic leave a wrench in my clutch and a different one insist on "repairing" a bunch of stuff (including wheel cylinders) for what I (correctly) diagnosed as an alternator jam. It did take me four days to replace my shocks though, and my brake master cylinder has been on my passenger seat for four months, lest anyone suspect me of tooting my own horn (which incidentally doesn't work).

@OP I'm still not clear on where the first stage was leaking massively from. A hose? The yoke connector? The ambient chamber?

 

[redacted]

I couldn't disagree more. I've done brake jobs since I was 12 years old and the faucet repair instruction are on the back of the box. That makes me neither a plumber or an auto mechantic.
I attend a seminar every year or so if I service the brand. And I learn something every time. Even after 30 years and maybe a hundread or so seminars.
Are you a trained service tech or are you a hobbiest speaking from personal experience working on your own gear?
Back yard brake jobs, home faucet repair and regulator hobbiests are parts changers. As are untrained guys working at repair benches in dive shops also.

You can disagree all you would like, yet we read stories on this board every week of service errors from these "extensively" trained technicians.

 

[Gauged4Go0d]

I have given all of the details I possibly could through out this thread. Let me try this again and see if I can sum it all up in one post.

1. Had all equipment serviced at the same shop that the equipment was bought from.

2. Picked up equipment from shop and checked that everything worked before I left the store. The tech did tell me that the secondary reg (Aeris A1) was dry rot and that the cover is falling apart due to their handling and they have ordered the part to replace it. It will be fine as long as I keep it out of harms way. It DOES work.

3. Went out for a dive and noticed that there was a small leak in the first stage (Cressi), so I swapped out first stages for the next dive and noticed an improvement in air time.

4. Brought the first stage in the next day to get taken care of. They took care of it to the best of their abilities; the leak is barely noticeable but still there. I watched and waited as the tech was adjusting and checking the leak. Spoke w/ another dive shop that deals w/ the same manufacturer, whom said the leak was normal as the manufacturer designed it that way to avoid moisture build up.

5. The following weekend, I get out to the next dive spot and as I set up my gear, I noticed that I wasn't getting any air through my primary regulator. I disassembled it all and reassembled; psi (check), bc gets air and deflates (check), secondary breather gets air and purges (check), primary (nada).

As for pics, sorry that I couldn't do any better than e-pics. I have the exact same regs, therefore, they look no different than the ones pictured (w/ the exception of the secondary missing a portion of the yellow cover). And I would definitely not take my reg apart to take pictures of it.

Sorry if I can't do any better than that. Thanks for the attempt to help anyway.

Am I confident about the tech? Not really, he is young and seemed to be in a rush both times that I was at the shop. Granted, it was the weekend but the job comes first. The "second opinion" shop; I feel as if I will definitely take my business there as I had walked in for the first time and spoke w/ both owners for a good hour. They seemed like great people, very interactive and customer savvy, highly informative and definitely been diving for quite some time. They know their stuff, or so they appear that way to me for now. But, I am definitely giving them the benefit of the doubt. I browsed there shop for quite some time. Even the things they caught me eyeballing, they said I didn't need and shouldn't spend that kind of money. So, that tells me they really fit their customers to their "needs" w/o spending too much money. They even gave me a nice little tour through out the back of their shop. W/ that, if you are ever in the Largo, FL area, there is only one dive shop. Look 'em up; check 'em out!

 

[Bubbletrubble]

@Gauged4Go0d: Thanks for the clarifications.

2. Picked up equipment from shop and checked that everything worked before I left the store. The tech did tell me that the secondary reg (Aeris A1) was dry rot and that the cover is falling apart due to their handling and they have ordered the part to replace it. It will be fine as long as I keep it out of harms way. It DOES work.

I wouldn't dive with a second stage purge cover that had dry rot. That's just me, though. I wouldn't want something to unseat the diaphragm or puncture it or prevent me from purging it easily.

4. Brought the first stage in the next day to get taken care of. They took care of it to the best of their abilities; the leak is barely noticeable but still there. I watched and waited as the tech was adjusting and checking the leak. Spoke w/ another dive shop that deals w/ the same manufacturer, whom said the leak was normal as the manufacturer designed it that way to avoid moisture build up.

"Moisture build up" =
As far as I know, only the Sherwood piston first stages that feature the "Dry Air Bleed" system purposefully have a trickle of bubbles exiting the first stage ambient chamber via a one-way exhaust valve. Bubbles coming from any other first stage indicate a problem that needs to be fixed.

5. The following weekend, I get out to the next dive spot and as I set up my gear, I noticed that I wasn't getting any air through my primary regulator. I disassembled it all and reassembled; psi (check), bc gets air and deflates (check), secondary breather gets air and purges (check), primary (nada).

The results of these tests imply that the issue is at or beyond your first stage LP port, i.e., involves either your primary reg hose or your primary 2nd stage.

Am I confident about the tech? Not really, he is young and seemed to be in a rush both times that I was at the shop. Granted, it was the weekend but the job comes first.

I've had dealings with both young and old reg techs. Some were very good, some were not knowledgeable at all. Overall age has little to do with competence of the reg tech. Experience, combined with proper training and meticulous attention to detail, does matter.

 

[konish]

I have given all of the details I possibly could through out this thread. Let me try this again and see if I can sum it all up in one post.

1. Had all equipment serviced at the same shop that the equipment was bought from.

2. Picked up equipment from shop and checked that everything worked before I left the store. The tech did tell me that the secondary reg (Aeris A1) was dry rot and that the cover is falling apart due to their handling and they have ordered the part to replace it. It will be fine as long as I keep it out of harms way. It DOES work.

3. Went out for a dive and noticed that there was a small leak in the first stage (Cressi), so I swapped out first stages for the next dive and noticed an improvement in air time.

4. Brought the first stage in the next day to get taken care of. They took care of it to the best of their abilities; the leak is barely noticeable but still there. I watched and waited as the tech was adjusting and checking the leak. Spoke w/ another dive shop that deals w/ the same manufacturer, whom said the leak was normal as the manufacturer designed it that way to avoid moisture build up.

5. The following weekend, I get out to the next dive spot and as I set up my gear, I noticed that I wasn't getting any air through my primary regulator. I disassembled it all and reassembled; psi (check), bc gets air and deflates (check), secondary breather gets air and purges (check), primary (nada).

As for pics, sorry that I couldn't do any better than e-pics. I have the exact same regs, therefore, they look no different than the ones pictured (w/ the exception of the secondary missing a portion of the yellow cover). And I would definitely not take my reg apart to take pictures of it.

Sorry if I can't do any better than that. Thanks for the attempt to help anyway.

Am I confident about the tech? Not really, he is young and seemed to be in a rush both times that I was at the shop. Granted, it was the weekend but the job comes first. The "second opinion" shop; I feel as if I will definitely take my business there as I had walked in for the first time and spoke w/ both owners for a good hour. They seemed like great people, very interactive and customer savvy, highly informative and definitely been diving for quite some time. They know their stuff, or so they appear that way to me for now. But, I am definitely giving them the benefit of the doubt. I browsed there shop for quite some time. Even the things they caught me eyeballing, they said I didn't need and shouldn't spend that kind of money. So, that tells me they really fit their customers to their "needs" w/o spending too much money. They even gave me a nice little tour through out the back of their shop. W/ that, if you are ever in the Largo, FL area, there is only one dive shop. Look 'em up; check 'em out!

Okay, stuff was working, you go back to have the LDS fix a "minor" leak in your 1st stage. Go back out, hook everything up to the valve and your primary 2nd stage won't breathe/purge but everything else is getting air. If your octo is breathing and purging then it is likely a problem within your primary 2nd. What happens when you try to breathe off it? Does it suck air through the purge cover or does it build up a vacuum? You stated that you won't disassemble your 2nd but did you at least take the purge cover off and diaphragm and have a look inside it? I'd consider that as basic "field level" maintenance as it gets...but if you won't / can't do that then you're better off taking it back to the shop or another place to have them look at it.

 

[halocline]

I have given all of the details I possibly could through out this thread. Let me try this again and see if I can sum it all up in one post.....(lots of details).....

Sorry if I can't do any better than that. Thanks for the attempt to help anyway.

You did fine. The short easy answer is that the tech at the first shop did not do his job. Find another one, and try to get your money back for the servicing if you can.

Getting back to Capt. Gene's comments about DIY servicing, it's interesting to me that he is still talking about the perils of DIY service and how only "certified" professionals should be doing reg servicing in the context of a thread that is precisely about one of these "professionals" clearly screwing up.....

The problem with the dive industry common policy of dealer-only service is simple...THERE IS NO STANDARD QUALIFICATION. If regulator service was in fact complicated and life-or-death important, there would be regulations, licenses, exams, etc....and there are not. Anyone who works at a dive shop can collect money for "professional" servicing. Certainly there are excellent regulator techs working at lots of dive shops. But, the problem is that you simply don't know if you're getting one of those, or someone like the shop that is the subject of this thread.

Sure, I could easily screw up my regulator, just like I can screw up my sink or my car. I'm sure that professional mechanics and plumbers all have lots of stories about rescuing DIYers. The difference is, those industries don't try to BS the customer with scare tactics that basically imply "your life depends on our service" and they don't restrict the sale of parts and materials to the general public. Can you imagine if you went to a car dealer, asked for a set of brake pads, and the parts guy said "sorry, you could kill yourself by working on your brakes, so I'm not going to sell them to you".

 

[redacted]

Sure, I could easily screw up my regulator, just like I can screw up my sink or my car. I'm sure that professional mechanics and plumbers all have lots of stories about rescuing DIYers. The difference is, those industries don't try to BS the customer with scare tactics that basically imply "your life depends on our service" and they don't restrict the sale of parts and materials to the general public. Can you imagine if you went to a car dealer, asked for a set of brake pads, and the parts guy said "sorry, you could kill yourself by working on your brakes, so I'm not going to sell them to you".

If mfgr did not restrict the sale of scuba parts, uncertified, highly competent shade tree scuba techs would effectively compete with "certified" LDS techs putting some of them out of business due to both a price and a performance advantage. It is not about diver safety, it is all about LDS survivability.