How important is local Regulator servicing?

[tdallen]

Hi -

I'll be buying my first set of regs this year. How important is it to be able to get them serviced locally? I have local service options for Aqualung and ScubaPro, but there are some good additional options out there if you're willing to send your regs out for service. I'm not inclined to service them myself. I've done mostly vacation diving so far.

I like the idea of being able to get my regs serviced locally, but I'm conflicted because I don't like the Aqualung/ScubaPro shorter inspection/service intervals and free parts gimmick, or the fact that your warranty is voided if you don't follow their service schedule. So, any thoughts on how important/helpful/pros/cons to be able to get your regs serviced locally vs. sending them out?

 

[Wookie]

My wife is working full time in a dive shop servicing regs. It's amazing the crap she sees come across her bench, how bad of shape it's in. Now, I'm not going to get all "It's life support" on you, but it is nice to have it work at the start and the end of the dive. The short answer is, if you take good care of your gear, rinse it between dives, keep the water out of it, and service it every so often, I personally think you will be fine. I never ever serviced a regulator in accordance with some warranty policy. Regulators are inexpensive enough that you can buy them, sell them on eBay for half what you paid for them, and buy another one cheaper than you can get one serviced.

 

[tbone1004]

If you are mainly a vacation diver, then I don't think it's important at all, but with some caveats

You NEED to own an IP gauge. That's not up for discussion. They're $10-$20 from Dive Gear Express and are the only way to know whether or not the regs need to be serviced or not. You should also have an adjustable wrench and allen keys, but everyone person should own those whether they're a diver or not

You SHOULD own a tank, whether all of your diving is abroad or not, if you own your own regs, you should own your own tanks. They're cheap on craigslist, so just find any tank that will pass vip/hydro and keep it charged at home for regulator checks before you travel

I HIGHLY recommend that all travelling divers purchase doubles regulator kits instead of singles. The extra first stage is your insurance policy when you travel. Second stages almost never fail, and when they do it's usually just a slight bubble *that can be fixed with an allen key on most regulators until you can get it serviced*. First stages fail in much more spectacular ways and will cause freeflows on your second stages. The IP gauge will usually anticipate this failure, hence why you need to own one. In the event this happens while you are travelling, instead of paying for emergency service, renting regs, and usually missing out on a dive or two, you hope up, take you adjustable wrench, move 4 hoses from one first stage to the other, and in less than 5 minutes you are ready to get into the water. No emergency service costs, no praying that they have the parts kits on hand, no rental regs, no lost dives. The cost difference is usually $200-$300 for an extra first stage depending on who you buy from etc etc, but it pays for itself that first time you have to call a dive because of an issue.

These are the regs that I'm currently recommending based on work of breathing, build quality, price, and convenience of service. First service is included in the price, as are the service kits *Roughly $70 for the service kits, and $100-$150 for the labor*, and you can learn to DIY service them if you feel so inclined.
Deep 6 Gear Double Tank Regulator Package - Regulator Packages - Regulators

For other brands, if you send off for service, I recommend Air Tech Scuba in Raleigh. They are a shop that does nothing but service regulators and they receive them in from lots of shops that outsource their regulators. The guys there are good, and parts are always in stock

 

[kelemvor]

Deep 6 Gear Double Tank Regulator Package - Regulator Packages - Regulators

That's kind of a weird package. It only has one SPG so you've got to buy another for the second tank/reg.

 

[BoltSnap]

What is the difference between servicing them locally vs. sending to a remote service center? I don't get your point there. Servicing your equipment is critical and keeping warranty is very good too especially when there is updates or product enhancements. If your local dealer has good reputation with equipment service, then there is no reason to seek remote locations. SP require two year service interval so it isn't a bid deal. I am not sure about AL service requirements in the US.

The essay above by Tbone is mostly irrelevant to you. Authorized dealers get regular service/warranty updates and bulletins others don't get and they, the dealers, have the inside scope on what is what from the manufacturer also other don't have. Buy local and have your equipment serviced locally.

 

[kelemvor]

If scubapro/aqualung is all that's available locally I'd be considering them. Yes, you can send your regulators off somewhere for service. However, that means you have no options other than self-service or not diving if you do have a problem or forget to send your stuff out way before a dive trip. Personally, I've been very disappointed with scubapro on account of them not honoring the "parts for life" program for me recently. In fact, I'm planning to replace my three scubapro sets rather than service them when the time comes because of this. That said, if I couldn't get anything else serviced locally I'd still use scubapro.

Here's another option. Might sound silly at first, but I have been considering it myself.

Get the inexpensive HOG regulators. Replace them when they need to be serviced. A brand new hog D1 can be had for $280. I'm pretty sure I've seen them cheaper when a shop has a sale. Most shops I've encountered charge $75 for service labor plus parts kit (I think another $75 or so) and even more if anything extra needs replaced. So you're looking at $150 and up for service. Plus you will have shipping costs if it's not local. When your hog needs to be worked on, replace it and sell the old one online. I'm sure you could get $100 for a used hog d1 set; maybe more. I've seen oodles of good reports about hog regulators on scubaboard, and a friend of mine dives them who also has good comments. Deep6 is made by one of the hog guys, but they aren't anywhere close to the same price.

 

[tbone1004]

That's kind of a weird package. It only has one SPG so you've got to buy another for the second tank/reg.

you buy that package and set it up as a single tank reg set with a spare first stage. If the first stage fails, typically due to the HP seat wearing out and IP creep, then you see that on the IP gauge and swap over to the backup first stage. When you get home, you get the one that failed serviced and keep the rotation going like that. Most shops these days seem to be outsourcing their service and have quite lengthy turnarounds in the 2-3 week range without paying an arm and a leg to get to the front of the line.
The Deep6 are priced comparably to the D3 regulators from HOG but have quite a bit of improvements to them. The D1's are stupid cheap though and basically disposable as you mentioned.

Regarding @BurhanMuntasser comment. The regs mentioned and many others have lifetime warranties not contingent on maintained service intervals, and the free parts for life is a scheme to keep the regs coming back on a regular basis to keep the dive shop service departments running. The shop that I mentioned is an authorized to service Aqualung, Cressi, Dive rite, Genesis, Mares, AUP, Atomic/Zeagle, Poseidon, Scubapro, Sherwood, and a myriad of others and they certainly have any and all updates from the manufacturers. With Deep6 your buying direct, so you aren't really going to have to worry about any updates since they're all made public, one of which has already come up with the Din O-ring retainer.

 

[StefinSB]

What is the difference between servicing them locally vs. sending to a remote service center? I don't get your point there. Servicing your equipment is critical and keeping warranty is very good too especially when there is updates or product enhancements. If your local dealer has good reputation with equipment service, then there is no reason to seek remote locations. SP require two year service interval so it isn't a bid deal. I am not sure about AL service requirements in the US.

The essay above by Tbone is mostly irrelevant to you. Authorized dealers get regular service/warranty updates and bulletins others don't get and they, the dealers, have the inside scope on what is what from the manufacturer also other don't have. Buy local and have your equipment serviced locally.

Why is warranty on a regulator important? Servicing local is totally unimportant in the age of FedEx/UPS. The important thing is to pick a place that specializes in service and has a good reputation if that happens to be your local place even better.

 

[BoltSnap]

the free parts for life is a scheme to keep the regs coming back on a regular basis to keep the dive shop service departments running.

The conspiracy theory again, YAWN!!

 

[BoltSnap]

Why is warranty on a regulator important? Servicing local is totally unimportant in the age of FedEx/UPS. The important thing is to pick a place that specializes in service and has a good reputation if that happens to be your local place even better.

If you don't understand why warranty is important yourself, there is no point of explaining it to you.

And, YES, let us kill the local dive shop but keep FedEX/UPS alive and well for they will soon service our regulators and dive equipment for us and even fill tanks and do training for us too (and FedEX/UPS will be giving their shipping services for free too).