How to check the service provided?

[redacted]

How can you confirm that you got the service you thought you were getting?

A couple weeks ago in Cozumel, we were diving with a couple from Arizona who had Mk10's/G200bs & EDI computers. We got to talking because I was diving some old SP metals. They were the original owners of the kits and had maintained their warrenty with annual service. On one dive, his EDI (3 years old) display started to fade. Although I had not used my EDI in many years, I thought that was the low bat indicator and showed him how to replace the battery. They had there gear serviced 1 month before going to Coz and thought the annual service included battery replacement. (I would not have thought so since it is user replaceable.) He could not find a replacement battery so I fixed him up with my spare SPG and an IQ-300 (he was not aware how conservative his EDI was) for a couple days. But when I installed the SPG in his 2nd HP port, I was surprised to find the plug and the interior of the port coated in green corrosion. He clearly did not get the service he thought he had gotten or the service he should have gotten. He was going to take this up with his LDS and Scubapro when he got home.

So I thought it might be helpful to talk about what a diver can do to make sure his LDS is providing the service he thinks he is paying for. Unfortunately, I'm afraind the unscrupulous LDS could charge $100.00 for checking IP and 2nd stage performance and simply deciding it should go another year. (Of course, if you have any problem, just bring it back.) That's less than 10 minutes of work, $100.00 in the box, and a free set of annual service kits that can be resold for $50.00 to someone who let his warrenty expire.

Finding an LDS you can trust would be great but this guy trusted his LDS.

Learn enough about your kit so9 you are less vulnerable to a repair/service scam.

Discuss and agree on what is to be done and record it on the work order.

Used parts in a bag should be returned with no unnecessary damage. Agree to this in advance. Can't do that because they must be returned to the manufacturer? BS - Find another shop.

Have them show you performance, on the flow bench if they have one, before and after service.

Inspect your gear before & after service. Remove some hoses and port plugs before and after as well as the 2nd stage cover & diaphram if you can.

A bit extreme, but a few carfully places grease pencil marks may be very revealing.

I don't know how common place bad techs and LDS's are but I'm afraid they may not be as rare as most of us would like to think.

 

[rescuediver009]

Firstly, in the techs defence you have to account for ignorance and honest mistakes. but let's be honest here you are trusting this guy with your life essentially. In my opinion though it is the responsibility of the user to check how his reg works either in the pool or even test breath it before your first dive trip. Your an idiot if you just grab your gear and drop down to 120 ft. for your dive.

This is especially critical for people who have their gear serviced in the middle of their dive season. Have your gear serviced in the off season so that you will get a chance to double check it the pool.

Also, alot divers that this happens to are having their regs serviced because they are told that this is what you do. I think that every diver should take an equipment specialist course, or have the equivalent knowledge of their equipment, because you could tell a person that you replaced the piston in their apeks they would ask what was wrong with the old one.

Divers should be acquianted with what a service entails. The first time that they bring their regs in for a service theLDs should explain to them what the procedure is and what will be done and why. That is if they hadn't already done it when they sold them the damn thing.

But I would say that alot of the blame is on the diver forgetting that this is life support equipment and they they just have it serviced because they told them so and they think it is a money grab.

As far as your friend with the green corrosion... You said that he had them serviced 3 months before so how mny dives did he do with them after service? It only takes one to make it look like that. This all depends on how he rinses his regs after salt water use. If it is only the port ok you win and the tech probably forgot to take off the plug before putting it in the ultra sonic cleaner. I have done it before. But what he did wrong there was forget to replace the then deplasticized o-ring. But for all we know from whatthe guy told you could be that the entire inside of the reg is like that. Just looking at other possibilities because I don't doubt that there are bad techs out there. But it is a simple solution to say that if this happened to me there would be the three step process.
1. take and equipment course so Iwould forsee this type of thing.
2. get service elsewhere or use my newly acquired judgement to see if it was an honest mistake.
3. Still not consider doing something weird like say I can do a better job and do it myself.

 

[ShakaZulu]

On my car I usually leave an alignment mark on something I know need to be removed/replaced.........could this work with scuba gear???

 

[rescuediver009]

On my car I usually leave an alignment mark on something I know need to be removed/replaced.........could this work with scuba gear???

It can work on some parts like the companies that are alittle stingy, they indicate the the HP seat inside the frst stag should be scribed with a "1" to indicate that it has ben in there for a year already and then next time the next tech sees it, he can know it has to be replaced.
If you ask me, it should just be replaced every year.

I still think that it should be the resonsibility of theowner of the gear to know what goes on during service and what they are getting for what they pay for.

Imagine taking you car to the shop complaining of poor performance and the tech just saying that it was serviced. Most people who have a general knowledge of cars would like to know what exactly was done right? Well seeing as how we are all certified I don't see why not ask what exactly the tech did.
I know I always try to make it clear to people when they pick up their regs especially if they are new divers.