LeisurePro vs. LDS - reg unassembled?

[MikeFerrara]

Genesis,
Again I'm not arguing in favor of the price that was quoted but it is more than a five min job. And a sink of water will not set the cracking presure of a second stage. How bout I send you a manufacturers list of what they require to be done with a new reg and you tell us what you would charge.

 

[Genesis]

SET the cracking pressure?

No.

VERIFY the cracking pressure? Yep. At least within the kind of ranges that are used in these specs. You just have to figure out where the diaphram is in the reg (its usually visible through the front cover)

Will you be EXACT? No. But you don't need to be. If its grossly out of range (or freeflows like a banshee) you will know.

BTW, you and I both know that ADJUSTING the second stage, for single-adjustment regs anyway, is not difficult. Yeah, its faster if you have the inline tool, and its a really bad idea to play with it if you don't understand how it works, but these things are not rocket science.

You can send me whatever you want, but when I bought my first reg from a LDS they did nothing other than assemble it and hand it to me. I watched them put it together. Not only was the cracking pressure and lever adjustment not checked, but they didn't even put an IP gauge on the BC hose! At the time I didn't know what cracking pressure was or how to check or adjust it, but I do now and it definitely wasn't done!

Second, I've now seen SEVERAL regs come from LP. Every single one of them was fine right out of the box and required NOTHING to be adjusted.

Mike, perhaps you individually go through some kind of checklist on a new reg. I can tell you that in my personal experience I've seen it completely blown off in local dive shops and my empirical evidence suggests that while verification is certainly a good idea its hardly necessary, as all of the regs I've seen from LP so far have been in perfectly good (and diveable) condition right out of the box.

I did NOT recommend "just" connecting the hoses. I also recommended checking the reg out of the water, and then in a pool, before you attempt to dive it. If you have access to an IP gauge that's a darn good idea to check too.

If you do all of the above you'll have done far more than my LDS did before handing me my first, locally-bought at their grossly-inflated price, reg.

They did absolutely nothing to earn their premium markup other than screw in the hoses, and I bet the LDS this guy is referring to won't either.

 

[MikeFerrara]

While the second stage may be close enough right out of the box, I have never preped a new reg that I didn't adjust. While not a life or death requirement it sure makes the reg nicer to use. I believe you that some shops don't go through all the checks that they are supposed to but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.

I'm not arguing against the purchase from LP. I'm only arguing wether or not it's so quick to do correctly.

 

[Genesis]

The two that I've seen come from LP were dead-nuts on and breathed wonderfully. I dive one of them as my backup (an R380) and haven't touched the inline adjustment.

One of my dive buddies dives a MK25/S600/R380 rig that came right out of the box and also breathes wonderfully. I've tried hers at depth (and she's tried mine!) and they are identical within my ability to determine 100' down or on the surface.

Perhaps some brands need adjustment out of the box to breathe well. My experience with Scubapro has been that this is not the case for their stuff.... or maybe I've just seen a small enough sample that luck was a factor.

 

[pediatron]

There are 3 LDS and they all are overpriced and claim that what they sell is the best and the rest will kill you. I was ready to go to LP but drove 150 miles to Sacramento and bought 2 complete sets (regs, octos, computers & BCD's) for my self and my wife. I ended up paying about $200 more than LP but they threw in a lot of stuff like bags, lights, etc which would have worked out to be more at LP. They knew what I was looking at and from whom. They set up both sets in about 15 min. and had me check them out on a tank. each time he brought the regs up front they were soaking wet. I don't know what adjustments were made on both regs and octos but they all worked fine and it only took 15 min. There was no charge for setup.

I would be suprised that LP wouldn't set it all up for you. Other on-line stores do it for free and a couple for $20.

 

[Butch103]

but don't be mislead by the number of minutes or hours involved in the assembly of the regs etc......You are not paying for their time.......Your are paying for the expertise, training, knowledge and of course the insurance that the job is done right and safe.

That is not to excuse gouging the consumer, but remeber what your paying for.

ut:

 

[sillygrendel]

I decided to buy my first reg from a LDS. When I walked into the shop to pick it up I asked them if they had connected it to a tank yet... They said 'no'. I asked if anything else needed to be done with it after they recieved it and connected the hoses... They said 'no'. I forced them to hook it up to a tank and fiddled with it for a little while. Seemed to work OK. Moved out of town.

About 10 dives later I noticed bubbles coming out of the first stage. Took it into a shop around baltimore and they said part of it wasn't tightened enough and air was leaking out by the diaphram. It always breathed a little bit wet but after another 10 dives if I turned my head it would flood. Turned out 2 of the O-rings were bad.

Decided I was sick of waiting for something else to go wrong and took it in for a complete overhaul. $60 It seems[\I] to breath much[\I] easier on the surface now... Taking it out this weekend to check it out.

I was really pissed! If I was still living in Pittsburgh I would have gone in there and yelled at them! But I wouldn't have let them touch the reg! Think I might let write them a little note.

Anyway -- If you pay more and buy a reg from an LDS...

Make sure they give it a thorough check and tune it before you buy it!!

Since then I've acquired Vance Harlows 'regulator maintence and repair' and have learned a great deal more of what I should expect in getting it serviced.

 

[Addict]

Ok - heres the lowdown (so far)

To assemble stuff shipped to me & pressure test?:
$70.00/per set

Yearly maintenance:
44.00/each + parts (parts are 40.00 for each reg).
or $84.00/year per set

As I understand it, the 'assembly fee' is probably rediculous. So, what about the yearly service on 'Grey Market' regs (Aqualung Titan LX, Aqualung octo, Cobra computer, Pro QD BC).

Since my LDS can't get the parts for free (apparently they can if they sell the reg, but can't with grey market) they charge 40.00 for the parts.

Is this unreasonable too?

 

[Genesis]

Overhaul kits vary in price....

Scubapros are in the $10/stage each (that is, $20 for a first and a second) from DiveInn. I doubt your LDS is paying more than that, and they are likely paying less.

I don't know what the Aqualung overhaul kits go for....

 

[metridium]

Addict wrote...
Ok - heres the lowdown (so far)

To assemble stuff shipped to me & pressure test?:
$70.00/per set

Yearly maintenance:
44.00/each + parts (parts are 40.00 for each reg).
or $84.00/year per set

Is this unreasonable too?

Uh...you could say that.

My last reg service was $45.00 for one 1st and two 2nds, plus I think $4.50 for parts. Tax was extra, of course.