Maintenance cost of owning Scuba Pro regulators

[programmergeek]

I own my own equipment and prefer to, I am a equipment buff and don't trust some of the stuff you rent, but lately my wife and myself have only been diving once maybe twice a year and the cost of servicing the regs she thinks is no longer worth it.

We just had 4 scuba pro reg (air2 BU and the main regs) serviced and the bill was about 360 dollars at our local dive store in Cedar Grove. Because we where slightly over a year in servicing this also included parts which was about 40 dollars, is this reasonable? She wants to sell the equipment since just maintaining it is not cost effective.

Is there a way I can service this stuff myself? I am pretty handy and do service Scott packs for the FD which is basically the same thing. Also I have considered just having the main regs serviced and not the BU if they work fine although this is probably nit a good idea.

I would really like to keep the equipment but she is right it just costs allot to maintain the regulators for using them once a year or so on vacation. Any suggestions is there a cheaper place to get these serviced?

 

[CAPNVINNY]

Scuba Pro puts on a service clinic for their LDS. I took it last year during my IDC after my course director found out I wanted to attend. I think the cost was $160 and it was 2 full days. You might ask your LDS.

 

[superstar]

I would skip the service and just use them.

 

[programmergeek]

That would be worth it.

The problem is the dealer I bought everything from closed and the new LSD I use I don't really like. Last service they swapped out a hose on me and left tool marks and a missing berring in one of my connectors hoses also replaced one of the plugs in my mk25 ti with a steel plug and not a titinium plug that is stock. I also don't I really have a relationship with them just used them for service twice. Would calling scuba pro be worth it?

 

[Wayward Son]

You can mail them off for service, you're not stuck using the local goober. You can send them to George Perez at Sea Divers, in Ozark Alabama. 334-774-3483. A great tech & his rates are reasonable.

 

[superstar]

It seems that you paid $360 to get your gear messed up. ***** like hell to Scubapro.

 

[letterboy]

That would be worth it.

The problem is the dealer I bought everything from closed and the new LSD I use I don't really like. Last service they swapped out a hose on me and left tool marks and a missing berring in one of my connectors hoses also replaced one of the plugs in my mk25 ti with a steel plug and not a titinium plug that is stock. I also don't I really have a relationship with them just used them for service twice. Would calling scuba pro be worth it?

Thats your problem. . .

 

[programmergeek]

I know it is my problem I live in NJ and don't really dive here, prefer warm water. We also own all our gear so except for a part now and then I have no reason to go to a dealer also they are about 40 min away and don’t usually have what I need in stock anyhow. It's not that I don't want a relationship with them it is just I don't really need one. The closer shop where I got certified I have gone on several trips with but they are not a scuba pro dealer.

Just looking for suggestions on how to make this work and several have given good advice above. Thanks will follow up with the above advice.

 

[David P]

4 regs X 3 stages = 12 stages $360/12=$30 a stage including parts. Thats not a bad price (we charge $25 w/o parts). IF your LDS would let you attend a scubapro reg workshop, your are a certified SP repair tech as long as you work for an authorized SP dealer and the work is done though them. Then you have to be able to buy the parts, oh yeah and youll want a magnahelic gauge, IP guauge, inline adjusting tool,.... about $2-3k worth of tools from scubatools if you want to repair and tune your reg right... oh don't forget a good ultrasonic cleaner, thats only ~$400...

If you don't dive much it may be cheaper to buy 2) Mk2/r190 every other year.

 

[redacted]

$160 per for labor is a blatant rip-off. You need to shop around and establish labor prices before you select a service provider. How late were you for the annual service?

If you want to service your own, here is the place to start: www.airspeedpress.com

Annual servicing is excessive if your clean and store your gear properly.