Maintenance cost of owning Scuba Pro regulators

[redacted]

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.

I believe he is talking about 4 2nd stages and 2 1st stages for 6 stages at $60 per stage including parts.

Those tools may be necessary for the shop tech but they are excessive for the DIYer. The kitchen sink, a bit more time, and a test dive are adequate substitutes for the magnahelic gauge and the inline tool. And the DIYer's ultrasonic cleaner is another luxury but can be had for under $50. It is unfortunate that almost every time a thread like this pops up, it draws out some "professional" who feels obligated to discourage the potential DIYer by telling him he has to make extravagant investments in tools that many smaller LDSs don't even make.

If the OP is talking about the Mk2/R190/Air2 (and I assume he is based on the parts cost of only $40) then store the 2nds with the purge depressed slightly to prevent the seats from taking too much set, and you could easily go 4 year or more before servicing. But it would be best if you were able to make minor adjustments to maintain satisfactory levels of performance.

 

[programmergeek]

"If you don't dive much it may be cheaper to buy 2) Mk2/r190 every other year."
Yea that was her point....

It is 2 set up's I have serviced

Reg and stages (MK25T, s600T) and a (MK25, G250)
2) air2

Not sure how you are getting 4 regs X 3 stages = 12 stages

I was about 4 months late for service but we hadn't used them since the last service and got them serviced at the same place.

Looks like I will have to shop around I just hope this Scuba Pro dealer hasn't thrown a wrench into owning my own equipment with my wife. The last LSD was grate he was the one that sold us everything. This one besides being not to nice in general costs allot. Maybe because I am showing up with top of the line stuff they like to charge me allot. I know if I sell the stuff we may just forgo the hobbie. For now owning the equipment gives us a excuse to go use it, I know if we sell it I would not be keep on renting some crappy leaking BC and reg.

 

[Wayward Son]

Just curious, what sort of programming do you do? I'm a software developer, have been since 1982. My core language is C++, I currently do a lot with C++, VB, VB.NET & C#.

 

[redacted]

"If you don't dive much it may be cheaper to buy 2) Mk2/r190 every other year."
Yea that was her point....

It is 2 set up's I have serviced

Reg and stages (MK25T, s600T) and a (MK25, G250)
2) air2

Not sure how you are getting 4 regs X 3 stages = 12 stages

I was about 4 months late for service but we hadn't used them since the last service and got them serviced at the same place.

Looks like I will have to shop around I just hope this Scuba Pro dealer hasn't thrown a wrench into owning my own equipment with my wife. The last LSD was grate he was the one that sold us everything. This one besides being not to nice in general costs allot. Maybe because I am showing up with top of the line stuff they like to charge me allot. I know if I sell the stuff we may just forgo the hobbie. For now owning the equipment gives us a excuse to go use it, I know if we sell it I would not be keep on renting some crappy leaking BC and reg.

That is top of the line 1sts and primaries. He stuck it to you for labor, but either gave you a big break on parts or did not replace all parts that call for annual service. I would not be surprised if you only got Air2 parts kits at that price. Assuming the G250 is the current HP model, it is not necessary to store your primaries with the purge depressed as they incorperate an anti-engraving feature. So just stick something into your air2's that will depress the purge (I use a large erasure) during storage (after a good soak and drying). They should go for years before another servicing.

 

[programmergeek]

As for programming not doing to much these days I did just finish a project in ASP where I made a bunch of flash graphs to display over the web for a sales reporting tool. I basically head up IT for a mortgage group in the world financial center in NY. But do a lot of intergrading systems together and migrating smaller systems, contracts etc… Use to do a lot of ASP, VB, Perl etc.

 

[Packhorse]

Do what I did. Buy a few tools, a book or 2, find a parts upplyer and service your own regs WHEN THEY NEED IT. And if you are only divind a few times a year then you dont need to service them every year.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=170349

 

[WB2GLP]

Try Lakeland Divers over in E. Hanover next time. They are reasonable and honest. They're just off Rt 10 on Ridgedale Ave. Lakeland Divers

 

[oly5050user]

$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: Airspeed Press Homepage - Books For Serious Divers

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

A bill for completing an annual on 2 regulators and air 2 for $360. is a little high(maybe by $50-$70.)from my rough estimate.The bill would have been close to $100. less if the warrenty was in effect.BUT for a regulator that was previously serviced the year before and NOT used that is just wrong . If the facility had any integrity he would of asked you the kind of use it received and discovered that perhaps he only had to bench test it ,maybe do a minor adjustment and thats it.Of course the facility would explain that being the warrenty is lapsed there is not too muich they can do for part warrenty but after a complete annual the warrenty can be in effect again for the following year.That is how we work it at the facility I owned and the current one I teach at here in Westchester NY.We are a scubapro dealer and only 10/15 minutes from Tappan Z bridge.

 

[squidster]

Scuba Pro Is a very very good company ,dealers however can be great like mine or can SUCK!
I got mine serviced for about 30.00 + free parts Thats one reg setup.

most people on this board may tell you that you dont need serviced that often as long as you care for your reg properly,and that may be true.
But to get free parts you have to get it serviced each year.
some go by number of dives, like say 50 dives.
you could probably go 2 or 3 years without a serve if you keep it clean after each dive.
o rings may dry out after an extended amount of time or poor storage habits.
But the o rings are the easy parts to change and you could do that each year yourself .

check your regs before every dive to make sure they are working good.
if you want to be sure get it serviced ea year.

 

[halocline]

o rings may dry out after an extended amount of time or poor storage habits.
But the o rings are the easy parts to change and you could do that each year yourself

This is a year old thread, but I wanted to reply to this comment. The hose o-rings are replaceable without taking the reg apart. But replacing the internal o-rings, like the ones that are subject to supply pressure, is part of an overhaul, which means disassembling the reg, inspecting, cleaning, replacing o-rings and the seats, reassembling, and adjusting.