My Blacktip Leaked Yesterday

[Miyaru]

This thread didn't make me happy.....

My blacktip was wet inside last month. After 4 years.....maybe time to replace the o-rings?
Ordered them from dive-xtras.eu and the o-rings arrived within a week.

So far so good. 4 tube o-rings changed.
Testdive last Sunday, depth 43m / 90min.
DPV indicated a problem during the dive, but fortunately took me back to the entry point.
Result: wet inside. Even worse than before.

Despite the fact that DiveExtras has a sales presence in Europe, their support asked me to send the entire unit back to the other side of the planet. Shipping back and forth plus the price for service comes down to almost buying a new tail unit.
I find the service disappointing.

DiveExtras also has a problem reading, understanding and answering:
Question:

In case I decide to buy a new tail unit (from divextras.eu), is that covered by EU Directive 2019/771 (minimum 2 year warranty) with RMA shipping within the EU?

Answer:

So we can only determine a warranty exchange or repair by evaluating the unit. But there is no warranty on flooding. The unit did not flood upon arrival or on the first dive second or within the first year of purcashe and flooded after you exchanged Orings. The unit was also manufactured in 2020 the unit is now 4 years old.

Not sure what I will do with this. The electronics are still okay, the dpv works (it never flooded as stated by DiveExtras above).
I'll give it a try myself, I've already seen some very helpful posts in this thread. Tips on how to take the tail section apart are very welcome!

A couple of weeks ago, I did a complete Suex overhaul together with the dealer for Malta. We took an XR completely apart, till the very last o-ring. Serviced it, put it back together, vacuum tested it, and the DPV is ready for another year.
Compare that to sending a DPV halfway around the planet......

Please keep us updated on how they throw you under the bus.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Despite the fact that DiveExtras has a sales presence in Europe, their support asked me to send the entire unit back to the other side of the planet. Shipping back and forth plus the price for service comes down to almost buying a new tail unit.
I find the service disappointing.

They really need a service enter in Europe and somewhere in Asia.

One of the reasons I was gunshy on the Suex was I hearing horror stories of having to ship them to Italy for service, or long waits for parts coming from Italy.

 

[nwbrewer]

A couple of weeks ago, I did a complete Suex overhaul together with the dealer for Malta. We took an XR completely apart, till the very last o-ring. Serviced it, put it back together, vacuum tested it, and the DPV is ready for another year.
Compare that to sending a DPV halfway around the planet......

Does Dive X not recommend an annual service on the tail like they used to for the Sierra/Cuda's? If the body o-rings are not leaking, the first thing I would look at would be the shaft seal, if you've been using it heavily for 4 years on the same seal, or you ran it dry a bit, that can trash the seal.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Does Dive X not recommend an annual service on the tail like they used to for the Sierra/Cuda's?

The only service I've seen them recommend for the Blacktip are replacing the tube o-rings on both ends and maybe a little bit of silicon grease on those o-rings.

It seems weird that they don't have a more comprehensive service schedule for things like shaft seals.

 

[justinthedeeps]

They developed the vacuum insert for Blacktips so that we can test all seals before submersion. A wonderful add-on, obviously recommended. But not required.

Some of us still own (or buy) the DPV without the vacuum insert. This risks that a leak could go undetected until something inside rusts or shorts out.

Should we buy and use the vacuum insert? Yes, probably. Do we? Often not.

Of course we just want a DPV that never has any leaks, and never needs a vacuum check. Is that realistic? In many cases, apparently yes. But not always.

A friend of mine has an 'economical' plastic AOI model camera housing that has leaked twice now, despite having a vacuum indicator and all. Does that housing have inherent weaknesses, versus a top-end housing like a Nauticam? Probably. It is also less than half the price.

The CudaX has a built in vacuum checker, and other features to protect against leaks. This is what you need, if your life depends on it.

The Tusa Evo3 looks like a Li-Ion rebrand of the old Apollo DPVs. My buddy stopped using his after I gave him a Blacktip to use, and it hasn't leaked in 5 years, so far. They are both good DPVs though.

Will Tusa issue a full warranty if someone floods their Evo3? Do we have any actual data on that?

 

[Wibble]

Guess what this is…

Clue: it's not lead shot!

What rots in sea water?

 

[justinthedeeps]

Guess what this is…
View attachment 846165

Clue: it's not lead shot!

What rots in sea water?

"Rust indicator?"
Heard the no lead thing was some kind of enviro push?

My rust indicator was a shaft bearing.. but only one out of three scoots so far

 

[Wibble]

God knows how you're supposed to dig out the rotting steel shot to replace it with lead shot -- like out of a bag of the stuff we dive with as "soft weights".

Could blame the EU for the anti-lead rules, but that's a cheap shot (ha!). Maybe I could find an enviro-mentalist to dig that crap out of the plastic case and recycle it into an EV.

 

[MrChen]

Will Tusa issue a full warranty if someone floods their Evo3? Do we have any actual data on that?

It might be worth starting a thread to gather specific feedback. I doubt Tusa users will browse this deep into the thread.

 

[MrChen]

I went ahead and created a thread on it.

Tusa Sav7 Evo-3 Support & Warranty Feedback Requested

I recently had a flooding event on my Dive Xtras Blacktip Tech. While it was out, I purchased a used Tusa Evo-3. Fortunately for me, I'm getting my repairs covered under warranty. The conversation shifted a little as we wondered if Tusa's DPV warranty would replace a unit in the event of a...

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