Need for alternate regs due to long service delays in Canada

[dpaustex]

I use an Atomic T2x. Two year service interval. Of course, it'll set you back $1600 for it and the titanium alternate. Worth every penny.

6 week service interval is a joke. Service them in the off-season. Parts should be free, for the life of the unit (as with all Aqualung stuff), and you should only be paying for labor.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I would consider option 2) pulling them from the LDS and go dive.

Any regulator can be set up on a 2 year / 100 dive interval. True, you will lose the parts-for-life warranty but the savings in labor will offset the kit and you can set the service schedule to not interrupt your dives.

All you need to do is properly maintain (clean and don't abuse) the gear and then spend $20-30 on a IP gauge to check them periodically.

 

[ams511]

I agree with Grumpy. More and more manufacturers are going with a 2-year rebuild cycle but still want the regs checks checked during the off year. So do it yourself. Another option is to explain the situation to Aqualung that you want to get them serviced but the shop is quoting you 3 months and ask them for a recommendation.

 

[Brookieman10]

Agreed - speaking to Aqualung might be helpful. I'm not sure that $29 for free parts off sets the 3 month delay. Do we really need to keep sending in our regs for service yearly ? Are we just changing parts on a pile of barely used regs ? It seems to be a bit of a pyramid scheme -the LDS shops selling more regs every year and we've now reached a point where there are too many in an area to be taken care of. I'm ok with paying my LDS $75 a year to keep diving but yikes here in Ottawa this scheme has overloaded the techs and now we can't go diving while we wait for a "service".

 

[skankpile]

Don't get uptight about the servicing.. if it holds a steady IP, is tuned properly, and breathes smooth.. dive it and service it when you get back from your trip. I would not want to service a working reg right before a trip anyways because if something will fail it is usually right after it is serviced.

$29 parts for life... thats funny..

 

[elan]

Agreed - speaking to Aqualung might be helpful. I'm not sure that $29 for free parts off sets the 3 month delay. Do we really need to keep sending in our regs for service yearly ? Are we just changing parts on a pile of barely used regs ? It seems to be a bit of a pyramid scheme -the LDS shops selling more regs every year and we've now reached a point where there are too many in an area to be taken care of. I'm ok with paying my LDS $75 a year to keep diving but yikes here in Ottawa this scheme has overloaded the techs and now we can't go diving while we wait for a "service".

It's good idea to do it off season, - January or February, I was getting a turnaround of 1 week in Ottawa at the end of January.

AFAIK Aqualung has a window when you can service the reg, so if you bought them in summer you are forced to do it in summer. but may be they will allow to shift the window to the off season.

 

[Scared Silly]

If you are only putting 20 dives a year on your regs I would suggest a much longer service interval like 3 or even 4 years. Modern regs just do need to be serviced that often if they are well maintained before, during, and after use. We put a couple of hundred dives on our regs and after 4 years they were ready to be serviced as I could tell as the IP seating had a bit more drift than acceptable.

IMHO the free parts with service every year is for the most part a scam. And as said the service cost is more than the parts so going even every other year would be cheaper.

 

[Ozwald]

try giving George at the "Saskatoon Dive Shop" a call. He serviced my Halcyon in no time. I'm not sure if he does the Aqualing stuff but it's worth a shot.

 

[markmantei]

Don't get uptight about the servicing.. if it holds a steady IP, is tuned properly, and breathes smooth.. dive it and service it when you get back from your trip. I would not want to service a working reg right before a trip anyways because if something will fail it is usually right after it is serviced.

$29 parts for life... thats funny..

Yea, I think the jist of what I've learned here on scubaboard is that as far as failure modes unserviced regs fail slowly, while recently serviced regs, when they fail, fail catastrophically. I wouldn't take a newly serviced reg on a dive trip without putting a few dives on it first.