Negligent LDS

[Cacia]

well, my opinion is that you go and SEE where the repair area is and WATCH the person for a few minutes. Look at his vehicle and see if the tires are bald...that sort of thing. Do a little profiling!

Old timer divers will tell you that right after a service is a "iffy" period, I even use a buddy for the first dive or two.

 

[DandyDon]

Red, if I was a sky diver, and anyone else touched my rig, I'd inspect it to the extent I could. I bet you do, too.

Not putting a serviced reg onto a tank and breathing it is just sloppy preparation, but maybe he doesn't dive deep...?

 

[RonFrank]

Nonsense. Returning a non functioning reg is not something you can explain away. This kind of carelessness can kill people. In fact, if they had been a bit less negligent, the problem might not have shown up until 90 ft. Then what?

We talk about supporting our LDS, but can't trust them enough to do service?

The reg may have been picked up before it was done? Employee A may have THOUGHT it was done, and the service tech had not completed service?

People do make mistakes, and if you have multiple people in the mix, it's more likely.

By not bring this to the attention of the LDS, you will not give them the opportunity to fix this problem, and it may happen again.

I'm not standing up for this LDS, or poor service. However it is easy to check to see if the reg is functioning before leaving the shop which I would highly recommend no matter how good you THINK the LDS is.

I would never do a first dive after service deep, and I also carry a pony for this exact reason. In the end it's YOUR life, and I trust no one!

 

[Tigerman]

I"ll take this one step further...


I'm a sky diver.

1x per year you need to have your reserve and harness inspected by a FAA licensed rigger.

Now, I pay for my inspection, get the rig.. I'm trusting my life that this person had performed the job correctly. or do you suggest I should "test" my reserve?

ANY work performed on a life safety device should be ready to go when it is returned to it's owner.



sure the owner should test it, but it damn well better work, thats what the shop was paid to do.

And as part as being a skydiver, your supposed to check everything external (plus the main chute which you pack yourself) before EVERY SINGLE JUMP.
Now when you get it back from a reserve repack and rig inspection, would it be too much to ask if you go over the rich, checking the seal is in place, no wires are hanging loose ("dropzone" ftw) log is stamped and signed by the same controller that sealed the reserve and that its generally in the same or better condition as when you left it?
It would be a pretty silly mistake for the FAA to notice that "hey, the reserve cord was cut on this chute" after your reserve dont deploy? (Better hope you use an automatic altitude triggered direct deployment if that happened).
THAT would be kinda the similarity to the hoses not being tightened properly. The "reserve chute" if you will would be the internal parts of your reg, which you shouldnt mess with unless youve got the knowledge to do so..

Yeah, ive been trusting the non-jumping rigger too with the reserve, but you better believe I packed my own chutes as soon as I got the training for it and where damn picky on the things I HAD the chance to check myself..

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks for that discussion, Tigerman - good points, but I don't know about parachutes. Glad you do and shared.

 

[Lead_carrier]

if you seriously believe it constitutes negligence on a customer's part not to check if a professional did his/her job right we have truly come to a very sad state of affairs and you have bought into it by blaming the customer. I have a hard time believing that a court or a jury of your peers would be this generous with the dive shop had they to contemplate a diver's death or serious injury under the circumstances described.
the average diver has absolutely no training that would enable him to ascertain if the service has been carried out correctly. furthermore, hooking a reg up to a tank at the LDS does not tell you much no to mention that more than a few dive shops do not exactly encourage this and act rather annoyed.
therefore, while it may be wise to double check if you know what you ought to be looking for it seems a bit far fetched to call the customer negligent if he places his trust in a professional (as we all do numerous times every day).

Blaming it on the customer? No. Negligent on the customers part ALSO. Yes. Do you check your taxes, car repairs, dental work, doctors diagnosis or anthing like that? These items are ususally handled by professionals in their fields.

I'll give the average diver that you are talking about some indicators to look for when they pick up their reg that has just been serviced.
1. Attach it to a scuba tank and pressurize it.
2. If it flies apart, it's probably bad. Free flowing, probably bad.
3. Leaking around the hoses and first stage or ruptured hoses. Bad again.
4. Can't breath from the second stage. You might have a problem.
5. The LDS refuses to let you have a tank to check it with. You'll probably have a problem soon, and they have a real problem now and it's going to grow if I don't get a cylinder PDQ.
These are just some indicators, not an a complete list of possibilities.

It's just my opinion, but if you're smart enough to own your own gear, you're probably smart enough to know if it is breathing right or not. At the place it is serviced, before you leave with it.

 

[Lead_carrier]

Nonsense. Returning a non functioning reg is not something you can explain away. This kind of carelessness can kill people. In fact, if they had been a bit less negligent, the problem might not have shown up until 90 ft. Then what?

We talk about supporting our LDS, but can't trust them enough to do service?

That is why I insist it be pressurized and checked by whoever picks it up. I got racked over the coals for a regulator breaking and flying apart at depth. I had to stand there and take it. No excuses, I apoligized for screwing up his dive and reg.

Until he buddy was in the next day and was talking about his buddy and a local DM taking the reg apart and working on it. Then when it started leaking the next day they tried to stop it by beating and banging on it. That was when it flew apart. Guess who was very embarrassed when they found out I knew the complete story.

 

[Doc Harry]

Went out on a boat dive yesterday. One of the divers attached his regulator to his tank, opened the tank valve...huge hiss. Several o-rings later it becomes obvious that there is something wrong internally with his 1st stage. Two of the hoses from the 1st stage are also loose. Turns out he just picked-up the reg from his LDS after they serviced it. He was joking that it certainly worked before he gave it to them. Also turned out both tank valves had only been hand tightened into the tanks. Needless to say he's not going to use the LDS anymore. There are plenty to pick and choose from here in south Florida.

The diver is negligent for not checking his gear before the dive.

 

[DiverBizz]

Even in my OW class I was taught to inspect all of my equipment prior to packing it up for a dive and then during the predive inspection. My OW instructor stressed having the equipment serviced annually and inspect it prior to taking it from the LDS. I remember his instructions and am a safer diver or pre-diver due to his teachings. Now I share this information with other divers.

 

[h2odragon1]

I had a similar expierence with my local dive shop. I had my reg's serviced, and took them out to a local quarry for a day of diving. I checked my reg's first in 4 ft of water, my primary would breath in water when held horizontally but only air when held with the body of the reg down. I did not want to try with the body up. My octo quickly became my primary for my diving for the weekend. The reg's were taken back to the shop first thing Mon. with a description of what was wrong.
Always test your gear after servicing. The reg's breathed ok on the surface, the problem occured when I got underwater, still I tested them under controlled conditions.