New Gear

[Orion12521]

Alrighty, I've made my first post as my introduction and now onto my first question.

After giving careful consideration to renting vs buying, I decided that buying my own equipment made the most sense for me. I'm probably going to make less than 10 dives in most years, but am okay with the added expense for the peace of mind knowing how my equipment has been treated.

I am horrible at haggling over prices and generally take the position that the tagged price on an item is firm. The direction I'm going with this is the internet ends up being the best place for me to shop. I am now realizing the one drawback - getting the gear assembled. While I know that several place will assemble the gear, I was unfortunate enough to have the gauge console I purchased on backorder so because I was going to have a missing component I didn't get anything assembled. So, getting to the point (finally ) I'm now left with the dilemma of how to get things assembled.

I am very mechanically inclined but have reservations about attaching the inflator hose and gauges to the primary primarily because I don't have a torque wrench and the owners manual is calling for a specific tightness. Additionally I purchased the Aeris Atmos LX and Air Link and see that I will invalidate the warranty if I do the assembly myself.

Am I going to sour my relationship with the LDS I'm taking lessons through by taking in a bunch of equipment for assembly? Alternatively, there is a big-box retailer that is an authorized Aeris retailer that I could look into doing the assembly.

The regulator I bought is an Oceanic CDX5 primary with an Alpha 8 secondary. In additional to the Aeris Air Link, the gauges (on back order) are the Mares Mission 3 Gauge Console. My intent will be to get the Mares Puck and integrate it in the console. If anyone thinks I'm going in a drastically wrong direction with my equipment selections, please feel free to tell me. I will probably ask you why you feel the way you do so that I might learn more.

I imagine most of my diving will be local (Chicagoland area) so I'm anticipating primarily fresh water and cold. That being said, I certainly am not going to turn down any opportunities to dive in warmer locales that might be salt water.

 

[Ted S]

Congrats on your new found hobby and decision to take the purchasing plunge!

If you're buying all your gear from the same website you may want to give them a call before you order and see if they can put your rig together (or the parts of it you're afraid to touch) before shipping. Many of the sites that sell gear online also operate real stores and have a full team of instructors, repair techs and other staff members like any local dive shop (they are local dive shops).

If the store you go with doesn't offer to put things together, you can certainly connect your computer, gauges and regulators to your first stage yourself, it isn't difficult but understandably some people don't want to do it which leaves you with a local shop (or another diver).

Since you already are buying gear I imagine you're certified so why not drop a line to your instructor, let them know you got gear elsewhere and would like to have the shop assemble it and manage the servicing. Some shops get very feisty when they find out you buy gear on the "evil internet" and will basically kick you out the door but really you don't want to do business with a shop like that. More progressive stores understand they have to find new ways to make money from customers who buy online and will be happy to assist you in order to earn your business for buying all those extras, fills and servicing.

And of course there is always that other diver options. Not that you'd want to pick just anyone but there are a lot of people here on ScubaBoard and around the dive community who are trained and know their stuff very, very well.

 

[offthewall1]

Don't worry and don't stress out too much... find your best deal then ask them to assemble it for you. If they don't offer that service, for the cost of shipping back and forth, you can send it to me and I'll do it for you no charge. Feel free to get in touch with us for quotes as well... but if you buy somewhere else. I'll be happy to assemble it for you at no charge to keep you in the good graces of your local shop : )

Dive Safe - Dive Happy!

 

[verybaddiver]

What Scuba gear needs 'assembled'???

 

[Orion12521]

What I am most concerned about is the BC with the inflator/safe second.

I'd also feel a bit better about attaching the console & inflator hose to the primary if I had a proper torque wrench.

 

[SkoobaD]

I'm taking classes now and will be certified in about a month. I don't know if it makes sense to buy right now, but if I did were could I find some quality used equipment or great deals on new? What is a good beginner package? Any help is appreciated.

 

[sixgears]

I'm taking classes now and will be certified in about a month. I don't know if it makes sense to buy right now, but if I did were could I find some quality used equipment or great deals on new? What is a good beginner package? Any help is appreciated.

You just hijacked someone else's thread but I think we can let that slide for now. A good place for you to start looking into used stuff is, where else: HERE! Look in the Classifieds section and you're more than likely to run into some quality stuff or at least equipment that's been well taken care of. Another popular option is "the bay".

To not be totally off-topic the OP can always talk to his instructor as far as assembly of equipment. A last option would be to call the equipment manufacturer for support. I'm sure they can talk you through assembly.

 

[vladimir]

Orion, get in touch with Dive Right In Scuba in the Chicago area. The owner is active on the Scubaboard and, if the reviews are to be believed, will appreciate your business and be price competitive.

http://www.diverightinscuba.com/

 

[bubba105]

Go to an authorized Aeris dealer, explain that your mother bought you this set-up as a present for getting certified & that it came unassembled. Explain your concerns about proper torque setting & pay to have them set your equipment up. Basically, lie. They won't feel bad about you not buying equipment from them because your mother did it out of love, they're getting some money from you, so, everybody wins.

 

[Nismo]

Most online places assemble gear. Check out scubatoys.com since they are a full service shop as well. They offer great prices on packages and unbeatable service.