No parts returned on annual overhaul

[boulderjohn]

I guess in all walks of life you'll find someone willing to screw you out of $8 bucks.

You pay a lot more than $8 for service. I am pretty darn sure that he wasn't even opening the regulator up. He was just holding it for a while, returning it, and sending in a bill.

In Colorado, the overwhelming majority of divers dive only on an annual vacation. Regulators can go for years at that rate without servicing and still perform well. A customer would have no way of knowing from the regulator's performance that it had not been serviced. Our shop eventually realized that was happening on more than a few occasions--my case was not an anomaly--and stopped using him. He still "services" a lot of regulators in our area.

 

[akdeepdiver]

Look. Regulator rebuilding is the biggest scam in diving. A kit costs between 8-20 bucks, depending on where you get it and what reg it's for. 8-20 bucks for 2 bucks worth of parts. Then, the tech charges 75 bucks a stage for the labor. Anyone who can't rebuild a reg in 20 minutes is doing something wrong. Yes, the actual time to soak the parts, ultrasonically clean the parts, and stare at the o-rings to figure out which is which takes an hour, but the actual labor time is relatively mild. I can't imagine anyone reusing parts.

As has been said, do you trust your builder. If you do, you trust that he isn't giving you used/aftermarket parts. If you don't, why did you take the reg to him in the first place?

AWAP, if you think of it as garbage, then you know why the tech throws it away. It IS garbage. It isn't treasure found on the ocean bottom, 90% of which is also garbage. To use EPA terminology, if someone has the "Intent to dispose", then it's trash. It's basura. It has no intrinsic value, because it's purpose has been fulfilled. It is no longer regulator parts, that time has passed. It no longer has even the potential to be regulator parts, because if you're hiring a tech to rebuild your regulator, you probably can't/won't/don't want to rebuild it yourself, therefore the used parts are worthless to the regulator owner. If they have no worth, then they are trash, and trash belongs in the landfill.

Holy crap, $75 per stage, I need to up my prices. I charge $30 per stage plus parts, and I don't markup on parts.

 

[Wookie]

This part of your post is pure BS, the EPA does not regulate anything to do with regulator servicing. So their definition has no meaning in this context.

Really? EPA regulates solid waste. From the EPA website:

The objectives of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) are to protect human health and the environment from the potential hazards of waste disposal, to conserve energy and natural resources, to reduce the amount of waste generated, and to ensure that wastes are managed in an environmentally sound manner. RCRA regulates the management of solid waste (e.g., garbage), hazardous waste, and underground storage tanks holding petroleum products or certain chemicals.

The definition of solid waste is lengthy and had about a billion gotchas which you may read yourself, but the critical part is: A solid waste is any discarded material that is not excluded under § 261.4(a) or that is not excluded by a variance granted under §§ 260.30 and 260.31 or that is not excluded by a non-waste determination under §§ 260.30 and 260.34.

So, the EPA does in fact regulate discarded regulator parts. Don't teach grandma how to suck eggs. I was an environmental engineer and EPA employee long before I was boat trash.

 

[ScubaInChicago]

I've seen a 1st stage that was supposedly O2 cleaned (never used for 100% O2) in need of servicing 2 months and a half dozen dives later (fresh water) taken to my buddies shop. When it was broken down, it was obvious it hadn't been serviced, let alone O2 cleaned EVER. There are some bad apples out there that should keep people on their toes. If you have another shop thats willing to open up the 1st and 2nd stage while you watch, it may help elevate some of the fear your LDS screwed you.

 

[Scared Silly]

This part of your post is pure BS, the EPA does not regulate anything to do with regulator servicing. So their definition has no meaning in this context.

Frank said "To use EPA terminology". He did not say say anything about "EPA regulations." I would like to think a 5th grader could understand the difference. But perhaps he should have used 5th grade terminology, which of course does not imply that 5th graders regulate regulator servicing.

To use 5th grader terminology, if someone has trash, it's trash. It's junk. It has no real value, because it's used. It is no longer good stuff. It can't used for nothing, ...


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[beaverdivers]

I believe the LDS has a good reputation and has been around for some time, but now I'm just sitting here looking at this 1st stage and wondering.....

What would you do?

Interesting post.

We show our clients the old parts, proper paperwork & go over the service. If someone wants to keep the old parts, which they never do, we would cut the o-rings & destroy the other parts so they could not be accidentally used and then gladly give them back.

We,also, have the client sign off on the paperwork stating that they have tested the gear, after they inspect & test their gear on a full tank. We encourage them to dive it in the pool & do a fresher before their trip to make sure they and their gear are good to go diving.

Wow! $75.00 a stage for service, we charge $35.

As far as Scubapro parts, they only require warranty replacement parts that aren't in the annual kit to be sent back, not the annual replacement parts.

Boulderjohn, please pm me on your "bad" repair guy. ( I believe I know of him. )

It sounds like you question the service on your gear. I would take it to an authorized Scubapro dealer and have them look it over.

Was it really serviced? Was it done by a current qualified Scubapro Tech?

Were original Scubapro parts used in the service?

Is it performing properly & tuned to proper Scubapro specifications?

 

[herman]

Interesting post.

We show our clients the old parts, proper paperwork & go over the service. If someone wants to keep the old parts, which they never do, we would cut the o-rings & destroy the other parts so they could not be accidentally used and then gladly give them back.

We,also, have the client sign off on the paperwork stating that they have tested the gear, after they inspect & test their gear on a full tank. We encourage them to dive it in the pool & do a fresher before their trip to make sure they and their gear are good to go diving.

Wow! $75.00 a stage for service, we charge $35.

As far as Scubapro parts, they only require warranty replacement parts that aren't in the annual kit to be sent back, not the annual replacement parts.

Boulderjohn, please pm me on your "bad" repair guy. ( I believe I know of him. )

It sounds like you question the service on your gear. I would take it to an authorized Scubapro dealer and have them look it over.

Was it really serviced? Was it done by a current qualified Scubapro Tech?

Were original Scubapro parts used in the service?

Is it performing properly & tuned to proper Scubapro specifications?

What some of you seem to not understand is those parts are the property of the reg owner. They are paying you to replace them, not giving them to you. Keeping them without the owners permission is in fact illegal. Odds are most don't want them but the fact remains they are the reg owners property unless other agreements have been made. Warranty parts are a different matter since the customer has not paid for them.

Beaver, the problem with that you are doing is you are distroying a customers property, no different than if you smashed his second stage because you believe it is not safe to use. The parts are not yours, they are the customers and you have no right to damage them in any way. If the customer was so inclined he could well insist you replace them.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

What herman said. If the Beav is such a paternalistic fellow that he must smash old sintered filters and snip old o-rings for his customers' own good, he needs to put that in writing and have them sign it when they drop off the regs. Beyond that, a word or two to the wise will just have to be enough.

The regs I have had serviced have all included paperwork describing the reg's performance before and after servicing, anything noted by the tech during the service, and a baggie marked USED PARTS - DO NOT USE containing all the orings, filters, etc. that were replaced. Somehow, despite those highly lethal used parts not having been run through a blender first, I have survived all this time.

In addition to making it somewhat harder to BS me on the service (sure, you have a ton of used parts floating around, but the odds of you having several sets of M1 guts laying around are slightly lower), getting the parts back also allows you to see how your service interval is working out for the reg internals. If my used filter looks like , either I need to be more careful about drying my valves and capping my regs, or I need to shorten my service interval.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Or maybe have your main fill place check their compressor.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Brewone0to]

You should be taking your gear to a place that
you would trust their work with your life.
I have been at my LDS on many occasions and watched old parts
being disposed of from just about every reg they break down.

I have never received my old parts back after servicing and
frankly can't see why you would need the parts returned.
If you can't trust your LDS to do the right thing, you simply need a new LDS.

My service guy has been in this business for decades and has a ton of spare parts which
he often gives to customers without charging anything to help them out.
This is probably the case with most shops trying to keep their customers diving.