Regulator Annual Service & Maintenance, Sport’s Biggest Scam???

[Rick Murchison]

Well, this analogy is a little silly, because the service on a new car is a tiny fraction of the cost of the car, where the service on a reg can easily exceed the cost of the reg over the long haul.

No, it isn't silly, because the service time is similar. Is your time worth less when you're overhauling a small piece of gear like a regulator than it is when you're doing a small job like an oil change on a big piece of gear like a car?
Now, the decision to service or replace may have something to do with the cost of the whole unit, but it does not bear on whether a technician or mechanic should be paid a fair wage for his/her work. Calling a fair wage a "ripoff" based on the cost of the gear being serviced is BS.
You're always free to buy the special tools and parts and do it yourself - as frequently or as infrequently as you desire. That's what I do... but if I decide to have a shop do the work I expect the worker to get paid.
Rick

 

[Mike126]

As a complete novice here's my take on this... more of financial returns.

Assumes that I want the same level of performance on the regulator, costs remain about the same, you do no self servicing, and the regulator parts are available for 10 years.

Cost of new regulator and octo for me is going to be $500
Annual cost to service 2ndary and octo with my LDS is $30 plus parts lets say the total service cost is $50.

That gives me a ten year return.

If I want to go with a 3 year replacement interval that means in ten years I would have spent $1500 versus $500 + $500 in service.

One thing you don't get with the replacement theory is the "peace of mind" that your equipment is fully functional and the internals are cleaned and tested etc. Also, when do you find out it's time to replace? 80 feet down? :shakehead

Maybe the better way to look at this is total cost of ownership - original cost + total service cost.

my 2 cents and remember I'm a novice....

 

[shellbackdiver1]

By the way putt putt golf cost about 20 bucks for 2 people to play.

I use a reg that has a 2 year service interval...Just had it check and its only 6 months old with 140 or so dives on it besides a bunch of pool time.

 

[divnamite]

If you buy from an authorized dealer, parts should mostly be free, so you paying for the labor. I can see why annual service might be too much if you are a vacation diver. Since you only use your regs maybe 10 dives a year, annual service fee of $50 means each dive costs you $5. Personally, I think a reg should be service/inspected around 50-75 dives, overhaul around 150-200 if you take care your regs. The problem with this is that you will lose warranty if you don't service annually.

 

[redacted]

No, it isn't silly, because the service time is similar. Is your time worth less when you're overhauling a small piece of gear like a regulator than it is when you're doing a small job like an oil change on a big piece of gear like a car?
Now, the decision to service or replace may have something to do with the cost of the whole unit, but it does not bear on whether a technician or mechanic should be paid a fair wage for his/her work. Calling a fair wage a "ripoff" based on the cost of the gear being serviced is BS.
You're always free to buy the special tools and parts and do it yourself - as frequently or as infrequently as you desire. That's what I do... but if I decide to have a shop do the work I expect the worker to get paid.
Rick

I don't think it is really a question of the "fair wage". Rather, it is a question of how frequently that service needs to be preformed. Heck, it takes me most of an afternoon to service one of my regs correctly. More time if it is a new "find" in pretty bad shape. If you can find a shop/tech you can trust and they are willing to tell you and show you what they are doing, then $50 to $100 (plus parts) for a full service is probably fair. It's too bad shops don't adjust their labor fees based on the condition of the reg they are servicing.

 

[ScubaMilo]

I work for a lds and to be honest.
I would rather see some of the people buy new regs every 5 years.
Than to see some of the regs that people bring in for service.
If you are not taking a real look at what that reg does for you underwater.
Than service can seem expensive.
on the other hand some people understand that we are talking about life support equiptment.
would you be ok knowing one of your chindren was in the hospital being kept alive by life support equiptment that had not been serviced regularly.
probably not!!
But you are willing to make the same gamble every time you get in the water with equiptment that has not been recently serviced.
So I think the real issue is what is that peace of mind of knowing the equiptment has been well maintained is worth to each individual.
Or what the life of the individual using the equiptment is worth.
either way I think my point was made.
So if you don't like paying the lds.
Then by all means learn to do it your self.
but make sure it is kept up.

 

[Diver Dennis]

As a complete novice here's my take on this... more of financial returns.

Assumes that I want the same level of performance on the regulator, costs remain about the same, you do no self servicing, and the regulator parts are available for 10 years.

Cost of new regulator and octo for me is going to be $500
Annual cost to service 2ndary and octo with my LDS is $30 plus parts lets say the total service cost is $50.

That gives me a ten year return.

If I want to go with a 3 year replacement interval that means in ten years I would have spent $1500 versus $500 + $500 in service.

One thing you don't get with the replacement theory is the "peace of mind" that your equipment is fully functional and the internals are cleaned and tested etc. Also, when do you find out it's time to replace? 80 feet down? :shakehead

Maybe the better way to look at this is total cost of ownership - original cost + total service cost.

my 2 cents and remember I'm a novice....

Well thought out Mike. I agree. I have my regs serviced or at least checked before every trip. That will mean I've had them checked 4 times this year. The cost of this is just a fraction of my travel costs and well worth it for me. I include it in the cost of diving.

 

[redacted]

would you be ok knowing one of your chindren was in the hospital being kept alive by life support equiptment that had not been serviced regularly.
probably not!!
But you are willing to make the same gamble every time you get in the water with equiptment that has not been recently serviced.
So I think the real issue is what is that peace of mind of knowing the equiptment has been well maintained is worth to each individual.

That depends. Do you think hospital life support equipment suffers from the same problem that scuba equipment suffers from? That is, an increase in the failure rate during the period immediately following service. There are really very few ways that a regulator that is otherwise working well, can fail catestophically. And most of those are related to service errors.

 

[TheRedHead]

Well thought out Mike. I agree. I have my regs serviced or at least checked before every trip. That will mean I've had them checked 4 times this year. The cost of this is just a fraction of my travel costs and well worth it for me. I include it in the cost of diving.

I agree, Dennis. If you're spending $3-5,000 on a dive trip, $28.00 to service the reg ain't nuthin'. I get free parts from the LDS for the Apeks.

 

[Meng_Tze]

... but if I decide to have a shop do the work I expect the worker to get paid...
Rick

Spot on Rick