Service Centers in Hawaii

[gle]

Hi,

I am a recent Florida diver, certified just over 6 months ago. I have been doing a lot of diving and decided it was time to buy a regulator setup. I am looking at several different companies, with my top choices being Zeagle, Atomic, Aqualung, and Apeks. Over the last few weeks I have been compiling statistics on various models and looking into local service centers. My goal is to find the best reg that I can both afford and find good service for.

I have been to one of the factory workshops, and I got that little piece of paper that makes me a certified parts monkey. So I know just how little a service tech might know when they go to crack open my gear. This scares me to no end.

There is also a significant chance (~10%-15%) that I will be moving to Manoa in July or August. This brings me to the question. Around Manoa and Hawaii in general are there good service techs, and if so where are they? For the 4 brands I have listed, are there service professionals you would trust with your own gear nearby?

I started a similar thread in the Florida Conch Divers forum a few days back. But I wanted to ask here as well since there is a chance I will be moving to Hawaii.
http://www.scubaboard.com/t85961-.html

Thank you for all you input,
Gle

 

[justleesa]

Hmmm....off the bat, can't say, but I'll listen around

 

[Tom Winters]

Ed Elms at Da Kine Scuba Repair in Kapolei.
http://www.dakinescuba.com/
Strange - he now shares the same space with Ocean Concepts there. Hmmm...
Oh well - Eddie is a great service tech.

 

[chepar]

I second the recommendation of Eddie at Da Kine. From talking with many people, it seems there is a general concensus that he is one of the best on the island. However, depending on the time of year you send your gear in for service - you could be waiting for your stuff for weeks.

Didn't know he started sharing space with Ocean Concepts - I wonder if he's been taking on some of their work. I sent my gear in for service with Ocean Concepts last fall because I needed it back in a week (in my experience taking it to Da Kine has meant an average of a 4 week wait) - whether Eddie did it or not, I don't know.

I know Eddie services Apeks (I have one) - pretty sure he services Aqualung and Atomics. The shop I purchased my reg from also sells Aqualung and Atomics, and they send all their service jobs to Eddie.

 

[gle]

Thanks for the info. Sadly the search in Florida is not going anywhere near as well. I guess this ratchets the Hawaii potential to 20% or so. Now if I can just convince UH.

 

[bluemagoo]

Probably because DaKine is way out in Campbell Industrial Park, some of the town shops farm out to Mikey's Scuba Repair in Hawaii Kai. I don't have his biz-card at the moment, but I don't have any complaints about the two times my reg came back from him; he normally bags any parts he replaced and returns them to you. I don't know if Hawaii Sea Adventures does their stuff in-house anymore.

 

[Tom Winters]

Oh shoot...that's right - Komohana is out in Campbell IP. OC used to be in Kapolei.
Now where it gets interesting is that Oceanic, Ocean Concepts and Da Kine are all at the same Komohana address complex now. Oceanic moved out there in the early 90's, and it was a major inconvenience to drive all the way out there for stuff. Scubapro, US Divers, and Dacor were way closer.
What this centralization on Komohana is about is beyond me. My Oahu geography is starting to fail me after being gone for four years now.
Hawaii Sea Adventures - now there's some interesting stories. I looked at the web site and my former neighbor Chuck still owns it.
Have fun out there.

 

[chepar]

I don't know if Hawaii Sea Adventures does their stuff in-house anymore.

Last time I sent my gear in for service at HSA they sent it to Eddie. That was a couple years ago, though.

 

[diveanytime]

Dakine Ed is not friendly and is slow - forget about him answering you emails. Personally I'm not sure on the quality of his work but others on some of the scubaboard's messages indicated in the past there were problems. Some of my diver buddies have mentioned Ed's getting lazy and not replacing parts when he should. Mikey's Scuba Repair on the other hand is a yaker! will talk regs to you if you let him. His shop is near me in Hawaii Kai and I have heard nothing bad about his work so far.

Is there anymore techs on this island that do regulator servicing?

 

[scottitheduck]

Second vote for Mikey. As mentioned earlier you can take it directly to him and have it turned around in as little as a day if he doesn't have a back log of work and has the parts on hand. You can certainly learn a lot about regs by hanging out with him for a bit too....

G