Totally irresponsible, or am I over-reacting?

[Netsloth]

I have a friend who has been away from diving for some time. Specifically, his dive gear has been in his attic for 7 years, untouched. Yesterday, he took his reg set into our local (very large) LDS to have it rebuilt.

I'd warned him that since he had a really old Dacor that they probably wouldn't be able to service it. That was the case. However, to my surprise, what they did was to hook it up to a tank, take a few breaths off of it, and tell him that it seemed to be ok to dive on.

:11:

I suggested that he might not want to trust his life to a regulator that had been through 7 years of Florida summers in an attic sitting unused. I see all kinds of opportunities for disaster here.

I guess my question is in the title. Am I wrong for thinking this is a dangerous attitude by the "tech" at the shop?

 

[FFMDiver]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...04640-dive-retailers-say-darndest-things.html

 

[Doc]

No parts available? Really? Try a different LDS.

 

[bvmjethead]

I wouldn't dive with it.

 

[Guba]

That reg is waaaaaaay overdue for a thorough going-through. In addition, don't forget the BC and all the other "soft parts"...fin straps, skirt on his mask, etc...
Find a different LDS and a different tech dept.

By the way, the owner of the gear could probably use some tune-ups, too. A refresher course wouldn't be a bad idea after 7 years.

 

[Netsloth]

No parts available? Really? Try a different LDS.

That part at least is legitimate. Dacor got bought by Mares. There are apparently not parts available for some of the pre-merger regs anymore. In fact, for a while Mares was running a trade-in program, but it unfortunately expired.

I suggested that he rent a reg set from a different LDS until he finds what he wants to buy to replace his existing.

 

[Garrobo]

Those old metal Dacors are like '57 Buicks. I have a half dozen of them going back to the Olympic 400. Like new inside after all these years. Not much to go wrong with them except O-rings and valve seats and an occassional diaphragm or exhaust valve. The reg rebuilder at my LDS says that the valve seats can be flipped over and that the exhaust valves and diaphragms can be replaced with parts from other brands. I recently bought a half dozen Dacor diaphrams and exhaust valve sets on Ebay for a few bucks each. Not so the matal parts but the used regs are so cheap that you can buy them just for parts. Having said that, I would surely have the regs opened up and all worn rubber parts replaced before using them if you are not able to do it yourself.

 

[Walter]

What do you suspect might be wrong with it?

 

[Netsloth]

What do you suspect might be wrong with it?

I've seen rubber dry-rot in conditions like that. I worry that even though it functioned in the store for 3 or 4 breaths, that at depth there is a potential for any of the rubber parts to fail. Since his octo has been in the same bag as his primary, it just seems like an unnecessary risk.

 

[bvmjethead]

What do you suspect might be wrong with it?

I had to think for a minute.

Grenade joke.