Uneasy feeling with repair work..

[Dwag766]

After taking dive sebaticle for family, I took my BC in for inspection while trying to locate my regulator after home move. I had located what appeared to be a reputable shop and asked about a review session to be on the safe side.

It was interesting that the dive instructor would not return any of my messages and the dive shop owner simply told me that he (the only instructor...that should have been a red flag) was having some personal issues and that he would call me.

Impatient as I am I became reaquainted with an operation I had gone with 11 years earlier and what a difference! After picking up my supposedly inspected BC and renting a regulator, a friend and I entered the pool at the dive shop to begin a refresher with an instructor.

An air leak in my O2 began bubbling........Thank goodness it was in the pool.

Since finding this wonderful operation to dive with I still have not heard back from the original dive shop, will not consider taking any more equipment there and really think everyone should be cautious about who they let touch their gear.....

 

[Bonairetrip]

I am not at all sure what to make of this post. Welcome back to diving! It sounds like you have found a good shop to work with.

That said:
a) Always find a LDS that you are comfortable with. Ask your fellow divers and they will help you in this effort. This applies to both gear repair and to instruction services.
b) Given that it has been 11 years, I would suggest taking at least a refresher (not sure if that is the review session you are referencing). I might even consider taking the class over again.
c) Depending on the nature, a minor air leak (not sure what "an air leak in my 02" means in this context) is not a big deal.

 

[DiverRider]

Welcome back to the water world!! There are some crucial details of this post missing. As Bonairetrip mentioned I'm assuming the review was a refresher course. I never heard of a review. Secondly the fact you did not receive timely service would have had me locating another dive shop for inspections and repairs. Why did you state "my supposedly inspected BC"? Was there a leak in the rental reg?
I could not find a dive shop near me that would be sanctioned as being “good” shops for repairs. I shipped my regulator ahead to a dive shop for rebuild in the Keys. This shop was recommended to me by the place that did my Nitrox course. They were back logged with repairs. Long story short there is a basic procedure when rebuilding a reg, the final part upon picking up a reg is the shop handing over the replaced parts with the layout sheets. This did not happen when I picked up my reg but when I asked them for the parts they had to fish the bag of o-rings ect with the repair tag out of the garbage can complete with tomato soup on the tag. All the parts were stuffed in one bag. They supposedly did both regs and the first stage. My equipment won’t see that shop again.
The biggy check so I found out is checking the Schrader valve in the BC that supplies low pressure air from your tank after diving in salt water. Remove it with a tire valve removal tool and use water soluble silicon spray when replacing it.
The lesson I learned here was to investigate proper repair procedures and handling of "your" equipment.

 

[tfsails]

I can't speak for every service technician, obviously, but I can speak for myself. I will NEVER turn out a regulator or BC or anything else that I would not dive myself. I have to look at the mirror every morning (poor me!), and I couldn't stand myself if I didn't give my best effort on every reg I touch.

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that at my shop we do more when servicing gear than most shops do. We strip the reg down to absolutely nothing, clean it, replace what needs to be replaced, replace a lot of o-rings that maybe don't really need to be replaced, reassemble it, test it, adjust it, test it again, breathe from it, and then have our other tech do a quality check on it to make sure we didn't screw something up. Only then do we turn it out.

Oh yea--I've rebuilt my own reg a couple of times and have taken it down to over 100 ft. It made a lot more funny noises after I rebuilt it the first time than I remember it having before I rebuilt it. Actually, it was just me being much more attuned to its nuances than I was previously.

Our shop also will let customers have a tank for free and go with us to the pool to check out equipment that's been recently serviced. And, I would dive any regulator my sidekick rebuilt, too.