WARNING: Oceanic / Huish Outdoors no longer services most transmitters!

[BoltSnap]

These are not old transmitters, being produced today

That vintage. There were some internal parts changes. What you see outside isn't always the same inside between different production batches.

 

[tmassey]

So, it would appear that BM prefixed transmitters will be serviced as long as failure is not due to flooding outside the warranty period.

Thank you for that extra level of detail. Unfortunately, that’s mainly a distinction without a difference: what percentage of transmitters fail for a reason other than flooding?

I’m not even particularly upset at the change in policy. I’m upset that they bait-and-switched me. If the change were communicated— or if they simply stopped advertising the service — it would not be unreasonable. Instead, I tried to use a service they clearly and publicly offer (and still offer!), and only then do they tell me to kick rocks. I consider that unacceptable.

There’s no reason they can’t replace a BM with a newer model. They simply don’t want to. But if that’s the case, don’t offer it!

And I want to make sure others are as aware of this as possible, so that others don’t fall into this trap.

 

[Belzelbub]

These are not old transmitters, being produced today

I'm betting there have been quite a few changes over the years. While it looks the same on the outside, I would bet the internals are quite different. Not sure exactly when the PPS transmitters were introduced, but I bought my first one back in 2013. 11 years is eons in the world of electronics.

As the diving community is kind of a niche market, they probably don't have a whole lot of clout with the component manufacturers to keep components available. I wouldn't be surprised if my old transmitter and a newly made one share very few components. I would imagine that the housing and some things like that are common, but the circuitry is all completely different. It sounds like when they receive a unit for service, they completely disassemble and run diagnostic tests on the components, then they replace the failed components on the circuit board, retest, and reassemble and send it to the next service customer.

Thinking through this a little further, restricting flooded units makes sense. A flooded unit will likely not need one or two failed components replaced, it would likely need everything replaced.

Thanks for getting clarification on this.

 

[ManImCool]

Good afternoon,
Thank you for reaching out! I cannot speak for other brands, but our Oceanic serial numbers have the BM and FP prefix at the beginning. The FP is manufactured more recently than the BM and that is why there was a serial prefix change. Both of these are able to be serviced! The service fee is $120USD + tax and shipping. This will get you a serviced replacement unit in like-new condition with a one-year warranty.
Please let me know if I can assist you further!
Kindly,

I have been using Oceanic MH8A transmitters since 2010. I have had two transmitters fail, one due to a non-characterized hardware failure, the other due to failure of the over pressure valve. Both were replaced by Oceanic/Huish for $120. One was replaced in May 2017, most recently in April 2022. Both had just under 900 dives on them. I currently have 3 BM prefixed Oceanic transmitters. My current primary transmitter has a few less than 300 dives on it.

"We can service transmitters with the BM serial number, as long as they are not flooded, outside of the warranty period. If the unit is flooded and was purchased outside of the 2-year warranty period, it unfortunately cannot be serviced due to limited parts."

I wonder when they switched to the FP prefix. Here's my data point:

In August 2024, I RMA'd a very old non-functioning (hardware issue) BM- transmitter to Huish. They took my $120 and sent me what appears to be a brand new, never wet, BM- transmitter. The numbers go like this:
BM-XXXXXX 1221 - directly on the housing
BM-XXXXXX R06/23 - on a sticker directly below the above numbers.

Is "1221" the manufacture date (Dec. 2021) and "R06/23" the refurbish date?

 

[Belzelbub]

I wonder when they switched to the FP prefix. Here's my data point:

In August 2024, I RMA'd a very old non-functioning (hardware issue) BM- transmitter to Huish. They took my $120 and sent me what appears to be a brand new, never wet, BM- transmitter. The numbers go like this:
BM-XXXXXX 1221 - directly on the housing
BM-XXXXXX R06/23 - on a sticker directly below the above numbers.

Is "1221" the manufacture date (Dec. 2021) and "R06/23" the refurbish date?

The Refurbished unit likely has a new housing, but they circuitry was likely reworked, retested, recalibrated, etc.

The 1221 is likely the manufacturing date, and R06/23 is likely the Refurb date. Appears they use a MMYY code and not a WWYY code as all of mine show the first two digits being 12 or under.

I have Date codes of 0110 and 0911 for my original transmitters. My refurbed transmitter has 1221 / R0323.