Why Service the regs?? (when new ones are so cheap)

[helimvee]

There is some very good information in this thread.

LeadTurn, thanks for some great posts.

To the OP, I am curious what you think about all this. Are you going to buy new lower priced regs and sell the old ones instead of having them serviced or look into servicing them yourself?

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Although 85 for servicing is a very good price.

Whaaaaa.....?

Shouldn't it be more like $65??

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

The service prices vary be region, but labor plus parts for $85 for one 1st stage and two 2nd stages sounds reasonable to me. That would be $20 labor per stage (about average I think) and $25 parts (for 1st and two 2nds, plus maybe o-rings in the hoses, spg).

Best wishes.

 

[Stu S.]

I had the similar Oceanic Alpha 7 regulator. Great for Florida. Used it 18 months and no service. I bought it on sale and sold it on eBay for $24 less than I paid for it. The proceeds were used to buy another regulator, on sale.

With those economics, why service? I never missed a dive that way, too.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I had the similar Oceanic Alpha 7 regulator. Great for Florida. Used it 18 months and no service. I bought it on sale and sold it on eBay for $24 less than I paid for it. The proceeds were used to buy another regulator, on sale.

With those economics, why service? I never missed a dive that way, too.

Hi Stu,

I can't argue at all with that logic!

You could (and I'm sure folks do) probably even do the same thing with mid-range regs as well. I think it is the high-end regs that may not hold their value quite as well (using ebay as an example). Some of the best values I've seen on ebay auctions are with "almost-new" titanium Atomics & Scubapros, which while still expensive are going for well less than 1/2 of their original prices.

The person who bought your reg was probably pleased with their purchase because they were getting an "almost-new" reg at a good price, and you get a new reg every 18 months.

From a "recycling" point of view I also like the idea that instead of just burying the reg in the back of a closet for years, someone else will get many happy hours of use out of it.

Best wishes.

 

[Killer&Griller]

For cheapo regs like that,

Nice!!

Has anyone had trouble getting Oceanic? I didn't see it listed as "easy" earlier......

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

For Oceanic parts I'd try calling Scubatoys.com or DiveSports.com. I beleive both of them will sell rebuild kits for the brands that they are dealers for, but I'm not positive. Both are great to work with.

Best wishes.

 

[Killer&Griller]

Sorry Lead, I was asking directly to divers in general....... I didn't mean to confuse the question as in where to get them.

If someone said "yes", the post was to let them know that if they needed it, I could assist them.. I supply the kits upon request........

Guess I should have worded it differently or I didn't ask correctly....

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Thanks Killer&Griller, always good to know of source!

Best wishes.

 

[cricfanSD]

Thanks for all the discussion guys. A very similar discussion started in the NorCal board and you can check some genuine fear mongering. I don't know why people don't get it that catastrophic failure of a perfectly working mechanical part is very rare. There are enough signs before that actually happens. I design fault tolerant systems for living where six defective parts per million is a failure !! HP seats do not disintegrate on its own without salt water sipping in, O rings don't become brittle overnight etc...
Vimal be happy with your regs. Check the ease of breathing parameters on the Rodale's webpage. Anyone who claims that they can tell a difference of 0.5 J/l is imagining things.

Mainak