Zeagle Express Inflator Flange Replacement

[Buadhai]

I've heard back from Zeagle Express. The original quote was in error. The actual cost of a new internal bladder is $89.00. I can live with that.

 

[Colliam7]

Except I now find that Zeagle Express wants $308 for a new inner bladder plus $75 for a new elbow, hose and OPV to fit the new style bladder flange threads. That comes to over $380 just to replace the inner bladder.

I've heard back from Zeagle Express. The original quote was in error. The actual cost of a new internal bladder is $89.00. I can live with that.

I feel a Strother Martin moment (from the Paul Newman movie Cool Hand Luke) coming on: 'What we have here, is a failure to communicate.'

I was going to reply that the $380 quote was outrageous. Fortunately, they corrected the numbers and the $89 quote seems quite reasonable.

If you have the original receipt, it is still worth contacting Zeagle / Huish directly, to see if they will do any better. Claymore is right - before Zeagle was sold to Huish, they were VERY (very, very) customer service oriented. They sold solid gear, and they stood behind their products. All that was need was a phone call to Susan in Zephyr Hills to get a return authorization number, and for only the cost of shipping the unit to them, the user got a fully repaired and functional unit back.

My experience since the sale has been a bit different. They aren't exactly difficult to deal with, but communication is nowhere near as good as it was in Zephyr Hills, and several phone calls (often involving having to leave voicemail messages) are usually necessary to address a problem that before was easily and quickly handled. Still, if you bought it new, and have the receipt, you are essentially covered by the lifetime warranty. It may be worth an email to see what they will do.

 

[Buadhai]

I sent email to Zeagle yesterday along with the original receipt, a photo of the failed flange and a photo of the inner liner showing the manufacture date, batch number and serial number.

No reply as of today.

 

[Buadhai]

Turns out the total cost from Zeagle Express for the new inner bladder, including shipping, is just over $200. Seems a high price to pay for a part that probably cost less than a buck to manufacture.

Bad Luck or Bad Kama?: My last BCD, an Oceanic, failed in exactly the same way: same part same spot. I took it to the Oceanic dealer in Bangkok and they wouldn't touch it. "Can't be fixed." So, I bought the Zeagle.

Still no response from Zeagle on the lifetime warranty. I'll follow up today, but don't hold out much hope.

 

[Buadhai]

Zeagle Express managed to ship the new inner bladder for only $24, so the total cost is about $150. I can live with that.

Sent three email messages to Zeagle about their lifetime warranty. Never heard back from them.

Perhaps the message is that my lifetime is over.

 

[ams511]

Bad Luck or Bad Kama?: My last BCD, an Oceanic, failed in exactly the same way: same part same spot. I took it to the Oceanic dealer in Bangkok and they wouldn't touch it. "Can't be fixed." So, I bought the Zeagle.

More like bad design. The shoulder dump on the Express Tech requires you to pull on the inflator hose to dump air. This causes stress on the flange which can break or separate, which is what you experienced. Most wing manufacturers just use a simple elbow at the shoulder and you vent from the butt dump.

 

[Buadhai]

More like bad design. The shoulder dump on the Express Tech requires you to pull on the inflator hose to dump air. This causes stress on the flange which can break or separate, which is what you experienced. Most wing manufacturers just use a simple elbow at the shoulder and you vent from the butt dump.

I don’t disagree with that, but I never ever use the shoulder dump. It just doesn’t occur to me.

It ended up costing me about $150 to replace that two bit part, including a Thai customs charge of about US$20.

And, since the threads on the new bladder were different, I opted to replace the shoulder dump with a simple elbow.