Wife and I are getting back into scuba after a 15 year hiatus.
I took my Oceanic Delta 1st/2nd stage (the original, circa 1990) to the Oceanic dealer and told him to bring it back to working condition. Went back to pick it up today. $191.xx out the door! :shocked2: It breaks down like this:
$35 1st stage labor
$35 2nd stage labor
$30 1st stage rebuild kit
$25 2nd stage rebuild kit
$15 2nd stage diaphragm (definitely needed this, it was torn)
$15 service SPG
$25 "excess corrosion upcharge" (the 2nd stage adjustment mechanism was seized)
$16.xx tax
Took my wife's US Divers Conshelf 21 1st/2nd/Octo (also circa 1990) to a different place and gave the same instructions. Second place serviced it but told me he ended up treating it like an annual service. He said the seals were all good and it didn't need parts, except that he did replace both mouth pieces. He told me that he disassembled both 2nd stages and the first stage, cleaned everything, put it back together and adjusted it (this is an adjustible 1st stage). Total charge was $75 out the door, including the two mouthpieces. Note that this was for *two* second stages plus the first stage and the Oceanic setup was just one 2nd stage, and no new mouthpiece.
Now, except for the seized adjuster and torn diaphragm on the Oceanic, both of these units were very similar age and condition, having been dove, cared for and stored more or less exactly the same ways. Given that, what's your opinion of how I got treated at each place?
My gut reaction is that on the one hand, the guy who serviced the Oceanic 1st and 2nd stage was very thorough and I got a complete rebuild. On the other hand, it was only one first/second stage and I could have almost replaced it for that!! Seems like crazy money. I'm kind of irritated about it, but the guy did what I asked him to do so it's a little hard to place blame anywhere but on myself for not making this guy give me a better idea up front of what kind of costs I could run into.
The US Divers service seems very fair, but am I being biased just because it cost so much less? These regs have sat for 15 years in a closet. The guy who serviced them is young (<30) but he walked me through everything he did and explained exactly why he didn't replace the parts. Basically he inspected all the O-rings, hoses, etc. and said they were in good shape. It seems like sound logic to a non-expert, but that stuff is OLD. Should I have insisted on a complete rebuild anyway?
I'm more than a bit bewildered at the complete opposite way that I got treated at these two places and if I put costs completely aside, I'm not really sure which one treated me "better"!
I took my Oceanic Delta 1st/2nd stage (the original, circa 1990) to the Oceanic dealer and told him to bring it back to working condition. Went back to pick it up today. $191.xx out the door! :shocked2: It breaks down like this:
$35 1st stage labor
$35 2nd stage labor
$30 1st stage rebuild kit
$25 2nd stage rebuild kit
$15 2nd stage diaphragm (definitely needed this, it was torn)
$15 service SPG
$25 "excess corrosion upcharge" (the 2nd stage adjustment mechanism was seized)
$16.xx tax
Took my wife's US Divers Conshelf 21 1st/2nd/Octo (also circa 1990) to a different place and gave the same instructions. Second place serviced it but told me he ended up treating it like an annual service. He said the seals were all good and it didn't need parts, except that he did replace both mouth pieces. He told me that he disassembled both 2nd stages and the first stage, cleaned everything, put it back together and adjusted it (this is an adjustible 1st stage). Total charge was $75 out the door, including the two mouthpieces. Note that this was for *two* second stages plus the first stage and the Oceanic setup was just one 2nd stage, and no new mouthpiece.
Now, except for the seized adjuster and torn diaphragm on the Oceanic, both of these units were very similar age and condition, having been dove, cared for and stored more or less exactly the same ways. Given that, what's your opinion of how I got treated at each place?
My gut reaction is that on the one hand, the guy who serviced the Oceanic 1st and 2nd stage was very thorough and I got a complete rebuild. On the other hand, it was only one first/second stage and I could have almost replaced it for that!! Seems like crazy money. I'm kind of irritated about it, but the guy did what I asked him to do so it's a little hard to place blame anywhere but on myself for not making this guy give me a better idea up front of what kind of costs I could run into.
The US Divers service seems very fair, but am I being biased just because it cost so much less? These regs have sat for 15 years in a closet. The guy who serviced them is young (<30) but he walked me through everything he did and explained exactly why he didn't replace the parts. Basically he inspected all the O-rings, hoses, etc. and said they were in good shape. It seems like sound logic to a non-expert, but that stuff is OLD. Should I have insisted on a complete rebuild anyway?
I'm more than a bit bewildered at the complete opposite way that I got treated at these two places and if I put costs completely aside, I'm not really sure which one treated me "better"!