Hollis Bc Failure

[Guerrilla_Divemaster]

I bought this rig new, 3 years ago, and only has 200 dives on it.

The main (top) grommet should not be ripping out.

I do not dive with weights, so there is no weight on any stress seams.

I LOVE Hollis and will only use their BC, or backplate and wings.

But, this is a major failure.

To Hollis - help!

 

[Alastor]

Not to justify the failure, but for the stress: could it depends on handling while the tank is still attached and the screw is a bit loose ?
e.g, if you undone it in the water, could somebofy have just picked it up in the wrong way raising it into the boat ?
Anyway it should be no so difficult to repair if hollis doesn't fix it (even replacing).

 

[Guerrilla_Divemaster]

Alastor,

Appreciate the insight!

I never take it off and hand it off, as I have students in the water and always leave it on, even when the last of them are on board.

I take extremely good care of all my gear, to the point of absurdity! LOL

I do see your point, but even with tank stress/weight, a "tek rig" should not have this kind of failure (IMO).

And oddly enough, no dive shop is capable of repairing it, when I took it to a few (GA). They actually recommended a show repair shop!

I am diving for a month in the Bahamas in a week and a half, so will keep a careful eye on it, and figure something out when I get back home.

JA

 

[Alastor]

I live in Italy, else I could show you how to repair it.
It is no so difficult to replace a grommet (thick stainless steel, not the tin ones you can find on chinese market).
The problem in your case could be the fabric, that can be ruined at the point no new grommet have enough tissue to bite on.
I this case, a patch, cut from the standard 2" web harness belt, can be sewn to seal the hole and then a new hole can be punched on and the border sealed with a hot iron - the size of the grommet should be 3/8 or 10mm - just to increase strength, the other grommet can be changed also, to allow the patch to extend more.
Drysuit artisan or repair shop should be able to fix it.
But before I would suggest you to ask hollis, as you pointed out, a tek rig should not fail like that, so they should replace a defective unit.

M

 

[Guerrilla_Divemaster]

M,

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

I have printed it out (just in case).

I was also thinking of using "Aquaseal" as it is the fabric that is torn from the grommet. I am just wondering if it will stick to steel as well as the fabric.

But I do like the patch idea!

Was hoping to hear back from a Hollis Rep by now....

JA

 

[Guerrilla_Divemaster]

PROUFOUNDLY DISAPPOINTED IN HOLLIS.

Over a week, and NOTHING.

No other manufactor of dive gear, has gone nearly this long with NO REPLY or ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

Under my former profie name, I had issues (as we all do, at some point) and Atomic Aquatics, and Armour Bags, replied within 24 hours!

Far too many other Tec Wing and Backplate companies that WILL do customer service.

JA.

 

[muzikbiz22]

PROUFOUNDLY DISAPPOINTED IN HOLLIS.

Over a week, and NOTHING.

No other manufactor of dive gear, has gone nearly this long with NO REPLY or ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

Under my former profie name, I had issues (as we all do, at some point) and Atomic Aquatics, and Armour Bags, replied within 24 hours!

Far too many other Tec Wing and Backplate companies that WILL do customer service.

JA.

Did you CALL Hollis direct ? How about the shop where you originally purchased ??

 

[Guerrilla_Divemaster]

Did you CALL Hollis direct ? How about the shop where you originally purchased ??

Yes I called and my dive shop went out of business?

Have another obvious question?!

Going on 3 weeks....nothing from Hollis on here.

Why do they even bother with a manufacturer page?!

 

[Alastor]

This is really disappointing me too: I always had the feeling that Hollis worth is reputation and did their best to keep the customer satisfaction as high as possible.
Is not matter of how to repair it: a good suit artisan will fix it, but why Hollis is not contacting you to find a solution.
Just to give another chance to them: try to speak with someone else (possibly a responsible) or to send an annoyed email to customer support...
Good Luck

 

[rhwestfall]