servicing equipment

[beche de mer]

Anyone else had the experience of taking their gear in for a scheduled service in perfect working condition, and gotten it back defective? This has happened to me on at least 2 occasions.

On the first occasion the defect was obvious when I assembled my gear, so no harm done.

On the second occasion I had a slow bleed on my BCD inflate valve and didn't notice it until I was at depth. Couldn't work out why I was having so much trouble with buoyancy control.

It makes me worry about the possibility of more serious defects.

Right now my equipment is working beautifully. A service is due but I'm reluctant to take it in.

 

[Padipro]

Thank God I've never experienced anything more serious then a reg that would free flow VERY easy. I just had the Tech re-adjust the reg and everything worked great.

If I were you I'd be looking for another service center or dive shop to take my gear to for overhaul.

Scott

 

[flw]

Over the years I've now come to the conclusion that I don't get my kit serviced until it's broke to start with, which seems to be around 3-4 years of abuse.
The only time I've ever seen a reg jam shut was one many years ago when my buddy's simply stopped working 3 minutes into a dive at 27m, no huge deal we shared back up - it was it's first dive after service.
I've had a regulator free-flow on me in a big way at 68m, turned out the IP had been set too high. In the group I dive with, the only times we've had trouble with regulators it's usually immediately after service
After that they only get 'fixed' if theres something to actually 'fix'

 

[raposarose]

I understand waiting to fix it until there s something to fix. Costs can add up and I suppose there is the potential to have it come back worse than when you brought it in.

Still, for me it seems like a good decision to have regular servicing. For equipment my life didn't depend on I would be more likely to wait for something to break. For a regulator I don't want to experience the problem while I am using it!

 

[flw]

You're missing the point a bit - cost is not the issue at all. What caused the decision in the first place was the _only_ time I have seen potentially 'catastrophic' ( bit over dramatic!) failures of regulators is immediately after servicing.
In use regulators tend not to fail in any dramatic way normally, they just start to 'stiffen' a bit or if the high pressure seat is starting to go they start to bleed a bit, or a first stage o-ring starts to leak. If its a major problem, all my regs are the same, I can easily swam them around on the surface before going in - I keep a couple of spares in the box usually

 

[raposarose]

You are writing from experience and I am from speculation (I am still new to scuba) so your arguments for your choice makes sense. Especially if you have enough know-how to check them out yourself every once in a while to make sure things are ok.

I have had that experience in other domains...like installing software that is supposed to make the system run better but the problems only start after the new software is in place...

 

[redacted]

My first set of gear leaked as a result of dealer misassembly when it was received brand new. His service a year later was even worse. After trying 2 other shops with unsatisfactory results (one marred a yoke nut using a crescent wrench & the other was just snotty) I went with DIY. Now I find, with good care, cleaning, and inspection, I can go for around 4 years or more between between full service with the philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 

[Damselfish]

The worst was when I took in 2 regs and they managed to mess up boths 2nds and one first - turned out they left an o-ring out of the first. I stopped going to that shop, they're out of business now.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

I'd guess somewhere between a half and a third of equipment problems our customers bring to us are in gear that they say they just had serviced.

Often it is a simple adjustment, but I have seen instances where critical components were missing (spring missing in one 1st stage, the hp seat in a different one). Whoever took it apart didn't know what they were doing. I wonder if sometimes it isn't the customer lying - not wanting to admit that they opened it up and didn't know how to put it back together.

 

[redacted]

It is kind of hard to believe professional techs would turn out such work.

Drew Sailbum once bubbled...
I wonder if sometimes it isn't the customer lying - not wanting to admit that they opened it up and didn't know how to put it back together.

But is it really easier to believe a diver would f%$& with his/her gear, screw it up and not check it out and realize what he had done; and then take it for a dive trip to Grand Cayman?

I believe it is a minority of mechanically declined or careless techs who are putting a cloud over the good ones. And the industry works very hard to make sure the customer is as knowledgeless as possible.