Fixing Mares Frontier speargun

hey fellow divers,does anyone know where I can get info on taking apart and servicing my mares frontier pnematic speargun?

OK,so I asked if anyone had any info or knew of anywhere I could get info on servicing my mares pnematic speargun,unfortunatly I got no reply,fortunatly I was able to get it apart without breaking anything,my next question is -does anyone know where I can purchase the O rings I will need to service said gun?thanks in advance if you can help at all,I already went to the mares web site,there was no contact number that I could find,hope to hear from you,branchris:11:

Hi,

Well Mares has a service center in Baltimore MD. I would suggest calling a Mares dealer about the orings. They can order a service kit. They can also send it back Mares for the service in case you can't put it back together. Some find the pneumatics a little challenging to work on.

Good luck,

i have these guns and have sometimes been able to go to a hardware store that haws 0-rings and found similar o-rings that match. There are polaces to buy all kinds of 0 rings if you do a web search for 0-rings. MSC hass been a good source for varoius types of parts. I cannot vouch for the safety of use of non-authorized parts though. Generally, an oring is an oring. Use a caliper/micrometer to measure Inside dia, outside dia , thickness , to find size. keep in mind, you may have to extrapolate for distortion of the original ring due to pressure. Good luck. BTW, I have purchased old non working guns and have combined parts and converted parts of a frontiersman into a Californian. The plastic handles can get damaged especially at the trigger seal wherr a stainless peg enters the gun. I have seen the seal at the low to high pressure slider go bad. One can discard the slider and seal the hole with epoxy making a one poweronly gun. MK

Zak, My snub nose piston finally broke after ten years dive shops wont order the piston, wont fix will only send it back, My thought is they can only make money on it buy charging the shipping, manufactors cost , then % mark up. I have changed the o-Rings many times and brought the gun in with the piston out, it was wedged in, the sales rep says they will probably have to change the barrel if you scratched it. I have extracted many things in my life, I understand people want to get it done, Hurry and ruin things.

I opened it up a year ago a week later took tiny long drill bits I got at hardware store, drilled plastic enough to loosen plastic piston out. there is no damage to barrel. the sales man did'nt even look when we sent it in.

I hacked on computer before sending in, Found a rep of yours advertising to teach gun repair at dema and I E-mailed him that are dive shops dont have the experience or certification to repair these guns, Set it up to teach them I will even get certified.

No answer, I have several pneumatic guns. I have bought Seven pneumatics and three rubber bands since I sent it in. My spear gun collection is enormous.

I'm in no hurry for this gun. I'm not asking for you to look into it. when ever I get it back is fine the dive shop Knows that.

Why would you have a rep advertise this then when a person is Interested, never even reply back. Dema was over when I contacted him. Cause he just wanted to make his profit at dema for his class.

You said above the dive shop can order a service kit. I went to other dive shops to get the kit called others. so after a year I took it in to send to Mares. Now I am sure these are some of the reasons why Divers bash LDS, To me Its no concern I know I can buy Brand new used for 1/10 of the cost, I do It every day. Dive shops Have to make money.

My conclusion was there is just no way they can profit from repair themselves, to sell you the parts they have to order with a mares shipping order to for a cheaper shipping rate. I know that, cause a dive shop did that for me after 1 month said they forgot to get it on the order, The next month they said what did you order, I said just refund my credit card back, There reply was we did not charge you. My cc statement says different.

Again I Dont want you to investigate this, Nor do I care about the cost of the parts.

If you are a rep do these answers come up when dealing with spearguns ( pneumatics ).

So why do I WANT MY SNUB NOSE OF TEN YEARS, HENRY ISLAND in the SAN-JUANS I was ling cod hunting at 170' I shot a 6 1/2 foot with my woody close range did not kill instantly came after me, I shoved my spear gun in its mouth as it ripped it to shreads, I pulled out my snub off my leg before I knew it a down current caught us I loaded the shaft and caulked the snub, The ling was tiring and trying to get a way with a spear in her and my ripped up spear gun, At 215' I got the killing shot went south on the wall wedged the ling and the gun in a creavice. Aired up BC and suit to get through down current, Once through had to slow ascent Did deco waited for slack window to retreive fish.

I have other small guns, But when asked why 2 spearguns, The others just do not have a great hunt to tell about, Basicaly, the teather line broke had to shoot him hiding in the barge or caverns, rocks, etc.

Voodoo,

I'm a little confused here but let me try to answer.

• Pneumatic spearguns are not overly complicated to repair. I think many dive shops have made a decision to not worry about becoming certified to repair them primarily because there just isn't that many pneumatics in their market to justify it. I don't think it is a revenue issue. If they were repairing them they could charge the consumer labor just the same as if you were having your vacuum repaired. This is profitable. I don't feel it is an issue with making money on parts.
• I don't know of a Mares rep, who is offering repair clinics, other than our warranty / service manager back in Baltimore. He does travel, but on a strict schedule, usually in conjuction with something Mares has set up, or a trade show like Dema. If you can forward me a name I would appreciate it.
• We are encouraging more stores to become certified to repair pneumatics, in an effort to offer better, faster service to the customer.
• I am not sure why a LDS would not sell you parts for your pneumatic to take home and then try to fix. Especially if they don't offer the service. It is not life support product, and worse case scenario you just end up breaking the gun.
• I can certainly appreciate why you like pneumatics especially in your area. The are more powerful than a band gun of similar size. They are more compact which is easier to maneuver and aim in high current areas. When visibility is limited there is no sense carrying a long gun, when you can have a smaller one that is very powerful.
• Great story, glad you had enough air to deal with all of that.

Please send me the name of the person you were trying to communicate with. You can PM me if you like. I think UWSports in Seattle does pneumatic repair, maybe next time? Be sure to call around. If you want me to check on your speargun (is it in our service center now) let me know.

Thanks,

Zak

Hey Zak I sent you a PM today 2/1/08 about checking out why it is so expensive to put a piston in my speargun, Underwatersports told me $120. I would like it if you could help me just get the parts since it is at the repair shop, they know exactly which ones it needs. I'll put it back together myself.

Zak OHara:

I think UWSports in Seattle does pneumatic repair,

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Last time I asked UWS Seattle about mares gun repair, they said they would send it in to mares, it would be over half the price of buying the gun new, and it would take several months to get the gun back. Basically, what that means to me is they are telling me I might as well just throw away the gun as bother trying to get it fixed.

I can fix it myself, but need a new piston for mine as well (can find the o-rings locally if I have to).

Anyone know where I can order O-ring kit(s) and replacement piston(s) so I can just do it myself in one evening?

If I don't make any headway on this, I may just try turning out a replacement piston on the lathe.

nw-diver:

Last time I asked UWS Seattle about mares gun repair, they said they would send it in to mares, it would be over half the price of buying the gun new, and it would take several months to get the gun back. Basically, what that means to me is they are telling me I might as well just throw away the gun as bother trying to get it fixed.

I can fix it myself, but need a new piston for mine as well (can find the o-rings locally if I have to).

Anyone know where I can order O-ring kit(s) and replacement piston(s) so I can just do it myself in one evening?

If I don't make any headway on this, I may just try turning out a replacement piston on the lathe.

Click to expand...

NWDiver,

I just spoke with Ken at Underwater Sports Seattle and he said he would order for you. Please feel free to contact him directly at (206) 362-3310.

Best regards,