Bad Gear or Bad Luck

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vinnydav

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I purchased several pieces of HOG gear based on the great reviews, on this forum, and good pricing. Unfortunately my experience with this equipment has not been what I expected. The HOG gear that I have is an aluminum backplate with the 32# wing and a 2 1/2" white faced SPG. The SPG has a 300 psi
difference as compared to the tank pressure gauge at my LDS as well as other spg's that I own. This gauge is not new but much older gauges that I have are more accurate. The 32# wing, well..., The bladder doesn't stay inflated. It will deflate in about 6 hours. My doubles wing has been inflated for over a month and shows no signs of loosing air. The inflator valve has had 2 issues. On a trip to St. Croix it was leaking air. The shop I was diving with replaced some O rings and solved that problem. The second problem occured while drift diving in Florida when the inflator malfunctioned by filling the wing with air.
The SPG is now a paper weight and if I use the B/P-wing, it is only for shallow beach dives. I have not read of other divers having these issues and I wonder if it is bad luck, or some faulty gear.
 
I purchased several pieces of HOG gear based on the great reviews, on this forum, and good pricing. Unfortunately my experience with this equipment has not been what I expected. The HOG gear that I have is an aluminum backplate with the 32# wing and a 2 1/2" white faced SPG. The SPG has a 300 psi
difference as compared to the tank pressure gauge at my LDS as well as other spg's that I own. This gauge is not new but much older gauges that I have are more accurate. The 32# wing, well..., The bladder doesn't stay inflated. It will deflate in about 6 hours. My doubles wing has been inflated for over a month and shows no signs of loosing air. The inflator valve has had 2 issues. On a trip to St. Croix it was leaking air. The shop I was diving with replaced some O rings and solved that problem. The second problem occured while drift diving in Florida when the inflator malfunctioned by filling the wing with air.
The SPG is now a paper weight and if I use the B/P-wing, it is only for shallow beach dives. I have not read of other divers having these issues and I wonder if it is bad luck, or some faulty gear.

SPGs aren't generally too accurate. If it's off by 300PSI @3000, that's only 10%. If it says 300PSI when not connected, it's broken. Nothing much you can do but return it if it's under warranty or toss it in the trash if it isn't.

6 hours is a long time to remain pressurized, however if it bothers you, take it to he pool, inflate it, sink it and look for bubbles.

A stuck inflator is usually the result of poor maintenance. You can try disassembling/cleaning/soaking it, but they're not expensive and you could also replace it.

It's extremely unlikley that any of these are manufacturing defects. It's much more likely that the SPG got banged or got wet inside and the inflator has sand or salt in it.

flots.
 
What did your dealer or HOG say when you contacted them? How old is the gauge exactly? It may be a warranty matter. But unless you let them know there is a problem there is nothing anyone can do.

As for the wing, is this the new one with the red trim? There is a ten year warranty on the bladder. Who looked at the inflator and hose to make sure there is nothing wrong with them? Was it a HOG technician? Where exactly is the wing leaking from if indeed it is? HOG / Edge and their dealers have a very good reputation for service and support. But if we don't know there's a problem we can't help.
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---------- Post added February 19th, 2013 at 09:06 PM ----------

I would email this to HOG but I can't copy and paste the link on my droid. Go to the HOG website and use the email to contact them directly. Or call em tomorrow and leave a message if you get the voicemail. They are just getting back from BTS and heading to the Blue Wild show so they may not be monitoring this forum as much as usual.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
 
The gear is a few years old, I do not remember exactly. But shortly after I purchased the gear there was a recall on the 32# wing. Since I was having issues I called HOG to find out if this wing was on recall. I was informed that it was not and the operator was not interested in the issues I was having.
I did e-mail HOG about the spg but never received a response.


What did your dealer or HOG say when you contacted them? How old is the gauge exactly? It may be a warranty matter. But unless you let them know there is a problem there is nothing anyone can do.

As for the wing, is this the new one with the red trim? There is a ten year warranty on the bladder. Who looked at the inflator and hose to make sure there is nothing wrong with them? Was it a HOG technician? Where exactly is the wing leaking from if indeed it is? HOG / Edge and their dealers have a very good reputation for service and support. But if we don't know there's a problem we can't help.
Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

---------- Post added February 19th, 2013 at 09:06 PM ----------

I would email this to HOG but I can't copy and paste the link on my droid. Go to the HOG website and use the email to contact them directly. Or call em tomorrow and leave a message if you get the voicemail. They are just getting back from BTS and heading to the Blue Wild show so they may not be monitoring this forum as much as usual.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2


---------- Post added February 19th, 2013 at 06:26 PM ----------

The shops that repaired my equipment were not authorized HOG dealers or techs.
 
If you contact an authorized HOG dealer these problems can usually be easily remedied. Chris is really good about quality control, but if you don't go through the proper channels he cant help you. I'm sure if you contact a dealer this problem willl go away.
 
If the gear was new I'd get your complaint but if as you say it's a few yeas old its more likely to be maintenance or the like. Regardless I'd email Chris he seems absolutely awesome at sorting out issues people may have and often goes far and beyond in making customers happy. Good luck I hope you get it sorted one way or another .
 
It's been a couple years since the recall on the wing took place. I don't recall every conversation i had around that time, however it would be very unlike me to not care about any issues you have other than the recall.

We certainly want satisfied customers and when we have one who isn't will bend over backwards to make it right. However if we don't know somebody isn't happy then we aren't going to be doing anything to help them.

It seems that when we have people bring the issue to a public forum such as this FIRST without contacting us that there is ALWAYS something being left out of the narrative.
 
Based on the response to this string alone I have to say HOG resellers are more then willing to work with you in resolving your problems. The first question that pops into my mind regarding your LDS is did they sell the gear to you and if not do they actually carry any of the HOG/EDGE lines?

The reason I ask this is that it is not uncommon for a sales person to trash every other gear line then the ones their shop has in the hopes of making a sale. If you are having issues with your gear I highly recommend talking to a authorized HOG retailer/tech.

I also suggest you take a look at the LP inflator hose connected to your wing. If the shrader valve is backed out slightly it can result in uncontrolled inflation of your wing/suit. Personally I invested $5 in a mechanic's shrader tool since this is a fairly common problem with LP hoses.

Cheers,
CD
 
Another issue with inflators is one that I have had to address lately with a couple people regarding second stages. Rinsing. More so with those doing saltwater dives. The dunk tank on the dock or at the shop is perhaps the absolute worst place to rinse gear. After one or two people it is saltwater. Only with finer particles of the mineral that get into smaller places. Couple.that with divers also using freshwater from hoses that is also cold. On warm saltwater trips I take my reg and wing in the shower in the room with me. That warm water rinse does a much better job.
If you can't do this then every so often fill a sink with warm/hot water from the tap. Not boiling. Soak.the second stages and bc inflator while swishing em around for a few minutes. Drain and do it again. The rinse with cool RUNNING water. Hang and let dry. And every so often take the inflator apart or have it taken apart and cleaned.
Seriously reduces problems and saves time and money when it comes time to service.

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