Apeks Ds4 Regulator Service ... Add Ons ??

[matt_w]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the responses. I called the shop back today and spoke to the tech again. I relayed what many of you said, very politely, and asked for additional explanation. The tech passed me on to the head technician. I repeated the same message to the head tech, and he explained that there must have been some confusion with the message that was relayed to me by the first tech (I did get the feeling that first tech didn't exactly know what she was talking about). The head technician stated that the regulator (Apeks DST Status - sorry I forgot the status part in my original post), has a different diaphragm then the rest of the product line and that the diaphragm is no longer produced. Since the diaphragm is no longer produced, the next best path forward was to convert my DST status to a regular DST, and then use the DST diaphragm. Converting the regulator from the "status" to the regular DST required the 4 parts that were recommended. I told the tech that I was surprised that a company like aqualung/apeks would abandon their product and leave the consumer with the bill to convert an otherwise perfectly fine regulator, and asked if apeks/aqualung had any kind of conversion program for owners with this obsolescence issue. The tech said there was no such program but he could take off 30% on the parts.

Does that mean you lose the lcd display? I have never heard of the status before your post, but it does sound like they might be swapping that out.

 

[grf88]

Isn't this model only about 10 years old, I can remember the fanfare when it was introduced. To think that they no longer provide support for it is mindboggling.

 

[redacted]

Ask whether they use christolube or K-Y jelly.

 

[macado]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the responses. I called the shop back today and spoke to the tech again. I relayed what many of you said, very politely, and asked for additional explanation. The tech passed me on to the head technician. I repeated the same message to the head tech, and he explained that there must have been some confusion with the message that was relayed to me by the first tech (I did get the feeling that first tech didn't exactly know what she was talking about). The head technician stated that the regulator (Apeks DST Status - sorry I forgot the status part in my original post), has a different diaphragm then the rest of the product line and that the diaphragm is no longer produced. Since the diaphragm is no longer produced, the next best path forward was to convert my DST status to a regular DST, and then use the DST diaphragm. Converting the regulator from the "status" to the regular DST required the 4 parts that were recommended. I told the tech that I was surprised that a company like aqualung/apeks would abandon their product and leave the consumer with the bill to convert an otherwise perfectly fine regulator, and asked if apeks/aqualung had any kind of conversion program for owners with this obsolescence issue. The tech said there was no such program but he could take off 30% on the parts.

Ah ok. That does makes slightly more sense now. I'm not a current Apeks technician so I don't know if the Status parts not being made is true however that would explain why they want to replace those particular parts. The Hydrostatic Transmitter, Spring Carrier and Valve Lifter ARE completely different parts in an Apeks Status first stage. They would need to be replaced to convert a DS4 Status to a normal DS4.



For those who have no seen it, the Apeks status first stages basically have an electronic IP gauge/sensor that checks the intermediate pressure. It has a little LCD screen attached the Hydrostatic Transmitter that says "OK" or "Service" if the IP is not between 9-10bar. It's kind of cool but I never really trusted having electronics inside my first stage.

I've only serviced two of them (not in an official capacity). For what it's worth, I simply re-used the diaphragm and replaced the battery in LCD screen part. Seemed to work fine.

They may be able to get away with that if they're comfortable re-using the diaphragm. If the LCD screen itself is broken and a battery does not fix it, the regulator will still function fine.

 

[kelemvor]

Huh.. a built in IP gauge? Cool idea! Too bad it just says OK/Service and not the actual IP. Also too bad it's been discontinued.

 

[macado]

Huh.. a built in IP gauge? Cool idea! Too bad it just says OK/Service and not the actual IP. Also too bad it's been discontinued.

It was kind of neat but I think too much technology inside a regulator for me. Basically if the IP is anything between 9-10bar (130psi-145psi) it says OK.

Edit: I was slightly off by what I rememeber it saying. It has a few different things..

 

[docmartin]

Ouch - i have a feeling they will tell you that they cannot assume the risk of getting sued if they let you dive with the old diaphragm. If they give you 30% on the parts I'd go for it. Eventually you'll need these parts and you may not get a better deal.

 

[rivers]

With the price of the parts and service, I would just buy a new ds4

 

[redacted]

It sounds to me like Apeks is trying to take a bad idea that divers payed extra for out of service at the divers expense. If there is a safety issue, parts should be free. If there is no safety issue, then current parts should continue to be usable. You might want to take this up in the Apeks forum where all can see an authoritative answer.

 

[halocline]

I agree you should contact apeks directly and find out what's going on. If they say you have to pay for all those parts because they no longer offer a diaphragm for your model, I would just get the damn thing back from the dive shop, put it together with the existing diaphragm (assuming it's still okay) and dive with it. If it's not dive-able, get a used reg that is. Hopefully this experience will motivate you to get back into servicing your own gear. Not to mention avoiding "features" like this completely unnecessary 'status' crap. Talk about a bad solution in search of a non existent problem.

These kinds of stories never fail to entertain.....