free parts for life

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fourts1

New
Messages
2
Reaction score
2
Location
north carolina
# of dives
200 - 499
I purchased an apex regulator in 2009 from my local shop and have had it serviced there yearly, getting free parts. The owner retired and closed the shop. Unfortunately, I cannot find the original receipt and the owner does not have the records but he did register the product online for me. I have receipts from 2012 through 2018 which all show free warranty parts. The new shop that is servicing my gear says that they will not give me the free parts without the original receipt. Is there anything to be done about this or is it time for this life long aqualung/apex customer to move on to a new vendor?
 
did the new shop contact aqualung and get told the original receipt was needed?

can also try tweeting at aqualungdivers or apeksdiving or calling the physical office in vista, ca
 
free parts for life is kind of a sham and servicing your regulator set annually is not really necessary unless you are accumulating more than 200 dives between servicing. Since you still pay for the labor, switch to what has increasingly become the industry standard and have your reg set serviced every 2 years...use the money saved from not paying annually for the labor to pay for the parts kit.

-Z
 
free parts for life is kind of a sham and servicing your regulator set annually is not really necessary unless you are accumulating more than 200 dives between servicing. Since you still pay for the labor, switch to what has increasingly become the industry standard and have your reg set serviced every 2 years...use the money saved from not paying annually for the labor to pay for the parts kit.

-Z

How much are kits?

My AL is alternating inspection and overhauls every other year. Inspection and adjustments are $30 and overhaul is $30 per stage, $90 USD total. That’s $120 every 2 years or $60 a year. Not bad. I get a little more than 200 dives every 2 years so it still makes sense for me for the time being but I’m curious when that doesn’t happen anymore, what I’m in for.

For the OP- reach out to AL directly and see what their policy is. If you are registered, that should help, right? I know that when I looked up the serial number and/or registered it initially, it knew what dive shop the regs were sold to and where I purchased it from because it popped up with that info when I ran it. I imagine they do that to help with grey market issues. Hopefully that helps? Please keep us posted as you know more.
 
My experience is that kits range from approximately $10-$30....but I have no up to date data or specifics for Apeks/AL regs.

If you ask a shop they will tell you your regs need service every year or every other year. Then there is another mentality out there among some divers that recommends sticking an IP gauge on the regulator and if the IP locks up and the reg set is performing properly they extend their maintenance interval further.

If one is going to extend the maintenance interval, one should understand the device and the modes of failure for each stage and the impact should that occur underwater. It is also a good idea to either have a redundant gas supply (twin set) or have good buddy diving etiquette so when a problem does occur that causes extremely rapid air loss (not always the result of a reg failure) that one is able to calmly deal with issue and surface safely honoring proper ascent rate, safety stops and decompression obligations.

-Z
 
I can get service kits for 64€ for doubles set, with technician's discount. Full price is around 85, labor is around 80€. Doing my own maintenance, on condition. YMMV.
 
Looking at my past receipts, the price listed for the warranty parts was higher than the labor. I assume the mark up on the parts is huge and it is in the best monetary interest of the shop to get you out of the free warranty parts. Same thing happen with me aqualung regulator. Lost my service card in a move and went back to the shop I had been going to for years and they said no to the parts. Switched shops and bought an apeks and put aqualung on pony bottle. New shop said that was bs and has been giving me free parts on the aqualung ever since. Sad to see that shop close. I do a lot of deco diving 30 mi off the coast of NC so I like to get my gear serviced annually.
 
The standard Apeks 2nd kit is a rubber seat and a dozen or so o-rings. That's about 50c of o-rings and maybe the same for the seat. I'd bet it's $1 or less for the entire kit.

An Apeks 1st kit has four custom components, the seat, diaphragm, environmental cover, and filter; and 50c or less worth of o-rings. I'd bet the manufacturing cost of the custom components is less than $5.

The markup is huge and likely due to a mix of low volume (comparatively,) legal responsibility, multiple levels of supply chain, and, probably the largest, a monopoly on the parts. I'd bet Apeks has thought a lot about the price. Maximizing between what people will pay and what price keeps 3rd party manufacturers out of the business.

Here in Canada I get the sense that small items octuple in price between manufacturer and retail. So a $2 item bought by a manufacturer is sold to a distributor for $4 who sells it to a dive shop for $8 who sells it for $16 to me. Everyone has to make money and diving is a small volume business, so it's understandable to some degree.
 
As for service frequency, I do about 175 dives per year, mostly fresh water. When I go on tropical trips (sea water) I'm back diving in fresh water within a week. I find it takes a good soak to get the salt out and a couple hour long dives does that.

I re-tune my regs maybe twice during the year. IP barely drifts, but cracking effort changes a lot between summer diving and freezing winter diving. I also make re-tune before a cave diving trip.

My main regs are serviced yearly. Some of me secondary regs aren't used every year and get serviced when required.
 
How much are kits?

My AL is alternating inspection and overhauls every other year. Inspection and adjustments are $30 and overhaul is $30 per stage, $90 USD total. That’s $120 every 2 years or $60 a year. Not bad. I get a little more than 200 dives every 2 years so it still makes sense for me for the time being but I’m curious when that doesn’t happen anymore, what I’m in for.

For the OP- reach out to AL directly and see what their policy is. If you are registered, that should help, right? I know that when I looked up the serial number and/or registered it initially, it knew what dive shop the regs were sold to and where I purchased it from because it popped up with that info when I ran it. I imagine they do that to help with grey market issues. Hopefully that helps? Please keep us posted as you know more.

depends on the model, but roughly 80 to 90 for a first and 2 2nds at msrp.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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