Raped for repair?

[EL Pistoffo]

Any idea on where I could get a service manual and parts for AL Titan LX regs? I'd rather service/clean them myself. I'm no stranger to valves considering I work on water/steam pressurized equipment loaded with valves of all types that I rebuild on a regular basis. Besides, my regs right now are only 2 years old and have maybe 20 dives on them.

Other option is where to send them for service at good price.

 

[Clernix]

Not to do a free plug but I send my to Scuba Toys. Even with shipping both ways it comes out to less than $100. I did want to ask the board members about the time between servicing. I feel every year seems a bit excessive too. Would most agree if your diving with an octo and you main secondary fails you are fine? What are the odds of the 1st stage failing?

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

uh, yeah.. I heard a lot of good about ScubaToys and they are a Zeagle facility.. Took 3 times of sending it back before they got it right! Maybe it was an isolated event, but.....

 

[jrankney1]

I'm a cave diver and "failure" of any sort is just not an option. I have my regs serviced on the recommended schedule and never complain about the cost. If you're worried about costs for what is essentially live saving equipment (especially in Cave diving) you're in the wrong sport.
Suck it up and take care of your equipment.

 

[Kharon]

I'm a cave diver and "failure" of any sort is just not an option. I have my regs serviced on the recommended schedule and never complain about the cost. If you're worried about costs for what is essentially live saving equipment (especially in Cave diving) you're in the wrong sport.
Suck it up and take care of your equipment.

Disregarding the cost factor, given that failure of any sort is not an option, I wonder why you trust someone else to do your servicing. I trust no one to muck about with my life saving (protecting actually) equipment. Just as if I were a sky-diver I would never trust someone else to pack my parachute.

 

[redacted]

I'm a cave diver and "failure" of any sort is just not an option. I have my regs serviced on the recommended schedule and never complain about the cost. If you're worried about costs for what is essentially live saving equipment (especially in Cave diving) you're in the wrong sport.
Suck it up and take care of your equipment.

Yet equipment failure is inevitable. There is no such thing as 100% reliable dive gear. You can alter the failure risks a bit but you can not eliminate them. And the biggest risk changers are redundant gear. Wasting $$ on unnecessary service may even increase risk factors.

If "failure is not an option" means you are not prepared for failures, maybe you should not be going in caves.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Any idea on where I could get a service manual and parts for AL Titan LX regs? I'd rather service/clean them myself. I'm no stranger to valves considering I work on water/steam pressurized equipment loaded with valves of all types that I rebuild on a regular basis. Besides, my regs right now are only 2 years old and have maybe 20 dives on them.

Other option is where to send them for service at good price.

I think those use the standard #900001 kit, same as Conshelf.
Bryan at vintagedoublehose com has those as well as Northeast Scuba Supply.
If those regs of yours are only 2 years old with 20 dives and have been rinsed correctly (no water allowed into 1st stage) then they are no where near ready to service.
Service them only when they really need it. Every time you break a reg down and change stuff it wears on hard parts and increases the likelihood of damaging something. This is especially true of some dive shops where a monkey in training is working on your regs. At least when you work on them you personally know what you did and you also get to learn your reg and demystify the whole process that dive shops love to keep so secret. They keep it secret because they don't want people to know how easy it is. Get a simple pressure gauge at Harbor Freight to check IP and hook it up to a LP hose. the internal pressure should be 135 to 140 PSI.
Any of those AL regs are nice because you can adjust the IP simply by tightening or loosening the flat or hex key that sits on the back of the diaphragm.

 

[victorzamora]

I'm a cave diver and "failure" of any sort is just not an option. I have my regs serviced on the recommended schedule and never complain about the cost. If you're worried about costs for what is essentially live saving equipment (especially in Cave diving) you're in the wrong sport.
Suck it up and take care of your equipment.

I'm a cave diver, too....and I service my own gear, exclusively. I've trusted one other person to wrench around on my regs, and he's a buddy and fellow cave diver with much more reg building experience than I'll ever have. Service is the #1 cause for reg failures. Why mess up a good thing?

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I think those use the standard #900001 kit, same as Conshelf.
Bryan at vintagedoublehose com has those as well as Northeast Scuba Supply.
If those regs of yours are only 2 years old with 20 dives and have been rinsed correctly (no water allowed into 1st stage) then they are no where near ready to service.
Service them only when they really need it. Every time you break a reg down and change stuff it wears on hard parts and increases the likelihood of damaging something. This is especially true of some dive shops where a monkey in training is working on your regs. At least when you work on them you personally know what you did and you also get to learn your reg and demystify the whole process that dive shops love to keep so secret. They keep it secret because they don't want people to know how easy it is. Get a simple pressure gauge at Harbor Freight to check IP and hook it up to a LP hose. the internal pressure should be 135 to 140 PSI.
Any of those AL regs are nice because you can adjust the IP simply by tightening or loosening the flat or hex key that sits on the back of the diaphragm.

I agree that service is not yet needed. That's why I decided to not partake in the free parts for life program. These regs have not had any water enter the 1st stage (they have the added safety of a nice auto valve shut feature on the 1st stage) and I rinse them very thoroughly.

When the time comes I may very well opt to do it myself.
thx

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

You can also rinse them pressurized to a tank or pony. That guarantees no water ever.