SERVICE RATES
Certifed Technicians
BCD | |
| $19.95+Parts |
| |
INSTRUMENTS | |
| $14.95+Parts |
- Gauge (PSI service includes O-rings)
| $9.95 |
| |
| REGULATOR | |
- Regulator scheduled service, 1st &2nd stage
allow 7-14 weekdays for service | $39.95+Parts |
- Regulator Rush service, 1st and 2nd stage allow 4 weekdays for service
| $64.95+Parts |
- Octopus (2nd stage) service
| $14.95+parts |
| |
TANK/VALVE (SCUBA) | |
| $49.95 |
| $14.95 |
| $19.95 |
- Hydro test, VIP, & Air fill
| $69.95 |
- Burst disk replacement (includes parts and labor)
| $12.95 |
| $22.50 |
- Tank and valve oxygen cleaning
| $30.00 |
- Double tank assembly or disassembly
| $20.00ea. |
| $12.95 |
| $15.00 |
| $20.00 |
| $25.00 |
| |
| CLEANING FEE | |
| Equipment with excessive corrosion or contamination WILL be charged this fee. | $15.00 |
What is the difference between a service inspection and overhaul?
Some shops will tell you they are performing a service inspection on your equipment and charge you the same price we charge for a complete overhaul without ever providing any service to your life support equipment. Those shops performing inspections are basically checking that your system is working right then, but they cannot provide you any sure assessment as to the condition of your regulator internals or parts, and cannot provide you any guarantee that it will keep working safely on your next dive.
When you bring your regulator to Divers Supply we completely dissemble, clean, replace high wear parts with required manufacturers replacement parts, and reassemble and tune your equipment to manufacturers guidelines and specifications. A complete regulator overhaul using manufacturers guidelines, specifications, and parts is the only way you can be assured your regulator is safe to use now and well into the diving future.
Most manufacturers recommend you service your gear annually or when you have any doubt that it is operating correctly and safely. Learn how to evaluate your gear condition and operation in the Padi Equipment Maintenance Specialty, or bring your gear in today and have it overhauled by our factory trained professional service technicians.
How long can I expect it to take for my gear to be serviced?
While we make every effort to get your equipment back to you in the shortest time possible, at some times of peak demand (Spring and Fall), or when special parts are needed, it may take 3-4 weeks to complete your service. Under normal circumstances we will do our best to have your regulator available for you in 1-2 weeks max.
I was told I had "free parts for life" on my regulator, why am I being charged for labor and parts?
Some manufacturers offer a parts replacement warranty on newly purchased regulators, but often people fail to read or execute the small print in the deal and consequently lose that warranty.
To maintain the "free parts for life warranty" most manufacturers require you the owner to have your regulator "serviced [that means overhauled] each and every year withing 1 month + or - of the purchase date. The overhaul must be performed by a factory authorized dealer and it is your responsibility as the owner to maintain proof of the servicing while you keep the warranty in effect. In addition the warranty does not cover labor costs, these are your responsibility solely.
If you miss a year of service, or go too far past the service date then you will lose the parts replacement warranty and have to pay for all utilized service parts going forward. At this time no manufacturer allows you to buy back into the parts warranty program once it has been lost.
I didn't even use my regulator last year, do I really need to have it serviced?
When to service your regulator is ultimately a personal decision and neither a manufacturer or your dive center can force you to service it at any specific interval. However, there are very clear interval recommendations for several good reasons, and remember your gear is life support equipment, so failing to service it when it needs it could have dire consequences.
Most manufacturers suggest annual servicing, this assures that any part that could decay or wear is replaced regularly before such decay and damage can be done to cause life threatening danger. Some manufacturers, due to different designs, materials, and performance may have 2 year intervals. Whatever the interval suggested by the manufacturer, they will only honor their warranty if you follow their service guidelines.
Another reason to service your gear regularly even when it hasn't been used is that many of the parts inside wear out used or not. This means that the longer you go between servicing the more likely it is you will see a continued and an increasing drop in equipment performance or that you will experience a catastrophic failure. If you want to learn how to recognize the tell tale early signs that your equipment is no longer operating at its peak, sign up for the Padi Equipment Maintenance Specialty Course.
The labor and parts charges to inspect my regulator seem really high, it can't possibly take that long to inspect my regulator and a few o-rings can't cost that much can they?
First, our service technicians at Divers Supply do not inspect equipment, what they do is completely disassemble, clean, replace all worn parts, and reassemble and tune your equipment according to and back to manufacturers specifications. The type of service we provide is immensely more time consuming and valuable then the shops' technician who is checking a few specifications, wiping your equipment down with some silicone spray and putting on a new service sleeve.
Second, safely working on regulators often requires special tools, adherence to strict procedures, and most critically time. The fastest technicians on average will spend between 1-2 hours with a typically well maintained regulator being serviced, and often longer if it has not been cared for or is not working normally when it is brought in. At our price of $62.90 for a complete regulator rebuild this amounts to between $30-60 dollars an hour, while this may seem high there are not many electricians, auto mechanics, plumbers, or other skilled tradesman that work for that type of hourly rate. Ask yourself this, do you want to trust a regulator service performed at $5/hour when your 100 feet below the surface on a Cayman wall dive.
Lastly, the parts kits prices are set by the manufacturers and I am sure that to the layman a 5 cent o-ring or piece of plastic looks just like one that actually costs 5 dollars, but there can be a significant difference. Many regulators today use materials of special formulas or of space age design and as a result replacement of these parts are more expensive. Remember, while you might not like having to replace parts you don't believe are "worn out" it is often impossible to tell when a part has reached a failure point until it fails. Is the risk worth the few dollars savings?
Divers Supply will not replace parts with anything other than approved manufacturers parts and will not overhaul a regulator without replacing required parts.
When is the best time to service my regulator, before or after my week long Caribbean vacation?
There are advantages to both options and ultimately you will have to choose the one you feel most comfortable with.
If you service your regulator before your trip you will have the piece of mind of knowing that it was just disassembled, cleaned, rebuilt with new parts, and tuned to factory specifications. In short you should be breathing easy and problem free.
However, if you wait to service until after your trip you have the benefit of your equipment getting a deep cleaning, being completely corrosions causing contaminant free, and well lubricated for the storage period ahead.
Our suggestion is to take the PADI Equipment Maintenance Specialty and learn to evaluate your regulator for proper function, or bring it in before the trip and have us do a quick evaluation with you. A quick pool or lake dive is another way to make sure it is working before the trip. Then after you have returned from the trip, bring the regulator in for a complete service. Doing it in this manner keeps you from facing a time crunch as the trip approaches and should offer the advantages of having a safe regulator to use on the trip and having a clean well prepared one to store.
Is there a difference between rinsing my gear and soaking my gear? Which is better?
There is a difference but the most important thing for your gear's maintenance is that you at least do one or the other, the best is if you will do both.
At the very least a quick rinse either via a hose and running water or via a quick dip in a rinse tank should be performed at the end of every diving day. The rinse will help flush away surface contamination such as sediments and salts that if left for any amount of time to dry onto the equipement materials can start the corrosion process on its way. However, the problem with rinsing by itself is that it can sometimes push small particles farther up into cracks and crevices in the equipment, such as threaded portions or swivels, and left there can cause these areas to remain in a contaminated state and continue to corrode until the next overhaul. As a service technician who sees this all the time this is bad, bad, bad.
Soaking is the process that helps remove that deep contamination and a good 24 hour bath for your gear at the end of a trip or before a long storage is a great preventive measure. Fill a 55 gallon trash can or your tub with hot or cold water, make sure the 1st stage dust cap is tightly in place and soak your equipment overnight. WARNING!!! If you have a dust cap that does not seal the 1st stage then do not soak the 1st stage, in addition never push the 2nd stage purge buttons while they are submerged and not under pressure, doing so can cause water to flood back up into the 1st stage. If you do not have a 1st stage with a sealing dust cap (non o-ring sealed plastic ones) you can connect the unit to a tank pressurize it then commence your overnight soak. Soaking allows all the salts in contact with your regulator and some sediments to be dissolved and gradually pulled away from your equipment providing the greatest level of corrosion prevention.